Bounty of Cowries in the Rock Pools | Shell Collecting at Low Tide

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:05]Good day everyone and welcome back to another shellfinding adventure. I'm excited because we've had a lot of storms come through here. I wasn't expecting to see anything on the sand. I was hoping for some goodies perhaps in the rock pools, but I have just arrived and there is a fairly decent amount of shells down here just at this place where I usually start at. A lot of it will be broken, although some of it does look quite interesting. For instance, there is a leafy oyster here. There is a lot. Oh, that one's broken. A lot of Titan acorn barnacles, but I might collect up a couple of these because they're very colorful. As long as they're empty, if they have something sticking in the top there, it means that there's a smelly creature going to be in there. And uh yeah. Oh my goodness. This is like usually the best time is like when the pile is just fresh like this.

[00:00:53]Like the tide's only gone down an hour ago. So, it means that I'll hopefully get a couple of good goodies from this lot. That's an Indo-Pacific arc shell. I don't often find them from here. And if I do find them, they're pretty small like this. Super cute. So, my plan when there's a lot of rack lines and shell piles washed up like this, is to just do a really quick ones, just a quick walk past first before plonking down somewhere and taking a real close look at things. This guy does look a little bit shiny. Hello. Hello. I find that um they usually look shiny when they're more wet, like the shell material is darker, but when they lighten out over time, they do look less shiny. It is a beautiful yellow, I'm so sorry, a yellow tinted cowie. And I also want this guy cuz he does look like there's a nice patterning on him. Let's just check real quick. Yes, he is empty. It is a rather beautiful crowned cone. There's a large shiny graceful cowie. Yeah, maybe a little bit calcified. who might forgive him uh just because he's cute again.

[00:01:52]Another one that's slightly calcified.

[00:01:53]Super cute, though. I do see a lot of feeasant shells in here. Oh, that one's a broken pheasant shell. There's a lot of minis through here. I will be collecting some up a little bit later.

[00:02:03]Honestly, it's just going to be hard finding the uh the intact ones from the broken ones because a lot of this is just shell grit that's just too far gone to want to collect. Let's take a look at this guy. Yeah, it's a little turtle dove shell. I guess you could also call it a tortoise dove shell. I end up usually calling it a tortoise dove shell. There's lots of uh little purple guys today. Lots of ironic telons. Might collect some of those, too. Lots of these little Venus shells next to them.

[00:02:28]I think that's a rough Venus is the common name for that. Lots of interesting bits and pieces through here. Oh my goodness. It would be a mini lover's dream. Oo, hello. Hello. Yeah, I might collect some of these when I see them. It is a rootcovered ribbed miter.

[00:02:42]The sun just came out literally a second. A second ago. Here we It is a juvenile cy. Which one? Probably a juvenile. Oh gosh. Wandering cowry or cora cowry? I don't know which one though. And there is Yeah, we'll collect him. Why not? It is a lovely big bean trivia. Or should I should I call these a rice trivia? I think that's technically uh their name. And I also want Yeah, why not? A little pheasant shell. There's a lot of feeasant shells around Australia. These ones are probably some of the smallest though.

[00:03:12]Lots of old and worn out shells around.

[00:03:14]Is that Oh, that's heavy. Is it going to open? Is it going to open? Oh, no. It does open. It was just full of water.

[00:03:20]That's why it was a bit heavier. It is intact and it's good to keep. It is. Uh, I'm going to say it's a beautiful jewel box. I never really know if that's right. It's either that or a Lazarus jewel box. I nearly stepped on that.

[00:03:30]That's interesting. That's probably the biggest piece of this stuff I've ever found. It is some kind of hard coral. I never know which uh coral species. Very delicate. Very lovely. It gets to come with me as well. This guy is a flat false limpet. I believe they call it a false limpet because it breathes air and the true limpetss breathe water through gills. Oh, shiny. I missed him on my first pass through the area. It is another juvenile carry that didn't grow its teeth on the bottom. I mean, it's just full of it's just full of sand.

[00:04:00]There's no there's no creature left in there. This should be a juvenile snake head cow. That would be a conical moon snail. They don't typically get super dark like the ones at Harvey Bay. And I also saw, yeah, why not? It's a telescoped dove shell. We get a lot of different dove shells from here. And also, I'll collect up this and probably any other bits that I see. It is a piece of lace coral. Not a very interesting bit. Hopefully, I'll find a better one later. Oh, look at that. What do we have here? Oh, it is. It is organ pipe coral.

