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Florida's Living Beaches: A Guide for the Curious Beachcomber
Florida has 1200 miles of coastline, almost 700 miles of which are sandy beaches. Exploring along those beaches offers encounters with myriads of plants, animals, minerals, and manmade objects--all are covered in this comprehensive guide with descriptive accounts of 822 items, 983 color images, and 431 maps. Beginning with the premise that beaches are themselves alive, this guide to the natural history of Florida beaches heralds the living things and metaphorical life near, on, and within the state's sandy margins. It is organized into Beach Features, Beach Animals, Beach Plants, Beach Minerals, and Hand of Man. In addition to being an identification guide, the book reveals much of the wonder and mystery between dune and sea along Florida's long coastline.
326 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 19, 2020
❤️🌞🌴 Amy loves field guides. ❤️🌞🌴
I bought this book a few years ago to use on our trip to Perdido Key (near Pensacola). Now we have pulled it out again on our trip to the Clearwater area. I have been focused on identifying birds. My kids also love trying to indentify shells and jellyfish. Such a wonderful guide for those of us who love learning about the natural world.
I bought this book a few years ago to use on our trip to Perdido Key (near Pensacola). Now we have pulled it out again on our trip to the Clearwater area. I have been focused on identifying birds. My kids also love trying to indentify shells and jellyfish. Such a wonderful guide for those of us who love learning about the natural world.
July 29, 2017
Excellent resource for a variety of beach information. I've live in two very different areas of Florida, and this book covered information about both equally well. I would highly recommend this book to friends.
July 2, 2024
This will be a wonderful companion for beach adventures and beachcombing. I'm excited to discover that there are newer editions to explore as well.
Purchased used (and previously very loved) from Books at Park Place (https://www.facebook.com/BooksAtParkP...). :)
Purchased used (and previously very loved) from Books at Park Place (https://www.facebook.com/BooksAtParkP...). :)
July 8, 2019
Excellent guide for the novice or naturalist!
September 29, 2019
Tells you where you can find shells in your local beaches and which types of shells are there.
September 6, 2021
It's books like these that make me feel old
December 3, 2023
very resourceful one for curious beachcombers where and what they can encounter along all beaches in Florida from shells, plants, birds, turtles and much more very cool and inspiring indeed!
December 27, 2014
This is an easy-to-read source for what you may find at beaches in Florida. Whether you live here or are just visiting, you will want to have this guide to use as a reference point. It is not only is about the kinds of shells you may see.
It starts out by discussing the 'home' for beach-life: the waves and sand. What are the causes, when and where you will find certain beach features, size and a bit of little-known trivia. Swash and backwash, sea foam, dunes, ripples, offshore bars and wrack lines are just some of the aspects that are discussed. And, of course, a map on each page.
Just when you begin to understand the shoreline, the authors introduce sponges, jellyfish, and different types of coral. It will encourage you to take nothing for granted as you walk along the waterfront.
And as soon as you feel comfortable with beach animals, the book goes into depth on the anatomy of various shelled mollusks. Here is the 'meat' of the book; almost eighty pages of the most commonly found shells you will see and then some. This is why it is so helpful to have detailed colorful pictures. You will see patterns, grooves and shades of color to help you with identifying what you may find along the shore.
I could go on but I want to leave the rest up to you. This is an awesome book. I have touched on only a small part of what you will find when you open the first pages. *If you must have one reference guide, let this be it.*
It starts out by discussing the 'home' for beach-life: the waves and sand. What are the causes, when and where you will find certain beach features, size and a bit of little-known trivia. Swash and backwash, sea foam, dunes, ripples, offshore bars and wrack lines are just some of the aspects that are discussed. And, of course, a map on each page.
Just when you begin to understand the shoreline, the authors introduce sponges, jellyfish, and different types of coral. It will encourage you to take nothing for granted as you walk along the waterfront.
And as soon as you feel comfortable with beach animals, the book goes into depth on the anatomy of various shelled mollusks. Here is the 'meat' of the book; almost eighty pages of the most commonly found shells you will see and then some. This is why it is so helpful to have detailed colorful pictures. You will see patterns, grooves and shades of color to help you with identifying what you may find along the shore.
I could go on but I want to leave the rest up to you. This is an awesome book. I have touched on only a small part of what you will find when you open the first pages. *If you must have one reference guide, let this be it.*
March 27, 2011
Compact, comprehensive, not too in-depth to keep the book light and portable, covers all the bases and answers questions I didn't even know to ask. Anyone who spends time on the beach in Florida looking at anything other than people will find solid, useable, useful information here. This may be the best beachcomber's reference book ever.
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July 17, 2016Enjoyed it!! Helped mee out tremendously as I walked the Beach & Shoreline finding all kinds of little "critters" and would have had no idea what they would have been, plus a great help with all the shells and other findings! A "Must Have: for anyone who is going to be exploring any Beach in Florida here soon!
March 7, 2008
Fantastic!!!!
December 31, 2014
One of my favorite beach combing books! Had the chance to hear the authors at Ding Darling a couple of years ago. They were great!
March 18, 2022
Very useful and informative for all of our beach trips in Florida!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews