First Mate Veronica

A true South Florida native, Veronica hails from Miami and now calls Southwest Florida home. Her career began as a zookeeper, working hands-on with birds, reptiles, mammals and primates, before she moved to Southwest Florida to study Environmental Ecology at Florida Gulf Coast University — where she also served as a teaching and lab assistant in freshwater ecology.

Her expertise deepened with her Florida Master Naturalist certification and her work as an Environmental Specialist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, monitoring bird rookeries, seagrass beds, water quality and historical archaeological sites across the region. One summer in New Jersey she worked as first mate on a boat targeting tuna — the same passion she now channels into shelling adventures in the Ten Thousand Islands.

Guests on Veronica's trips get more than shelling: the animals behind the shells, the health of our mangroves and seagrass, why water quality matters, and expert tips on finding rare shells like the Junonia. Warm, knowledgeable and genuinely excited — for all ages.

Captains and crew rotate across the fleet and both home ports with the season and the tides, so we can't promise who'll be at your wheel on a given day — but every Sand Dollar trip runs with a local captain, USCG licensed & insured, and a crew that treats your day on the water like their own.

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