Conch-tastrophe!

We've had several consecutive days of extremely cold weather and a day of amazingly high winds that churned up the Gulf to the point that this is what I found along the beach this morning, on the first sunny and relatively warm day we've had in a week:  Literally millions of conchs -- almost all live -- during low tide.  I've never seen anything like it!

They are so active that their little feet are paddling like mad, and I could hear, over the roar of the surf, their shells clicking as they bumped into one another.

I crouched and scooped up several conch shells that were face down in the sand to check for inhabitants and literally, without exception, every one was alive and kicking.

Let's hope that high tide brings them safely back into the Gulf without numerous casualties.