Florida's Living Beaches Book Review

Since I reference their book often, I want to give credit to the writers of Florida's Living Beaches.  Blair and Dawn Witherington have done an in-depth and excellent job of stuffing tons of information (and pictures) into their book.  I'll also have a page to refer my blog readers to, in case they would like to purchase it.

I originally bought it for the seashell information.  I wanted to see photos of shells that matched the shells I have in my little collection.  It was very helpful.

But the seashell section is only a small part of it's 326 pages.  Printed on the cover, just under the title, are the words, "A guide for the curious beachcomber".  And anyone who has walked along a beach anywhere will admit that they have sometimes encountered things that are puzzling.

The Witheringtons cover pretty much everything you could find in nature near the seashore.  They even explain the tides, dunes, waves, erosion, currents, and even water color!  They explain rip currents (something everyone who swims in the ocean should know about), and even have a section at the back of the book about items left by man.

The book begins with a section on beach features.  Part of the reason for including all this is so a beach-walker will know which areas of the beach may hold treasures.

Some elements of the book that I especially like are the little silhouettes of the state of Florida at the top of the pages.   By including solid or dotted lines, and color coding, a quick glance will tell the reader if the topic (shells, birds, animals) are found in a particular area, and when in the season they can be found.

For instance, when you want to identify a seashell, first find the shell among either gastropods (shells in one piece) or bivalves (shells that come in two pieces).  Then flip through the wonderful images to find the shape and color.  If that is not enough, read about the characteristics, and look at the top of the page - at the Florida map - to find out if it's commonly found on a particular shoreline.  

The writer's have also included a "Did you Know?" section at the bottom of most pages.  In this area they will give some tidbit of interesting information concerning the page topic.

I'll be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn.  Although I lived in central Florida for 27 years, I knew very little about Florida nature at the seashore.  After flipping through Florida's Living Beaches, I saw some things that I had collected and never realized what they were.  

The book also gave me answers to questions like these:

Why do some shells I have contain holes that look like someone drilled them?  

Why do some seashells have squiggly worn grooves?  

Which shells are rare to find in Florida?

Which types of jellyfish are harmful?