Shell Museum

We went to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium on Sanibel Island.  The displays were extensive, educational and wonderful.

Carved images of sea animals and shells were around the exterior lower level.  I liked this octopus.

A mannequin dressed beautifully in shells stands in the lobby.

There are so many amazing shells in the displays.  Here are just a few.  The top shells are horse conches.  The lower ones are Hebrew volutes.

This colorful panel of Polymita picta bush snails was assembled in 1930 by Carlos de la Torre.  He presented it to William J. Clench, a zoologist at Harvard who specialized in studying mollusks.

There was a case of the largest known shells of various kinds.  This is a 16 inch Atlantic trumpet triton that was found off Fortaleza, Brazil, at a depth of approximately 140 feet.

And there were several cases exhibiting artwork created from shells.  This beauty was one of several in a display of Sailor Valentines, which were created by lonely seamen for their loved ones back home.