Shelling

Whether a serious or a casual beachcomber, Port O’Connor offers numerous shelling opportunities. Some of these areas include the little jetties along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Gulf beaches adjoining Pass Cavallo and several interesting spots on Matagorda Island.

There are five classes of mollusks, containing roughly 400 different species, which may be collected on the Texas Coast. These include gastropods (snails), bivalves (clams, oysters, cockles, and scallops), scaphopods (long, tapering tusk like tubes), chitons (segmented to allow them to roll up like a pill bug) and cephalopods (octopus and squid).

One of the most sought after shells on the Texas coast is the Mitchell’s Wintletrap. This shell, which can only be found on the gulf coast of Texas and Mexico, has been spotted on several recent occasions on the Gulf Beach of Matagorda Island State Park.