Bay County, Florida (WMBB) – Hurricane Michael destroyed the coastline of Mexican beaches. City officials said less than 12 feet of beach remained.
The Bay County Tourism Development Commission has begun a three-month beach restoration project that extends the beach by about 145 feet. They completed the project on May 1.
However, the dredging project not only proposes sand.
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“They have these giant machines that these companies bring, it just pulls out of the ocean, it goes straight into the conveyor belt, and they have a lot of fingers that go through with the machine, it pulls anything out on a massive scale. So, Mark Mark Steele, director of public works at Mexican Beaches.
The city transported the excess shells to Mexican beachboat ramps and opened to the public, searching for shells on Fridays and Saturdays, June 6-7.
Shell collectors pull out buckets and rakes to find unique shells. They can collect up to five gallons of shells a day.
Collectors can find thousands of different types of shells.
“It's a pathetic person. It's a pathetic person, but it's astrombus alatus. There's also a left-handed lightning whip sinistrofulgur sinistrum. Then, everyone wants it because they're glittering, because they're americoliva.
Many are looking for one of the rarest shells, found only in the deep sea.
“We're looking for Junonia. I think a lot of people are looking for these people. It's like the most elusive shell people want, and it's a broken example, but you can understand the idea. It looks a bit like a giraffe attraction,” Shell Collector Bryan Cummings said.
The remaining shells will be used for erosion projects throughout Mexico’s beaches.
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“A lot of it will be used for public works to help people in the city parks. Some will be overwhelmed in the parking lot. They can replenish some stormwater systems with drainage systems. So we do plan to use a lot of urban use.”
Due to the success of the event, Mexican Beach plans to collect additional time for Shell in the next few weeks.
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