Dave is a compulsive shell picker upper when walking the beach. This year in Nuevo Vallarta was different.
Normally there are very few shells as this beach is one of the most naturally clean ones we have ever seen. No seaweed, rocks or shells litter this beach. Contrast this with Sanibel Island in FL where there are so many shells, they cut your feet when walking.
Well this year 2023 was indeed different. In late December/early January there were “king tides” for a 2 or 3 day stretch in a row. The waves, 6 to 8 feet high came crashing in on the beach. The beach was officially closed to swimming because of the danger. We remember walking the beach those days and marvelling at the size of the waves. Afterwards the beach was littered with shells. So Dave had his pick this year of many shells for his “collection”.
What we have in order of decreasing quantity are cockles, augers, sunray venus, transverse arcs, scallops, calico clams, carnitas, butter cups, clams, oysters, 1 sand dollar (it broke in transit) and 1 dolphin tooth (I think). Also some interesting pieces of tile, broken glass and a plastic flamingo head!
It was a bounty year. Now what to do with them given that all the glass display containers in the basement are already full….
Given the following key, perhaps you can identify some of the shells in this year’s collection.
mattersofthemoment 