Seashells by the Seashore

This is a small sampling of the hundreds of shells Jenne collected when we went beach combing on Ocracoke and Portsmouth Islands on our Outer Banks vacation back in June. In the above photo are seen clam and scallop shells. We spent hours walking the beautiful beaches collecting shells, watching dolphins in the surf, and looking for hermit crabs and sea birds. The beaches were so clean and the shell collecting was the best I have ever experienced on the East Coast. It was fun to watch Jenne walk along and to see her excitment over finding a new and different shell. We were both very excited when we would find a Scotch Bonnet, a Lettered Pearl or a Whelck. The Whelks were the most rare to find in good shape and we only found one small example. The surf is very hard on the Whelks and mostly we found pieces. Scotch Bonnets, the official shell of North Carolina, are very nice shells a little larger than a golf ball. We had to be careful when collecting these because hermit crabs liked to make their homes out of these. We found our best shells on Portsmouth Island mostly because it is deserted and only accessible by small boat. Not many people go there. When Jenne went to Ohio last week she took a shoebox full of shells and a shell identification guide to her niece, Briana and nephew, Joshua who have never been to the ocean. She tells me that they were very excited to receive this little box of treasures and that Joshua was very careful to wrap each shell before placing it back in the box. They are good kids and I wish I could have been along to see them. Next year when we go back to Ocracoke we will be spending more time on Portsmouth Island looking for shells.