Sea Shells by Captain Shellman

Captain Shellman had a shell shop on Catalina Island, California for many years. Between the 1970's and the late 80's he bought and sold seashells on Metropole Street in Avalon. Divers would come in to sell him local shells so they would be able to go out and harvest more for the commercial needs of the island and others. The shells on this site have been stored since the time he sold his shop. From that time to this, he has had a warehouse out on Pebbly Beach and here in Arizona that is floor to ceiling seashells.

So, descriptions are based on what we knew from that era. Availability will be limited to "stock on hand". We'll tell you what we know about them, but please remember that we are using our knowledge from that time. What is known about them now will be new to us. We just love seashells and this is an opportunity to share them with you.

If you are looking for something special, let us know. We might have it. This is just the beginning of what we saw when we opened the first few boxes in the warehouse.

Abalone

The abs are all over the 5" size buy an easy shot - we measure them at 7" or larger. These are from Catalina Island. They were packed back when there were plenty and they are in their natural condition. They should be "greens" (meaning there are a number of different types of ab). Some have a lot of cretaceous material on the backs and some are cleaner than others.

$12.00

Chiragra

Aren't these cool? These are some of my favorite shells. They are found in the Indo Pacific Region and are about 5"-6" long.

$ 6.00 each

Fighting Conch

These little golden nuggets are from the Caribbean and measure from 2.5" - 3". They are a smaller version of the large conches found around the world.

$ 2.00 each

	Black Beads These black glass seed beads have splashes of color throughout the approximate 46" length. We sell these by the dozen only and they are beautiful for hat bands or necklaces. $12.00

Haitian Tree Snail

These tiny relics of color originate in Haiti! Yep! God colored every last one of them! He sure was busy!

$12.00

Horse Conch

These heavy shells come from Mexico and vary in size from 5" - 6"

$ 9.00

Cork
These corks are OLD. They came out of the SS Catalina life jackets of the Queen Mary era. They were sold to us when the SS Catalina was decommissioned-as I recall. The corks are approximately 2"x 7"x 5" and 2"x 5"x 11.5".

2"x 7"x 5"
$ 6.00

2"x 5"x 11.5"
$ 9.00

Multi Color Beads

Lots of Color! These beads come in lots of 12 and run about 44" in length. They have a great southwestern look.

$12.00 per dozen

Welk Shells

These will vary tremendously in size from 5" - 7", depending on what's on top of the box. they are found in the Florida Keys. This shell is one of three varieties of shells in the world that come in left and right sides - we sell only right sided.

$ 7.00

Spiney Oyster

These are carrier shells found in the Indo Pacific Region. They are bivalves and really cool carrier shells. We have them from 4" - 6". Some have more spines than others and "what they are carrying" will vary from shell to shell.
$ 9.00

Pink Murex

These beautiful, delicate little shells are found in Mexico. They measure approximately 3.5"

$ 3.00

Tunna

This is a very popular shell for use as a home for pet crabs. We used to get these from a fellow who came over to the island. I believe they were imported from India and are very light in weight and run about 3" - 4" in length.

$ 4.00