[00:04:32]Oh, there's lots of red coral that washes up around here. And um like like for instance there is this red coral that washes up quite a lot which I just don't look at anymore. It's a less vibrant red color than the organ pipe coral. So this coral is a different species than the organ pipe coral. I generally just like the organ pipe coral. It stays this vibrant red color even after you take it away from the beach. I missed you on my first pass too. Mostly because the uh the sun was hiding. That is a juvenile wandering cowie. Again didn't grow its tooth line on the base but still has some lovely speckling. I mean, I think that's a wandering cowie. Sometimes it's hard to tell with these really young cowry species. Tiny fella. Oh my good golly goodness. So when I said I missed it, I mean like I'm still doing that first pass through, honestly. It is a very lovely and large clandestine cowery.

[00:05:18]They don't get terribly much bigger than that. Although you can get ones that are a bit more giant sized. Another rather nice crowned cone. Is that Is that something in there or is that a piece of Hold on. Mr. Sheller is here and he just threw this at me. I think that means he doesn't want it. Here we go. Got a little donkey cowie. The scientific name is Aselis, which means it is technically called the little ass cowery. There is actually a lot of very nice and empty crowned cones washing up on the on the shell pile today. This must be about the third one I've picked up. As you can see with all the crusty stuff on it, it's still got its perostricum on the outside. The perostricum is an organic layer that the mollisk used to originally help create the shell in the first place. I have moved out into the rock pools. Although I think I want to go to the other side of the beach just to check to see if there's any uh big shell piles over there. First things first though, got an Oerculum from a military turban. Everyone's like, "Maddie, one day you'll find a military turban." I'm like, "Guys, I already have. They're just not that common here.

[00:06:17]Go find that video." There's also a white cone shell. He's just got some pebbles in the opening. I think that one should be a dwarf cone. Look at this fancy fella. Mr. Crab, you do have a lovely home. What do we think? Do we look at him? Also, that crab is super intimidating. He's like a super super hairy fella. Hold on. Let's just say hello, sir. May I say hello to you? A Hello, sir. He is in a really beautiful giant hairy Triton shell with all of his beautiful hair still intact on it. I do have a lot of shells in my bag to do for hermit crab transfers, but I think I'm just going to leave him to his crabby business. I've got plenty of giant hairy tritons at home. That is a very old shell, but it's nice and large. The first large one today. Here we go. It is a cora cowie. I said that when I picked up a juvenile one earlier, although the English name of it is a thickedged cowie. Uh, yes, very worn away. It should be green with brown speckling on top. Is that a scallop? I almost said scolop. I almost went full-blown Australian on us. Here we go. It is a scaly scallop. I just like kicked smooshed a sand pile. Wasn't expecting anything to pop out of it. He does look and feel pretty shiny. Oh my goodness. I was I wasn't expecting anything under that. Do you know how many sand piles I kick each day looking for things?

[00:07:32]Anyway, it looks like a juvenile. Sorry, not juvenile. I usually call these sub adult because they've grown their teeth.

[00:07:38]Although the shell is very light.

[00:07:40]Doesn't have the top patterning, so it's still not an adult. Here's a lovely eroded cowery. Are you any good? I was expecting bonnets on the other side of the lighthouse, not this side of the lighthouse. It's missing a bit of the tip. Am I too much of a snob to take him? Uh, maybe. I'm not sure. It is by the by it is a banded bonnet. Oh, I see the teeth of a wandering cowie down there. Let me just like Oh my goodness.

[00:08:04]Sea slug. You are just in the wrong spot, aren't you? Stretch, stretch, stretch. There we go. There we go. Oh, he is nice. Oh my good golly goodness.

[00:08:13]He is nice. Hello, sir. It is an adolescent. Um, that is, I should say, a subad adult wandering calorie. He feels very nice. That was quite surprising.

[00:08:23]and he feels like he's going to have a lot of shine on him. I stopped to get the wandering cowie. There's another nice curry behind it. Oh my goodness.

[00:08:28]Hello. This guy is quite uh worn away on the top. He's supposed to have a big kind of like square spot with a few other spots on the side. Uh it is a solid carry a stitter. Actually, this one looks really good. Oh my goodness.

