The 2026 Season of classes presented by the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium on Sanibel begin December 19 with Marine Biology and Beach Field Lab at Sanibel’s Gulfside City Park, led by Museum Marine Biologist Chris Whitt.
This hands-on course covers finding and identifying micromollusks, phytoplankton collecting, invertebrate diversity, learning about the beach ecosystem, and more. The course takes place during a negative tide, giving participants a higher probability of observing live mollusks.
Future classes include:
- January 9: Shell Ambassador Certification
- February 2: Marine Biology and Beach Field Lab (repeat)
- February 24: Creating Sailors’ Valentines
- March 13: Shell Ambassador Certification (repeat)
- April 7: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t: Elusive Shells and What Makes Them Hard to Find
“From gaining first-hand knowledge of our beach ecosystems, to finding and identifying rare shells, to learning how to teach the public about shells, we hope this season’s classes offer opportunities for people to build their knowledge and more deeply enjoy the nature of the islands and Southwest Florida,” said National Shell Museum Executive Director Sam Ankerson.
Learn more and register for all 2026 Season Classes HERE.
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is a natural history museum, and the only museum in the United States devoted primarily to shells and mollusks. Its mission is to use exceptional collections, aquariums, programs, experiences, and science to be the nation’s leading museum in the conservation, preservation, interpretation, and celebration of shells, the mollusks that create them, and their ecosystems. Permanent exhibitions on view include the Great Hall of Shells which displays highlights of the Museum’s collection of some 600,000 shells, as well as the Living Gallery of Aquariums and over 60 species of marine life. For more information, please visit ShellMuseum.org or call (239) 395-2233.