Linear view vs. Masonry View

Tag Archive for ‘hermit-crab’

Kept Getting Better

Black-crowned Night Heron
Hermit Crab in a Crown Conch
Colorful Print
Dolphin at a Distance
Rainbow
Double Rainbow
Dolphin, Paddler, and Rainbow
Pete (Note Scar on Dorsal Fin)

In a much appreciated respite from our usual sunny, hot, and humid weather, today was predominantly gray and rainy. A large, slow moving storm arrived with the typical noisy bluster but most importantly, it brought some much needed moisture.

Places north and south of me received over 4″ which caused some fleeting flooding, but in my area we tallied about half that. In addition, the rain fell low and slow which allowed it to soak in. Made my plants happy!

Since the calming of the storm this evening coincided with low tide and sunset, I headed downtown for a walk along the waterfront. I never know what I’m going to see but I do know that there will be something interesting along the way.

Good: A Black-crowned Night Heron was already out, searching for food and allowed me a few photos. Then I was distracted by movement in the grass, a hermit crab lugging his shell toward water. As I placed him (and some other shells*) back in the water, I spotted two manatees swimming nearby. Further out in the bay I spied a dolphin fin. Turning around I noted a faint rainbow. All lovely and I would’ve left satisfied with my stroll.

Better: A few minutes later, the sky provided another rainbow. Shortly, a couple paddlers came around the bend and were framed by the colorful arcs. Then, a gull flew over their heads to compete the scene. What a nice addition to the evening!

Best: As colors began to fade from the sky, nature had one more treat to share. A dolphin came in for his cameo and I was able to capture a photo of it, with a paddler, and a rainbow. This particular cetacean is a bit of a local celebrity. He’s known as Pete (a nod to the city name) and he’s recognizable by the scar on his dorsal fin as well as his tendency to frequent the shallows near the Vinoy Hotel. Lucky me, the bayfront put on a show this evening!

*Oh, and to the guy that pulled up those living Crown Conchs and Banded Tulips with his castnet and left them to die in the grass. I put them all back in the water for you, @sshole.
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Early Birds Get the Shells

Predawn, Minus Tide
Not the Only Ones
Decorative, but Not the Shells We’re Looking For
Lightning Whelk with Hermit Crab
Banded Tulip Egg Mass
Dawn
Found Someone’s New Year Resolutions
And Their Intentions
Alyssa and Tom
White-spotted Sea Cucumber (Actinopyga varians)
Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile)
Planehead Filefish (Stephanolepis hispidus)
Chestnut Turbans (Turbo castanea)
Common Atlantic Bubbles (Bulla striata)
Atlantic Oyster Drill (Urosalpinx cinerea)



Flame Streak Box Crab (Calappa flammea), Molt
Asian Green Mussel (Perna viridis)
Heart Urchin (Echinocardium cordatum) aka Sea Potato
See the Heart?
Pretty Operculum
Shark Eye Moon Snails and an Operculum
Alyssa, Me, and Suzanne

Winter storms tend to churn up the bottom of the Gulf which leads to new and interesting items on the beach. When the aftermath of one of those storms coincides with a minus tide, the beachcombing is not to be missed. So, yesterday I drove down early to Siesta Key and met Alyssa, her dad Tom, and step mom Suzanne for a morning of shelling.

It was still dark and a breezy 47° but we didn’t let that stop us! We had our headlamps and wore multiple layers. Since I’m a complete cold weather wimp I even had on ear muffs and gloves. Believe it or not, we weren’t the only ones braving the elements, we could see other little dots of light up and down the beach.

There were plenty of shells for everyone and it seemed every couple feet there was something that caught my interest. After a few hours we left to grab breakfast and rest our necks. By the time we returned to the sand, the sun had done it’s job and it was much warmer!

While the crowd had grown there was still so much to see. Interestingly, there were a lot of occupied shells, either by the original creator or by hermit crabs. We returned all the live ones we found to the gulf. Even had the chance to carefully untangle a Sea Cucumber from the wrack and slide it back into the water.

A quick internet search identified the flat, gray, and very dehydrated fish I found as a Planehead Filefish. I collected a few more Chestnut Turbans, Bubbles, and an Oyster Drill as they are rare on my beach. Came across the molt of a Flame Streak Box Crab, a new species for me. Since I had recently read about them, I knew that the green mussel shell, while colorful, was from an invasive species (at least it was dead).

As for the highlight of the day, I have two favorites and both were firsts for me. I was thrilled to find a Sea Potato, the test of a Heart Urchin (somewhat rare as they are very fragile). While the slightly curved, amber half moon that caught my eye, turned out to be a Shark Eye Moon Snail operculum (the door to their shell).

Definitely worth getting up early for!
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