Shelling on Sanibel: Visitors from Buffalo uncover two large horse conch shells

During a recent vacation on Sanibel Island, Jessica Reyna and her family participated in the popular tradition of shelling along the beach. More than six months after Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic damage on the island that sits on the Gulf of Mexico, visitors like Reyna are starting to come back.

Reyna, who lives in Buffalo, posted photos of the shells she found on social media. We caught up with her for a Q&A about the two shells she found during her visit April 1-8 and some other topics related to Sanibel's comeback from Ian:

Was this the first time you had been to Sanibel since Hurricane Ian?

REYNA: Yes.

What were the conditions like on the beaches and other places you visited?

REYNA: The beaches were great. They were clean. The facilities at the beaches we visited were open, and communication for parking was very clear. We were very surprised to see how far they’ve come with the causeway. The island itself was heartbreaking. It was great to see some businesses had reopened, but the number of buildings boarded up was startling.

Have you vacationed on Sanibel in the past?

REYNA: Yes, we visited the island in April 2022.

Where did you find your shells on Sanibel?

REYNA: I found the two shells in the water, both on Sanibel Island and both about 15-20 feet offshore. One was at Tarpon Bay Beach and the other was at Bowman’s Bay Beach. We always hunt for shells when we visit a beach, but honestly we didn’t even know shells this big were out there. We didn’t go right at dawn, and I always thought you needed to be the first one on the beach to find anything larger.

How did you know, with your feet, it might be a shell?

REYNA: It almost feels like a large stone or rock. If you try to move it and it doesn’t want to budge, you know it’s big. If it’s a horse conch, in addition to the large size, you’ll feel the little bumps that run along the middle.

Is this a common practice to look for shells when you are in the Gulf?

REYNA: We are always looking for shells. We’ve been to beaches on Sanibel, but also down in Bonita Springs and north in Englewood.

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Have you ever found shells as big as these two shells?

REYNA: Never before. The biggest was no larger than three to four inches.

Did you weigh the shells, or have an approximate idea of the weight?

REYNA: I don’t have a weight, but one is about 13.5 inches long and the other is just over 11 inches.

Did you take the shells back to Buffalo?

REYNA: We did bring them home. We don’t have a ton of extra room in a van with six people, so they traveled home on the floor of the passenger side. We have one of them on a shelf in our family room and the other on our fireplace in our living room.

People on social media were worried that the shells were alive?

REYNA: When we pulled the shells up my husband was close by, so we both looked in, and they looked empty. We put our hand in to make sure nothing was alive inside. Once we got out of the water, we smelled them to see how strong the odor was. It smelled like ocean, but not strong enough that something was living inside. I have a 4-year-old who was also able to get his little hand in pretty far and they both were empty.

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Are you a shell collector?

REYNA: We do have shells from our travels to Florida. We have smaller shells from the Atlantic side on Hutchinson Island, and we have some more substantial ones for our travels on the Gulf. My kids love to gift shells to their teachers when we return, so we keep the larger ones and more unique shells we find. We have a large glass canister of shells in our family room.

Do you have any tips for people about shelling?

REYNA: You do have to look, or dig, for them. The weather was calm for the fist shell and a pair of goggles probably would’ve helped. The waves were much larger when we found the second shell, so we went out in groups of two to help dig and to keep each other from drifting too far from where we thought we might have found something.

Anything else you'd like to share about your recent visit here?

REYNA: This last (most recent) visit was honestly the best vacation we’ve had in Florida. As much as we hated to see Sanibel in such a bad state after the hurricane, we felt so lucky to be able to come back, enjoy the beaches, and support any businesses we could. We drive down each year, and I know we’ll be back next year to support the island and hunt for the next big one.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Family finds two large horse conch shells on Florida's Sanibel Island