She collects seashells by the seashore

Everywhere you look in Pat Linn’s Dunedin home you’ll find seashells. It’s a collection too big to count— shells from all over the world. Pat even has a shell garden along her driveway. “This is my collection from many, many years. Some of my favorite shells,” she said. “I love ‘em all!” Pat is a conchologist, someone who collects and studies shells. She’s been doing it for more than 40 years, ever since she was a child in the Fort Myers area. These days her beaches of choice are right here in Tampa Bay. Pat and her husband, Bob, volunteer on Honeymoon Island, walking the beach collecting trash and beautiful sea shells. “I have one bucket for my treasures and a big bucket for my trash,” she said. Pat says anyone can find shells. You just have to know when and where to look. The best time is after a big storm, but anytime waves are crashing, she’s looking. “If you’ve got a high tide and three to four foot waves coming in, they’re just rolling,” she said. Beautiful shells with interesting names: the fighting conch, lightning whelks and the Atlantic moon, better known as shark’s eye. Her

favorite is a huge horse conch her granddaughter spotted on the beach. > “This was out at Honeymoon Island and it was near bathhouse three,” Pat said. “It was buried in the sand and she saw the brown whorls. A very special find.” Patt’s shell wreaths are blue ribbon winners, but what she really loves to do is share what she’s learned. “I talk to people and I try to show them what to look for, what to find,” she said. “Then they get the bug and they’re back the next day looking!” She also gives away shells, lots of them, saying you can never have too many. And she never tires of walking the beach, always looking for her next shell treasure. “You just like to go out and see what Mother Nature has put forth for you to pick up,” she said. Pat Linn’s club, the Suncoast Conchologists, is hosting the Conchologists of America convention in Clearwater this weekend. Many events, including two shell exhibitions, will be open to the public. To find out more, click on over to www.conchologistsofamerica.org .

Originally posted here:
She collects seashells by the seashore

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