Lido Key

Extending from Sarasota Bay around Big Pass to the Gulf of Mexico is . This oasis of natural beauty is prolific with wildlife, especially along the bay.

Shore birds nest on mangrove islands, manatees and their calves graze the sea grass beds (May through October) and dolphins enjoy the protected waters while raising their young. Caution should be taken if shelling in Big Pass as currents can be fairly strong.

Siesta Key

While America’s #1 beach, enjoys great popularity with a sand like confectioners sugar, it’s hard to find good shells.

The best places for shelling are at and the public access on North Shell Road.

The at North Shell road faces Lido Key and Big Pass. It is here where sandbars produce sand dollars, augers, spiny jewel box, lightning whelk, and olives at low tide. Due to currents, caution is advised.

At the south end of the island is where the shore is loaded with shells. Shore birds, dolphin and osprey frequent these fish laden waters and shells are quite plentiful.

Casey Key

The and parks of Casey Key have strived to retain a natural setting for area wildlife. The Intra-coastal waterway is ideal for fishing, kayaking and making friends with "Beggar" the dolphin, who hangs out at Albee Bridge. Both beaches face the Gulf and are peppered with shells.

Venice

How about adding a few fossilized shark teeth to your collection? Venice’s is ideal for shelling and finding a few pointy Megalodons. Rocky outcroppings are interspersed with light gray to patches of nearly black sand at water’s edge. This is caused by fossilized material mixed with sand and shell. Storms frequently wash this sand into the ocean freeing the fossilized teeth to be scooped up by basket wielding beach-goers.

The pristine shore of South Venice Beach is only attainable by . Passes are (now) available to day trippers for the four minute ride across Lemon Bay. Dolphin and Manatee are frequent visitors and shells and shark teeth are plentiful along this seven mile stretch of sand.

Manasota Key

When asked where "Florida’s least crowded beaches" might be... enchanting Manasota Key comes to mind! Just off the coast of Englewood between Sarasota and Fort Myers on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Manasota Key is 7 miles in length with four expansive beaches.

and Beaches are probably the most prolific.

Beach dunes covered with sea oats slope to the gulf waters. Behind the dunes, seagrape trees often grow in dense thickets. Easily recognized by their large, round leaves, the trees offer a bounty of edible fruit in winter for green parrots and other winged friends. Mangrove trees are abundant on the bay side offering refuge for shore and wading birds. Ospreys and brown pelicans are common and magnificent frigate-birds and bald eagles occasionally soar above.

Shell seekers walking the beach often find sharks’ teeth and skeletal fragments from ancient geologic times.

The highest concentration of sea turtle nests in the state of Florida is on Manasota Key. If visiting in summer months, Stump Pass Beach provides informative ranger-led turtle and nature walks.

Sea Turtles Found in Florida

Green Turtle - Named for the greenish color of its body fat, this turtle is listed as endangered in Florida. Most green turtles nest in the Caribbean, but up to 2000 nests can be found in Florida each year. For centuries, these turtles were hunted for their meat that was made into soup. Green turtles graze on the vast beds of sea grasses found throughout the tropics and are the only sea turtles that eat plants.

Hawksbill Turtle - This turtle is a relatively small turtle, and has been hunted to the brink of extinction for its beautiful shell. Once relatively common in Florida, these turtles now rarely nest here. They feed on sponges and other invertebrates and tend to nest on small, isolated beaches.

Leatherback Turtle - This endangered turtle is the largest and most active of the sea turtles. Up to eight feet in length, these huge turtles have a rubbery dark shell marked by seven narrow ridges that run the length of their back. These turtles feed on jellyfish and soft-bodied animals. Ingestion of plastic bags and egg collecting are reasons for mortality and population declines. About 200 leatherback nests are recorded in Florida each year.

Kemp's Ridley - The rarest and smallest of all, this endangered turtle feeds on crabs and shrimp. They nest on a single stretch of isolated beach along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

Loggerhead Turtle - This is the most common sea turtle in Florida. It is classified as a threatened, but not endangered species. Named because of its large head, that can measure up to ten inches wide, it’s powerful jaws crush clams, crabs and encrusted animals on which it feeds. As many as 68,000 loggerhead nests have been found in Florida each year.


Turtle Trivia

• Florida beaches are home to 80% of Loggerhead turtles in the U.S.
• Turtles can migrate thousands of miles, but usually return to lay their eggs on the same beach where they hatched
• Sea turtles have existed for over one hundred million years
• It can take 15 - 50 years before a sea turtle is capable of reproducing
• Scientists estimate that only 1 in 1000 to 10,000 babies will survive to adulthood
• Sea turtles live their entire life in the ocean. The only time they come ashore is when the female lays her eggs.
• Sea turtles are reptiles. They breathe air, and can hold their breath for long periods of time.
• When its time to sleep, a loggerhead will wedge under a rock close to the shore, or take a snooze while floating on the surface of deep water
• Hatchlings weigh less than one ounce and are only two inches long. Adults can grow over 3 feet long and weigh 200 to 300 pounds!
• The nest temperature during incubation determines a sea turtle's sex. Boys like it cool - Girls like it hot.
• Sea turtles have great underwater vision, but are nearsighted out of the water.
• Although sea turtles do not have external ears, they are capable of hearing low frequency sounds and vibrations
• Sea turtles use their strong jaws to crush a diet of crabs, shrimp, mussels, and jelly fish.



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