Sanibel Island Sea Shells and… Sharks?

Well, it appears that the dredging at Blind Pass is making a lot of “folks” happy, apart from the obvious homeowners that will soon have better Gulf access (and higher property values) when all is said and done.

Seashell collectors seem to believe that all of this “kickin’ up the dirt” on the ocean floor is causing a lot of otherwise-never-found, obscure shells to make their way to the surface and run ashore!  Let’s just say that the “Sanibel Stoop” is alive and well these days! 🙂

So, if you are a collector, you will probably want to head on down to Blind Pass and have a look…

The other remarkable feature of the dredging process is one of the most vivid examples of the food chain that we may ever get to see up close.

It appears that with the dredging, millions of microscopic organisms are being “dislodged” from the sand on the ocean floor and are now present in the “unsettled” ocean water.  This, in turn, has drawn an enormously large amount of smaller fish to the area, of whom are feasting gleefully on these small delicacies.

You can probably see where this is going…

With so many small fish around, naturally through the laws of the ecosystem, even larger fish yet, begin to appear and they, themselves gleefully have a feast!  And yes, some of these “bigger fish” are definitely sharks!  Not the “great white” kind, of course, but sharks nonetheless.

There have been many sightings in the vicinity of the dredging and some have even been caught, photographed and released.

Now, keep in mind, that Sanibel and Captiva Islands are not known for having any sort of shark problems, however it is the ocean, after all, and this dredging project is not a common occurrence, so it is probably best to be extra careful when swimming over the next few months, until this project is completely finished and things get back to normal.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation which specializes in preserving our island wildlife, as well as marine wildlife habitat landscaping, they’d be happy to give you more details.

So, that’s it for this week!  I can’t believe that January is already over… wow, where does the time go?

Hope you have a great weekend,

Sandy and Rob

p.s.  Did you notice that we added weather to the blog on the left?  Do you like it?  Leave a comment “yes” or “no”…

p.s.s.  Have you checked out our Hot Listing on King’s Crossing listed at the top of this blog?  You can see other great properties recently listed as well, over at our main website, SanCap One Source Realty – Sanibel Captiva Real Estate.