I have lived on Maui for almost 20 years and many times have been warned of the dangerous marine creatures and beach conditions, including tiger sharks, sea urchins, jelly fish, big shore break and even the horny monk seals at Molokini. I used to go to La Perouse bay a lot and collect shells and beach comb. A few years ago I found a beautiful shell. This shell was the most unique and perfect shell I had ever seen, especially in South Maui. I took the shell home and have had it in my collection for many years. The other night I was watching a show on Brazil and their deadliest creatures. I couldn't believe it when I realized it was the same type of shell that I had found at La Perouse Bay. The shell is a cone shell and has a very poisonous snail that lives inside and shoots a venom dart to stun their prey. Unfortunately there is no anti-venom for this poison and if you are stung you are paralyzed within a few seconds and most people die! So the moral to this story is DO NOT remove or touch and sea life or shells no matter how beautiful they are! Lucky for me there was no snail living in this shell when I found it washed up on the rocks!!
