Riding the storm out and creatures of the sea

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We were expecting a storm so we need to find a safe place to anchor. We went to a small keyhole in the mangroves thinking it would be perfect, but it was just a little too small and if our anchor dragged at all we would be aground or in the mangrove trees or both. We moved back to Caya Costa and tucked into the south west corner  of the anchorage to protect us from the winds our ot the south and west.  We handled several days of wind and rain, no problem.  There were tornado warning north and south of us, so I think we picked the right spot.  After 3 days on the boat we wanted to get off. Caya Costa is known for shelling and they say the best shelling is after a storm. We got up early and dinghied to shore.  We just missed the  ride to the beach so we walked there.  It felt good to stretch our legs,  We got to the beach and were disappointed because it was all sand.  The waves blew sand almost a block up up the beach.  I bet it would have been wild to watch.  From our previous trips there we knew there was a point down the beach that had great shells.  We got there and were not disappointed.

Shellorama!

All along the beach there were creatures that had been washed up on shore. We threw back anything that was still alive.  Many starfish, live shells, even an octopus got thrown back.  We weren’t sure if they would make it but we did our part.

Scott throwing a starfish back into the sea.
Found this octopus very much alive and saved him.

 

We found some odd items.  Enjoy the pictures and what we learned from google after we got back to the boat and tried to identify our creatures. It was fun and interesting learning about new creatures.

We found many turtle egg shells. We would like to think they hatched and rode the wave to a new live. We didn’t find any full shell or any debris inside, just the empty shells
Many horseshoe crabs washed up on shore. This one was particularly large.
This is my new favorite shell. It is called a Shark Eye.
I was sure this was a snake when I first saw it. I found out it is a Welk shell egg sac. Crazy that that comes from a shell.
This squishy thing is called Sea Pork. No thanks I’ll stick to land pork.
This weird looking thing is a sea cucumber
When we were at Boca Grande we saw a tree on the beach with shells on it. At our first visit here I put a shell on this tree. Much to my delight others added to it and there now a shell tree on Caya Costa.
This one takes the cake for the weirdest. It is a Skate (a type of ray) egg sac. It is also known as a Mermaid Purse.
Lots of starfish got thrown back but it was too late for this one. We were surprised how big they were. I secretly wanted to find a small dead one to take home.

 

Thanks for reading

Scott and Karen

Unique Random Picture of the day.

One thought on “Riding the storm out and creatures of the sea”

  1. IT IA SO FUN TO READ ABOUT YOUR ADVENTURES -FEEL LIKE
    WE ARE THERE WITH YOU. I LOVE SHELLS – BUT FINALLY HAAD TO
    GET RID OF ALL OF MINE – GOT SO MANY SAND DOLLARS WHEB
    WE VISITED JEAN IN WASHINGTON.
    LOVE YOUR POSTS – KEEP THEM COMING.

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