Rookery Bay Volunteer Thrills Shell Collectors

You would have thought the Easter Bunny was on the beach the way shell collectors, young and old, were swarming around Rookery Bay volunteer Mike Coke at South Beach early Thursday morning, March 23.

Coke was circulating at the far end of South Beach at low tide, a favorite spot for local shell aficionados. He's dressed in a blue Rookery Bay t-shirt over a long-sleeved orange shirt with colorful, vertically striped swim trunks. His gaudy shell necklace is so impressive that it stands out against an outfit that would fit right in at an Easter egg hunt.

But Coke is not hunting Easter eggs; he is thrilling children by teaching them about the beautiful local shell specimens represented on his shell necklace. He also lets the kids pick out a shell or two from his Easter basket, err, shell bucket, which is filled with a variety of shells found on the very beach he’s teaching from.

“I like to give shells to kids,” Coke said with a smile.  “I like giving them to adults, too.”

Everywhere Coke walks, he’s quickly surrounded by kids and adults alike. The adults absorb every shell-collecting - and identifying - tip that Coke generously shares.