Welcome to the Sanibel Captiva Shell Club
Our meeting location is:
Sanibel Recreation Center
Pelican Room and Osprey Room
3880 Sanibel Captiva Road
Sanibel Island, Florida
Meeting Dates and Time:
Meetings are held October through April on the second Sunday of the month, with the exception of March, when it moves to the third Sunday of the month.
(Our December meeting is a special “Members’ Only” event)
The doors open at 1:30 PM with a Silent Shell Auction, with the presentation starting at 2 PM. The Meeting and Zoom online portions begin at 2 PM. The Oral Auction will take place after the presentation.
In-person and Hybrid Meetings
Our meetings are both in-person and hybrid. The in-person meeting is open to the public. Club members will receive a Zoom link for the meeting by email. If you aren’t already a member of our club and you’d like to join, visit Become a Member for more on joining and the benefits of becoming a member.
Meeting Activities
While activities vary each month, our meetings include a guest speaker and live auction featuring special shells. Attendees can also participate in a Silent Auction with a large assortment of local and international specimens, door prizes, and enjoy refreshments. If you missed the line-up of speakers, you’ll find them on our Home page Home .
April 12 – Monthly Meeting/Lecture
John Slapcinsky presents “Papua New Guinea, the Land of the Unexpected: Exploring its Remarkable Land Snails”
Our April speaker is John Slapcinsky. John studies biodiversity and conservation of land snails, one of the most endangered animal groups. As Collections Manager of Invertebrate Zoology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, he oversees one of the country’s largest mollusk collections which supports studies of evolution, ecology, and conservation.
Papua New Guinea is renowned as the “Land of the Unexpected,” a reflection of its extraordinary biodiversity, cultural richness, and rugged, largely unexplored landscapes. From coastal villages to cloud forests on high mountain peaks, it is a place of dramatic contrasts and immense biological diversity, including a remarkable and little-known fauna of land snails.
March 15 – Monthly Meeting/Lecture
Megan Davis, Ph.D. presents, “How I Fell in Love with the Queen of the Sea: a Journey of Conch Conservation”
Click Here to view Presentation
For fifty years, Dr. Davis has studied the queen conch life cycle and innovated ways to save the species. She is the world’s foremost expert on queen conch aquaculture and has designed, implemented, and operated community-based queen conch hatcheries throughout the Caribbean. As a Research Professor and Director of Florida Atlantic University’s Queen Conch Lab program, Megan and her team work with fisherfolk and citizens in their communities to empower them to grow their own conch for restoration and conservation.
Megan will give you a deep understanding about the biology of the queen conch. She will also share about why the Queen Conch Lab and their partners are on a mission to save the queen of the sea for the sake of the species, seagrass ecosystem, and people. Megan will highlight their queen conch community-based work throughout the Caribbean.
February 8 – Monthly Meeting/Lecture
Mithriel MacKay, Ph, D, – Why Mollusks Need Whales
Click Here to View Presentation
January 11 – Monthly Meeting/Lecture
Kevan Sunderland – Deep Water Shells of the Gulf
Click Here to View Presentation
Kevan will be presenting “Deep Water Shells of the Gulf,” and he will take us on an exploration of the many fisheries of Florida and the Gulf with stories about the early dredgings, collecting methods, and the many interesting species of shells that were collected including some that are still unnamed.
Kevan Sunderland grew up in the Florida Keys where he became a shell collector at an early age. Even through high school, Kevan’s collection and documentation of shells of the Florida Keys was well recognized amongst his peers. His college years were spent in Key West where he had hundreds of shrimp boats, lobster boats and other commercial fisheries saving shells for him. By the time he graduated from FAU with a degree in Biology, he had already amassed one of the largest private collections of Caribbean shells.
Since then, through diving, dredging, netting, trapping, and continued work with many commercial fisheries around the Caribbean, his collection has grown into the largest private collection of Western Atlantic shells in the world.
Kevan has had numerous shells named after him that he discovered as new species from his night diving and deep-sea trawling around the Caribbean. His collection has been published in numerous shell books and scientific journals. Kevan is frequently invited to speak at the Conchologists of America convention and at shell clubs. He has judged all the major shell shows around the country multiple times.
November 16 – Monthly Meeting/Lecture
Dr. Jose Leal – The New Great Hall of Shells at the National Shell Museum and Aquarium
Click Here to View Presentation
Our speaker for the November 16 meeting will be Jose’ H. Leal, Ph.D., the Science Director & Curator of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium. Dr. Leal will provide an insider’s view of the newly refurbished Great Hall of Shells at the Museum. Completion of Phase 2 of the Great Hall was the last step in the conclusion of all physical renovations following the damage inflicted on the Museum by Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Dr Leal will comment on the topics included in the new line-up of permanent exhibits and discuss the complex workflow that led to their completion in October 2025. Come to the next meeting and enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the latest and greatest exhibit at the Shell Museum!
October 12 – Monthly Meeting/Lecture
Tom Ball – Musical Molluscs
New mollusk species are named for many things, including locations, colors, attributes, kings and queens, rich donors who sponsor scientific trips, and even family members. This month, presenter Tom Ball will show us his program named “Musical Molluscs,” that will take us through the many shells and non-shelled mollusks that have musical references in their names.
Tom Ball has been a member of the Broward Shell Club since 2005, and a COA member since around 2011. Tom was a computer tech by trade, recently retired. He also is a part-time musician as a pianist, composer/arranger and singer. He is active in Barbershop quartets, choral groups, church and synagogue choirs and the chorus of the Florida Grand Opera.
It is no surprise then that Tom collects shells with musical connotations. Shells named for an instrument, a composer, a musician, a musical opera, score or anything musical. You will be surprised at all the shells he has encountered.
Music will be supplied! Dancing optional!