beach combing on Muizenberg beach from May through till July can yield incredible rewards. for me there is not much more rewarding than stumbling upon a delicate Argonaut shell washed up in the foam of the surf and deposited on the cape white sands.
it seems this year has yielded a bumper harvest of this incredible specimen along the Muizenberg coast. i enjoy walking from the area in front of where i live to cemetery some 3 km down the beach. i have done this walk with my 2 noisy , barking mad sausage dogs umpteenth times. and yesterday i found my very first Argonaut shell, these shells are sometimes confused with the chambered Nautilus.
when i returned to the parking area a chap named carel with chinky tattoos all over his face sold me 2 other Argonaut shells. much better specimens than the one i found but nothing can beat the feeling of finding my own shell. i know the more experienced collectors walk the beach at night with torch in hand looking for these treasures, so to find one in the day is very rare and satisfying. i am told that it is the female of the species that makes the shell and its very rare to find the little creature in the shell as well. very fortunately my shell was well and truly vacated.
i am very happy with my 3 new shelf members. beach combing is still one of the great past times. after a huge cape storm not much beats the walk on the beach once the storm has past.
