Seashells and hermit crabs

I went snorkeling back at Pensacola Beach on Friday after class, and I collected many more seashells. The visibility wasn't very good further out due to wind-chopped waves, and I nearly swam through a 12-inch-wide moon jellyfish, so I stayed closer in towards the beach.

There were hundreds of hermit crabs, and I had to throw so many shells back that I was sure were uninhabited. I'm not sure how hermit crabs squeeze themselves that deeply inside shells. And I'm talking about some hermit crabs smaller than guppies.

 

It's a strange sensation to feel a shell suddenly start to move around in your pocket and poke you while you're swimming along minding your own business (and stealing someone and their house). I threw three shells back that were apparently inhabited. I started checking more thoroughly before keeping shells.

 

After collecting enough seashells, I bought another gyro from Spyros' Gyros, checked the snorkel gear back in at the base gear rental shop, and went back to my room. On the way to the hotel, a hermit crab emerged from a throughly-vetted, "empty" shell, so I had to stop by the quay wall and put it back in the water.

I rinsed out all of the shells. There were whelks, several types of clams and scallops, oyster shells (which are not particularly attractive but are an important piece of Gulf Coast identity), pieces of sand dollars, and a few other nice shells. I got them for Sarah, perhaps to adorn her bathroom, which is sea life-themed.

Then one of the shells walked away.

Once again, I drove down to the quay wall and threw it back. I'm unsure why I didn't instinctively check the other cone shell before I left this time, just in case. When I returned, I checked the other cone shell and, sure enough, there was another tiny hermit crab inhabitant. So I returned another crab to the ocean.

That process got old very quickly. A little bit later that night, I heard a thud in the bathroom. Upon inspection, there was another hermit crab! I told it that I would take it back in the morning. Unfortunately, in the morning I found the shell on top of the shower drain without an inhabitant. It must have crawled out and fell down the drain. That was a slightly sad moment.