[00:08:40]Are you whole? Um please nothing kill me. Oh, there we go. Okay, he does look a little bit worn away. He's supposed to be green on top because he is the green tinted cowie, but super lovely. That's a pretty good size for this fella. I thought it was a shrubbery, but it is not. It is a nudie branch or a sea slug or you might call it a flatworm. He's very ruffly. He does kind of look like he's just part of the rock pools, honestly. Can I get a better look at you? Can I make you move up a little bit, sir? I don't want to do anything that'll bother him. No, he's just going on his way. All right, we'll leave him on his nudie branch business. Look at how freaking fancy that is. Oh my good.

[00:09:19]Is that wood on the inside? That is wooden. Oh my goodness. This is the best Finley I've ever found. It is a Maja Fins. That is like That is really, really cool. There's a lot of surfers out there. Um there's obviously a lot of rocks around. So, I mean, yeah, that just got pulled right off during the big surf, I guess. Oh, look at this fancy surfer out here. He's not going to lose a fin. He's going to lose a propeller or something. Look at how fancy that is.

[00:09:44]Like, I don't know why that didn't catch on. Those What do they call them? Like wave boards. That's fun. Those waves are also really big. So, yes, I finally arrived at the other side of the shore, which I wanted to see probably like half an hour ago. Not that I'm complaining because there was a lot of very nice stuff in the rock pools. Anywh who, I mean, there wasn't a lot, but there was a few good things. Anywh who, he's got a break right there, but it's another juvenile curry. It should be a juvenile Arabian cowery. Also, there's nothing really on the sand here. So, uh uh back to that side of the beach, I guess.

[00:10:13]Well, I'm kind of back where I started.

[00:10:15]I have no idea how I missed this guy. He is empty. Oh my goodness. He's got these lovely stripes on top. He's going to look very nice, I think, when he dries.

[00:10:24]Yes, he does feel shiny. Also, mostly that the fact that he's got stripes on top means that he's not worn away yet.

[00:10:29]It is another beautiful clandestine cowry. Hello. Hello. A little another sub adult like another juvenile carry.

[00:10:35]Which one? Oh my goodness. It's another another one, everyone. It's another wandering carry.

[00:10:40]Look, he's got quite a few like healed brakes, healed scars running horizontal along the shell. Looks a bit different than the last couple I got. Another empty guy. Oh my goodness. Wandering cowies have just been everywhere lately.

[00:10:50]There's not much color on it. Let's see if it's, you know, any good though. Oh, it actually does have some stuff.

[00:10:56]I didn't think it would have any good spikes. Look at how spiky he is. I nearly disregarded that because he looked fairly pale and worn away under the water. But no, I think it's a good one. It is a prickly spotted droop shell. There is water coming. Let me grab him. Doesn't he look so freaking nice?

[00:11:14]I'm in this. Oh my goodness gracious.

[00:11:16]I'm in this flash zone.

[00:11:19]Literally just got that in time. Um. Oh my goodness. He feels very, very nice.

[00:11:26]He actually looks very, very nice. Oh my goodness. Are you kidding? That's really beautiful. That is a coriary. I picked up an extremely worn away one earlier.

[00:11:35]That is gorgeous. That feels like it's going to shine. Once again, the English name for that is a thickged cowie. Oh, that is like that is the worst feeling ever. There is a hermit crab in it. Um, I'm going to see if I can transfer him maybe. Hopefully, because that's a very like they don't usually take carries unless it's like the nicest condition carry you've ever seen. I've literally only just put three shells down for him.

[00:11:59]There's three spangler trumpets. He's immediately gone to the larger one.

[00:12:03]There's two smaller ones. I'm going to see if he's going to change. I did catch a look at him as he tried to uh cidle up to it. He looks like a small crab. I don't I don't understand why he wants the big one. Mr. Crab, isn't that a bit a bit too large for you? Would you like the smaller one? He is so into this bigger shell. I have no idea what's happening, but the entire curry is now inside this bangalist trumpet. Oh, he's still inspecting.

[00:12:27]Pay it. Mr. Shell, get that shell.

[00:12:32]We have success. Hello. You know, he doesn't look that small in the uh in the shell. Hold on. Let me zoom out. Okay, he is in the Spangler trumpet. He still looks like he wants to like he wants to go. Sir, do you want a smaller Spangler's trumpet? I will I'll leave the smaller one there for him. But I like I think I've got a good a good shell now. Hold on. There we go. So, yes, we have already looked at the shell. It is quite a nice one. And I think he wants the smaller shell. Sir, are you in the smaller shell? He doesn't know which shell he Oh, he's in a smaller shell.

