Eight- Year-Old Finds ‘Holy Grail’ Junonia on Romano Island

The junonia, a small cream-colored shell dappled in rich brown dots, is considered something of a ‘holy grail’. Originating from a sea snail that lives deep underwater, their shells are exceptionally rare finds, and dedicated beach walkers can go for decades without finding even a fragment.

That’s what made it a surprise when eight-year-old Lennon Moore, a first-time visitor to Marco Island, discovered one on their first-ever shelling tour to the Thousand Islands. 

On vacation along the southwest Florida coast for the first time, having traveled from their home in Tennessee at their grandparents' suggestion, Lennon and his family came to Marco Island to take a shelling tour with Nautical Life Shelling Tours.

Taking a tour out to Cape Romano Island, five miles south of Marco, Lennon’s mother, Hannah Moore, said that her son had been digging on the beach when they spotted a particular shell sticking out of the sand and drew it out. At the time, neither of them had any idea of how valuable or rare the shell was until the boat captains informed them of their find. 

“We had no clue, and my son had no clue. He just thought it was a beautiful shell, and [Captain Caitlin Schwab] was like, ‘Oh my goodness, you found a junonia; those are so rare’,” Moore said. 

“We just felt so blessed and surprised and shocked that he found something so rare and so beautiful, and we thought, wow, what a great memory that had been made as a family together.”

Junonia can range from $50 to over $400, depending on the shell's quality and size, though for many sheller hunters, their real value is sentimental, due to their rarity. Schwab, one of the Nautical Life captains, said that as part of her work she shells frequently, and the last junonia she saw was in October of last year. 

Moore said her family has stored the shell for safekeeping and plans to create a shadow box for it upon returning home, as well as use the other shells they’ve collected for other displays. 

Moore said that she and her family have enjoyed experiencing the unique nature around the Gulf Coast during their trip, including boating and kayaking, seeing the mangroves, and the region’s famous dolphins and manatees. 

They also spoke highly of the tour and of Schwab and Jim Winterick, the new captains at Nautical Life, who took over the business in early June upon the retirement of longtime captain Carlos Escarra. 

“It was wonderful. Jim and Kaitlyn were such kind people. They walked with Lennon, who's eight, and Trace, our other child, who has just turned five, and helped them dig seashells out of the sand, look for shells. They were very helpful and kind the whole time. They would point out things when the children would find certain shells. They were telling them what type of shell they were and telling them a little bit of the background of the area ー just very informative and very kind,” Moore said. 

Both captains stated that they felt humbled to be able to go out on the water every day and provide shelling experiences for locals and tourists alike, carrying on the teaching of conservation and environmental lessons taught by Escarra before them. 

“It’s amazing, it’s priceless,” Schwab said of providing experiences to many families just like Moore’s. “I never know what’s going to happen on a tour, but it’s so much fun taking people out to the 10,000 Islands and the barrier islands and helping them search for shells, and while we’re doing so, we get to encounter a lot of wildlife in our local ecosystem and habitat here. So I get to keep learning myself and educate others and spread awareness as well.”

Moore added that, after such a positive experience, with everyone in the area being friendly to them, they plan to eventually return to Marco Island someday.