Shelling Along the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey

Shelling Along the Atlantic Ocean in New JerseyA couple of weeks ago we took off for a week long vacation down to the south Jersey Shore. To be more exact, we spent a wonderful week on the Wildwood island and visiting friends. We had beautiful weather the entire week with temperatures 85-93 degrees. Perfect weather for spending time on the beach!

One afternoon a thunderstorm rolled in and dumped rain for about 30 minutes. After it was over we headed out onto the beach to look for seashells. I enjoy shelling and collecting seashells, so I’m always up for a beach walk. Sometimes you find the best shells right after a storm or during low tide.

Stingray in Tide Pool on Beach in North Wildwood

Shelling Along the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey

During this particular walk (it was low tide) and we found several small stingrays stuck in low tide pools. This was the first time in decades that we had scene stingrays up on the beach. Well, those stingrays didn’t last long. The seagulls dive-bombed them in groups and killed them. Then they enjoyed their lunch. It was something to see!

We collected 1 1/2 bags of shells during our 45 minute walk…all kinds of different seashells. Moons, slippers, clams, oysters, angel wings, mussles, whelks and a few broken sand dollars. The tide was “rough” thanks to the brief storm that we had, so we didn’t find any whole sand dollars on that particular walk.

Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey

Oh yeah…I almost forgot! While standing on the beach we watched a small school of dolphins right offshore chasing a school of fish. They were jumping in and out of the water, having a grand old time! I’m sure their bellies got full in the process. Always nice to see the dolphins when we’re down at the Jersey Shore.

Shelly's Signature

Comments

  1. Jo-Ann Brightman says

    I would love to see the dolphins. I want to take my granddaughter shelling

  2. How neat to see a school of dolphins. That sounds like a highlight. I still remember seeing orcas on a ferry ride years ago. The ferry stopped for the orcas so we were able to get a good look. Just amazing.

  3. And this is how you always have enough shells for all your craft projects. I didn’t know gulls would eat stingrays either.

  4. Dana Rodriguez says

    Sounds like a fun day. I wasn’t aware gulls would eat stingrays.