Shell Find: Junonia found on Sanibel
Bonnie Sipe, of Cincinnati, Ohio, found a junonia on Aug. 31 at about 11:30 a.m. in front of the Sanibel Lighthouse on Sanibel. She reported that she was in the water about 20-25 feet away from the shoreline with her my fiance and the water was only up to her shins. They were digging around in the sand, pulling up shell after shell. She noted that it was her first time ever finding any kind of cool shells. Sipe then saw part of a shell with spots sticking out of the sand, and she reached down and grabbed it and was excited because it was such a big pretty shell. She had no idea it was a rare shell and put it in her bag and kept looking. Sipe continued that a woman sat next to her about 30 minutes later and they were talking as they were looking for shells and she was telling Sipe the names of shells as she was pulling them up. The woman then told her about the junonia shell, and Sipe asked what it looked like. Sipe said she sat there and was like, “There’s no way that’s what I have in my bag.” She pulled the shell out and the woman confirmed that she had found a junonia! Sipe reported that the woman was so excited for her, and another woman showed her the junonia on a shell guide. She added that she would have never known she had a junonia if it was not for the woman who sat next to her talking about shells! Sipe and her fiance were vacationing on Fort Myers Beach for the week and it was her first visit to Sanibel.