Sanibel Island is famous for seashells because of the way it lies. Most barrier islands along Florida's coasts run north and south, parallel to the shore, but Sanibel curves east to west, so its long Gulf beach faces south into the currents like a scoop. Shells carried along the shallow, gently sloping Gulf floor wash up in heaps, especially after winter storms and on the lowest tides. Bowman's Beach, on the island's quieter western end, is one of the best known places to find them. The bent-over posture of shell hunters walking the tide line is known locally as the Sanibel Stoop. Collectors hope most for a junonia, a spotted snail shell that lives in deeper water and rarely washes ashore intact. Finding one is enough to get a person's picture in the local newspaper. Collecting shells with a living animal inside was banned on Sanibel in 1995, and the ban was extended to all of Lee County in 2002. More than half the island is protected land, much of it within the J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and conservationist who pushed to preserve it. Hurricane Ian struck the island in September 2022, breaking the causeway to the mainland and destroying many buildings, and the beaches have been reshaped by storms ever since.
Getting there
26.4668, -82.1659
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
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