Photo from “Must Do” Visitor Guide
We know that the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is one of the most unique museums in the country, and now readers of Forbes Magazine know it, too!
Writer Gary Stoller notes that “the museum now houses a collection of about 542,000 shells. Besides local shells, shells from other countries, including some of the world’s largest, are on display.”
He also writes about his interesting interview with José Leal, the museum’s science director and curator, who calls Sanibel Island the “shelling capital of the Western Hemisphere.”
“Shells are the remains of super-cool animals called mollusks,” Leal says. “Mollusks are the second-most diverse group of animals in number of species, losing only to arthropods (insects, crustaceans, spiders). There are about 77,000 species, and many more are yet to be discovered.”
Read the full article here. If you haven’t yet been to the Shell Museum, be sure to add it to your itinerary for your next visit to the island!