[00:13:06]Oh my good golly goodness. I'm sorry.

[00:13:08]That's off camera. Where is my hand?

[00:13:10]It's right there. There we go. He's in a shell that's better for his size. There you go, buddy. That looks a lot better on you. And I will take back the biggest Spangler's trumpet. The wandering calories, they are absolutely not doing good at all. I'm sorry, little wandering cowies. You just there's a lot of them around this episode. Last episode, the episode before. It looks like another sub adult one. Like, it doesn't feel like a thick shell. It's still got that color wrapping around. So, the base didn't thicken out to be a cream color yet. Very, very cute. No idea why I'm getting so many of them though. That is just sitting in the middle of the sand.

[00:13:41]Do we think it's a live one? Uh, is it doesn't have a snail in it? Sir, do you have a crabby in you? I don't I don't see a crab. I'm trying to look in the corner so they can suck themselves back in pretty good. Oh my goodness. Isn't that just lovely on top? It's got like an almost like pinkish tan color.

[00:13:58]Beautiful on the base. Got some very lovely yellow. Looks pretty good. Only a little chip right there. I'm being nitpicky. Very, very nice bonnet shell.

[00:14:05]It is the first nice banded bonnet for the day. I don't see any little crabby shadows through it. It is blowy on this side of the lighthouse, so you you might hear some uh some wind noise. Or maybe not because it seems like uh most of the rock pools are just filled with sand.

[00:14:21]This looks like there's just a pebble on the inside, not a creature. It's actually in very nice condition. A beautiful orange miter shell. The base of that looks really, really nice. Let's take a closer look. Oh, is that a crack?

[00:14:34]Is that a crack or is that damage? I think it's just damage. I don't think it's a crack. Anyway, pretty cute. Small fella. It is a checkerboard bonnet. Oh, that is eye-catching. That is Oh, there we go. Yeah, I thought it had a hole in it, but it's just a part where the uh the red has worn away to show some Oh, no. No, that's a bit of an oyster or a barnacle. Aha. I have a rather lovely uh I think it's a red wing oyster. It's lovely and joined, too. Well, this is probably one of my most ambitious shoulder blades. It is all leaning, ready to fall down. I'm trying very hard not to to bump the log. But anyway, yes, here are the shell finds for a very fortunate day in the rock pools. And if you have enjoyed this big little lot, please hit that like button for me and subscribe if you want to see more shelling adventures. I got to say, yes, we usually talk about favorites and special mentions now, but my favorite thing that I found is this beautiful surfboard fin. I think it's bamboo on the inside. Or at least that's what um the uh Margera Finn's Facebook group was showing in some of their videos from a long time ago. I don't think these are made anymore. And I'm just like, oh, is it finders keepers? Do I find the person who owned it? I'm not sure because this is actually a handmade fin. Super interesting. Really like it. It sits on my desk next to my uh next to my 3D printed sea urch. And he's probably the favorite for the day. And on to the shell favorites. Oh, it's on the ground now. It's fine, everyone. and it's fine.

[00:15:59]On to actual shell favorites. I got to say, lots of wandering calories today.

[00:16:03]I'm not even sure which one's a subad adult anymore and which one's a juvenile. That one's a subad adult one.

[00:16:08]That one is also subad adult. I think there's one juvenile. I do not remember where I put it, but um yeah, they can all have a special mention. They're all shiny and beautiful and glossy and lovely. I really did like the banded bonnet up here. Oh my goodness. Destroy the display. Pretty sure it's empty.

[00:16:24]Looks lovely. Has a bit of shine on it.

[00:16:26]I actually forgot to mention the clandestine calories, too. Oh my goodness, I really liked them as well.

[00:16:31]Am I waffling on too much? I mean, yes, probably. How do you guys put up with me? I don't understand it. The final favorite is this beautiful coralie. Got it from Mr. Hermit Crab. Only took like 3 minutes. He really wanted to change out of his shell. So, yes, that is the final favorite for the day. And that's it for this time, everyone. Thank you so much for watching. Bye, guys.

[00:17:08]Krabby, are you trying to steal my seashells? Yes, I see you. Oh. Oh, okay.

[00:17:13]Okay. Bye. I Oh. Oh. Hello. Are you thinking about the shells? I'm so concerned because we are so close next to each other. Krabby, please don't kill