Rotary Happenings: Rotarians learn about shell museum’s past, future
Sanibel is known for many things, top-rated beaches, great food, early bedtimes and, of course, our shells. Throughout the years, the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum was formed and has grown into a very impressive museum, representing the best shells of Sanibel and the world.
Recently, the new Executive Director Sam Ankerson shared with the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club how the museum has coped with finishing a $6 million renovation and then facing red tide and COVID-19 closures, as well as the museum’s reopening and its plans for the future.
The museum is back to about 75 percent of its typical attendance, pre-pandemic, since reopening in May. Its renovations have created wonderful and exciting new adventures around every corner. It has kept some of the older features that everyone loves, such as the touch pools and the keeper talks, especially with the octopus trainer sharing information. It is continuing its Adopt-a-Class program, as well as its Mollusks on the Move outreach programs by moving them to an online platform, yet still being exciting and informative for students.
Some of the newer programs are virtual lectures through Zoom and a shell discovery and identification app that not only helps users identify the beautiful shells that they discover on the beach, but helps the museum log data about the shells being found. The museum will be launching an Octocam, similar to the popular Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, to allow viewers to watch a very entertaining octopus play, eat, swim and even dance.
The museum is currently working on a digital imaging project with high precision photos of shells to create a publicly available database of microshells. It will be displaying 50 of the pictures in poster-size on the Second Floor in an exhibit titled “In-Focus, Precision Photography: Extraordinary & Unusual Shells.” The exhibition will open on Memorial Day weekend.
If you haven’t ever been to the museum or haven’t been recently, it is definitely worth the trip. It is extremely beautiful, educational and relevant to our Sanibel way of life.
Ankerson joined the museum in March. His prior positions include deputy director at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, director of development at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, and director of major gifts for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences at the University of Vermont. Ankerson has been shelling on Sanibel since the late 1970s and is honored to strengthen and advance the museum’s work to build awareness and appreciation of mollusks, their shells and natural environments.
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club holds a meeting on Fridays at 7:30 a.m. at the Dunes Golf and Tennis Club, at 949 Sand Castle Road, Sanibel, and via Zoom. To attend in person, email Bill Harkey at William.Harkey@gmail.com; attendance is limited to 20 people. To take part via Zoom, call 239-472-7257. For more information, visit sanibelrotary.org or www.facebook.com/sancaprotary.