The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club’s January 2026 meeting will take place on Sunday, January 11th at the Sanibel Recreation Center, 3880 Sanibel-Captiva Rd, Sanibel. Renowned shell authority Kevan Sunderland will present “Deep Water Shells of the Gulf,” and take the audience on an exploration of the many fisheries of Florida and the Gulf. Stories about early dredgings, collecting methods, and the many interesting species of shells that were collected, some still unnamed, will be on tap.
Sunderland grew up in the Florida Keys where he became a shell collector at an early age. Even through high school, his 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.
Many shells have been named after Sunderland – shells 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, and he is a frequent speaker at the Conchologists of America convention and at many shell clubs. He has judged all the major shell shows around the country multiple times.
A silent auction will be held from 1:30 – 1:55 PM in the Osprey room at the Sanibel Recreation Center. The remainder of the meeting will be held in the Pelican room, beginning at 2 PM. This meeting is open to the public, and free of charge.
The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club awards grants from the proceeds of its annual shell show held in March. Grants are given towards education and research in the fields of conchology and malacology, as well as for conservation and water quality projects, primarily in Southwest Florida. For more information about the annual shell show, or to join the club, please visit the shell club’s website at http://sanibelshellclub.com.
