I found these Common Atlantic Auger shells in a few inches of water on Pass-a-Grille Beach. They are alive. Click to enlarge.
Low tide is a great time to find live shells on St. Pete Beach. Augers, tulips, fighting conchs, and olive shells were in abundance Saturday evening. There were a lot of augers, but not as many as the millions of Common Atlantic Augers we saw on Sanibel Island during our honeymoon.
We always leave live shells on the beach where we found them (including sand dollars). With so many people looking for shells on the beach these days, I think it is no longer good stewardship to kill live shells by taking them home to collect. Besides, unless you know how to clean them, you’ll just end up with a really stinky mess on your hands that you’ll probably throw in the trash.
Taking dead shells is fine. A dead shell is one with no live animal inside. If you enlarge the photo above you can see the little snail sticking out from the thick end of the shell.
Banded Tulip (live shell)
Banded Tulip viewed from above. (Same shell as above). I found this shell in about a foot of water, in the surf.
This is where I found the shells. I'm standing in about a foot of water to take this picture, which is looking south toward the concession and Shell Key.
