“Shellabrating” Everything Seashells

Marco Island Shell Club held its annual Spring Expo and Sale at the New Life Community Church on March 10th and 11th. The steady stream of visitors made up for the two years of Covid and post-Covid where the club was not able to share their full collection with the public.

It was a “shellabration” of everything seashells. The Shell Expo featured popular handcrafted items for sale by club members and attendees also got to vote for the People’s Choice and the scientific exhibits. It is one of the only shows of its kind dedicated to seashells in Southwest Florida.

Seashells are one of the most common items humans collect, and living on a barrier island such as Marco offers shell seekers a “smorgasbord” of precious gems. They line the shoreline. Some are smooth, others spiraled and they come in every size and shape and a rainbow of colors. Shell collecting is one of Florida’s favorite pastimes and each visit is always a surprise.

Karen Caster, a Shell Club Member, had a display titled “Gifts from Ian.”  She wrote “after Ian passed on September 28th, Marco beach was left with lots of debris, many live mollusks and also empty shells. Many empty shells covered the shoreline such as fighting conch and pen shells.” But Karen added that “she was lucky enough to find a number of empty shells that are relatively rare and considered the shells gifts from Ian.”

Linda Kropp honored her mother Nada with her exhibit. According to Linda, her mother had a beautiful head vase with no top and she felt that it needed a hat or something. Linda decided to give it a full head of beautiful hair using the collection of beautiful Florida worm snails, a few scallops and strawberry colored shells.

Let’s not forget that on what is now Marco Island, there is a history of the Calusa Native Americans, also known as the “first shell collectors,” pilling massive heaps of discarded shells forming shell mounds. Archaeologists have excavated these mounds and found artifacts such as tools, jewelry, weapons and utensils made from local shells.

About 150 years after the Calusa disappeared, Ernest Otter moved into the shell mound located on Addison Road (Otter Mound Preserve) and used the plentiful shells to terrace his property by building a shell wall. Though fragile, the “conch” walls are a testament to the island’s connection to local shells.

A vital part of the mission of the Marco Island Shell Club, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is to "promote the study, conservation, science, history and appreciation of seashells and mollusks in all their forms..."

The Club has two endowed scholarships at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), 

one undergraduate research scholarship and one graduate competitive research scholarship, to students majoring in marine or environmental science.

The Club depends upon the proceeds from the Holiday Sale in late fall and the Shell Expo and Sale in March to underwrite other scholarships and grants. Due to last season’s success, the Club was able to expand its philanthropic activities to include the Marco Island Center for the Arts, Marco Island Charter Middle School and Rookery Bay Estuarine Reserve and for a student at the University of South Florida.

Did you know? Horse Conch is Florida’s State Shell. But according to experts from University of South Florida (USF) it is at a higher risk of extinction due to unregulated harvesting and recreational live collection.

The Queen Conch is the mascot of Key West, known as the Conch Republic. The Queen Conch has been around for 65 million years and is showing signs of decline. According to NOAA Fisheries they announced a proposed rule to list the Queen Conch as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 

Let’s all enjoy our time collecting seashells from our beaches but be mindful of the City and State Rule: “No live shelling. Only shells that do not contain a live organism may be collected or removed from the beach.”