≋ Life in Shades of Blue ≋

View Original

A Birthday Surprise: Finding a Beautiful Queen Helmet Conch in the Bahamas

Last year, on my birthday, I made an incredible find by the dock in the Bahamas. This beautiful queen helmet shell was face down in just a few feet of water. From the surface, it looked like a big rock, but I decided to check it out, and I was not disappointed!

See this content in the original post

Fun fact: Helmets are carnivores and feed off the sandy bottom floor, searching for sea urchins and key-hole urchins, better known as sand dollars. They have an aggressive feeding behavior where they lift their shell high and smash it down on unsuspecting sea urchins, engulfing the creature. The helmet shell snail then secretes an enzyme to protect it against any toxins their prey might have.

They produce an acid to help break down the urchin, then drill a hole into the surface of their victim. The last move is to suck out the internal organs of their prey through the hole they drilled, allowing the creature to consume its meal quickly.

Can you believe this video has over 11M views on my TikTok?! πŸ˜… Head over to the comment section if you want to be entertained!

Swimwear is from Salt Life. Use β€˜β€™GABRIELLA10’’ for a discount 🌺