Fort Clinch State Park - Fernandina Beach, Nassau County, Florida

Fort Clinch State Park - Fernandina Beach, Nassau County, Florida
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Fort Clinch State park in Fernandina Beach is about 36 miles northeast of downtown Jacksonville and is one of oldest parks in the Florida State Park system. It was purchased in 1935, along with six other properties, to become the first parks in the state. The 1,153-acre park houses Civil War era Fort Clinch which was constructed between 1847-1867.
Discussion: The park is bordered on the south by Amelia Island residential properties, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the St. Marys River/Cumberland Island Sound, and on the west by Egan's Creek Salt Marsh. The park also has a large concrete fishing pier immediately adjacent to the south St. Marys River Jetty located in the far northeastern corner of the park.
Shelling: While the the park's colorful brochure states that "Shark tooth hunting and shelling along the beaches are excellent." the beach at Fort Clinch is similar to other northeast Florida beaches in that both live and dead mollusks are not common on the beach throughout most of the year except following a "northeaster" or other similar rough seas. Nassau County beaches tend to be significantly "steeper" than those to the south in Duval County which means less intertidal beach for a sheller to peruse - even during the lowest of tides. The granite boulders and concrete structure of the jetty offer excellent habitat for rock dwelling mollusks and the jetty is the home to a large population of Stramonita haemastoma floridana (Conrad, 1837) [Florida Rocksnail], a thriving population of the invasive species Perna viridis (Linnaeus, 1758) [Asian Green Mussel], as well as an assortment of other smaller common northeast Florida species.