Natural neighbors: An informed walk of Longboat Key's beaches

Longboat Key and its beaches are known for the views of the water, especially the Gulf of Mexico and its gently lapping waves. But when was the last time you looked down while walking on the beach instead of focusing on the waves?

Shell seeker Sheila Loccisano is a longtime Longboat Key beachgoer, and the face behind the handfuls of beautiful shells on the Instagram account @followmetolongboatkey. She walks the beach every morning and recently took Longboat Observer on an informed beach walk, pointing out the most and least common shells and sights on the sand.

If the shell fragment has grooved hashes at the top like this one, you can identify it as the state shell, the Florida fighting conch. 

“Whenever I find something interesting I do a live video to educate (my viewers) and I also show myself putting it back,” she said. 

Florida fighting conchs are always a good find, but especially in the early morning, you may find a live animal still inside — those should always be thrown back in the water. Loccisano has also found sea hares (brownish animals that look like large slugs), live starfish and live jellyfish on the beach. It’s rarely possible to safely get a jellyfish back into the water, unfortunately, but she’ll place the other animals back in their watery abode once she’s snapped a photo.

Scallops are abundant on Longboat Key beaches and can be identified by the wings at the base of the shell that create an almost-flat bottom. They’re usually colorful, with pinks and oranges striping the shells. It makes them easier to pick out in a crowd of bleached white shells, but Loccisano said that you can’t have your heart set on finding the shell of your dreams on any given morning. 

“When people come out shelling they come out looking for something, but you need to let Mother Nature do her thing,” Loccisano said. “You have to choose from what Mother Nature lays out. If you go looking for tulips (a rarer shell), you’re going to be disappointed.” 

Like any hobby, a shell seeker gets better with time. Loccisano comes out to the beach most mornings and always finds a beautiful handful to snap a photo of, whether it’s fragments of larger shells or whole beauties. Recently, Loccisano was out on the beach one morning and some passers-by told her there were no good shells out that day. But she knew better. 

“Every day is different,” Loccisano said. “I rarely get shut out.”