Treasures along The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel are travel agents' best bet for shell-seeking clients

CONTACTS:
Jackie MacKay (407) 814-0014 or (407) 496-1770
Lee Rose, (239) 338-3500

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "Gift from the Sea"

LEE COUNTY, FL -- More than 100 barrier and coastal islands snuggle up to the Lee County, Fla., shoreline, home to 50 miles of sandy white beaches that shelter some of the best shelling in the United States. This is the place to book clients looking for a tranquil beach setting where they can learn the “Sanibel Slump" or the “Captiva Crouch" (the nicknamed positions for shelling) and search The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel for Neptune's treasures.

Nearly 2 million visitors from around the world annually flock to this coastal southwest Florida paradise to sample unprecedented shelling. The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel yield some 400 species of multi-colored seashells, from the commonplace scallop and clam to the exotic tulips, olives, fragile paper fig shells and the rarest of them all, the brown speckled Junonia. Prime examples of these, and thousands more, are exhibited at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel Island, the only shell museum in North America, where experts answer questions about rare shells from around the world.

Many local marinas and resorts run shelling charters. "Peak shelling season in the Fort Myers/Sanibel area is May through September," says Mike Fuery, a fishing and shelling charter captain on Captiva Island. For years, he has guided shelling enthusiasts to promising beaches and sandbars like Johnson Shoals off the coast of Cayo Costa State Island Preserve. "It's possible to find 50 to 60 different kinds here on a given day." Fuery explains that the abundance of shells is due to the lack of an offshore reef, which would break up the delicate shells. Instead, the Gulf of Mexico is one flat, shallow trough with lots of warm and sunny weather encouraging shells to grow.

Sanibel Island is widely celebrated for its shelling potential. Even the island's configuration encourages shelling. "Sanibel's boomerang, or shrimp shape, slows down the shells and brings them onto the beach in one piece," says Fuery. While many islands face northwest, Sanibel runs in a more east-west direction. Often, seashells left behind by sea creatures hide just beneath the surface of the sand where the surf breaks. Many empty shells never make it over this point and can be collected by wading or snorkeling along the surf line or sifting through the bounty of shells regularly deposited by waves.

A wide plateau of relatively shallow water and sandy bottom adjoins Sanibel on the south side of the island, according to Winston Williams, author of "Florida's Fabulous Seashells." "This gradual slope of the Gulf of Mexico bottom acts like a ramp where large numbers of shells roll onto the beach, especially when driven by storms from the northwest," says Williams. Such storms are common in December and January when cold fronts pass through Florida. He notes that the gentle slope assures that even more shells arrive in undamaged condition. "Typical winter cold fronts produce great shelling on the southwest side of many barrier islands," he says.

The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel treasures this natural visitor attraction. Shell activists naturally seek to preserve this stellar natural resource and protect live shells from being over-harvested and endangered. However, collecting uninhabited shells, ones where the animals or mollusks are already dead or gone from the shell, is unlimited and encouraged. Considering that it requires 10 to 12 years for a shell to mature in southwest Florida's sub-tropical climate, residents see no reason to deplete the live shell supply. Smaller, dead shells are equally vivid in color and make good collector's items.

Shelling is actively pursued all along the southwest Florida coastline. It is especially good in less populated areas, like North Captiva and Cayo Costa islands, known for their starfish, conch and sand dollars. A tide chart remains every shell seeker's primary tool. Those "in the know" shell around the low phase of the tide, when greater beach area is exposed. They start to scan less populated beaches an hour before low tide and work until an hour past the lowest tide point. A favorite spot is the shell line, just where the highest waves stop as they shush up onto the sand. This is where groups of shells arrive and are reshuffled by ongoing wave action. It saves digging. Another good spot for great shells is at the slight drop in the surf line, just where gentle waves break before rolling onto the beach. While this area is accessible only when weather permits, it usually holds the most and finest specimens.

Above all, shelling requires patience. No one area is good all the time, and no collection worth viewing was ever found on one outing. Yet there is something innately appealing about shelling that keeps most people coming back time after time, year after year to gather ever more gifts from the sea.

Travel agents in need of more information on booking a shelling excursion for their clients or details about planning and booking vacations to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel can visit www.FortMyersSanibel.com. The site includes a special “Tour and Travel" section designed to meet the needs of travel agents.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel include: Sanibel & Captiva islands, Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs & Estero, Cape Coral, Pine Island, Boca Grande & Outer islands, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres. Images are available upon request.