sea star
Our seventh day on the road was started with a tide pool walk.
tide pools
Not at all how I had mentally pictured it, walking on sandy beaches peering into puddles full of interesting sea creatures! No, it involved clambering over kelp covered, slippery rocks, practically standing on your head to peer into the cracks & crevasses, reaching under slimy rocks in hopes that when you flipped them over there would be an interesting creature or two.
under a rock
All that while keeping your balance and trying your best not to step on anything living. I failed at the last two several times, including one thudding fall onto a jagged rock. Ouch! But in between the challenges it was so awesome to view all these interesting creatures in their habitat.
another sea star
critters in the cracks
We were lucky to be there on a day of extremely low tides so there was lots to discover!
Anemone
covered in kelp
sea stars hanging around under the rocks
In addition to the critters we could see up close the sea lions were off shore just a bit, playing and making quite a racket! It was great to take this walk with one of the park rangers, she was great at helping us discover things and explaining how the different animals lived in this rocky place.
sea lions
This was probably one of our favorite days of vacation! We saw & did so many things I’m breaking the day into three blog posts just to get it all in! Next post we’ll move from the rocky shore to the sand dunes, stay tuned!
melfrommass
/ November 22, 2011Living in Massachusetts, I’m not exactly at the beach this time of year, so thanks for letting me live vicariously. 🙂
Mel
massachusetts-is-wicked-awesome.com
L.M.
/ November 22, 2011Living in Indiana I’m rarely at the beach so it’s fun for me to re-live it too!
kaslkaos
/ November 22, 2011I’ve never ever been near salt water. Most people share pictures of beaches, waves, etc… this tells me so MUCH more, and it’s nothing like being on the shores of a great lake. Also, intrigued by the concept of so much life it’s next to impossible not to step on any.
L.M.
/ November 22, 2011I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yes, there was life everywhere once we were shown what to look for! Tiny barnacles covered the rocks as well as other small bits of life. I didn’t realize that barnacles start off their lives as plankton before deciding to attach themselves to an object for the rest of their lives. It was a really interesting and educational experience!
Steve Schwartzman
/ November 25, 2011I wish we had some of these creatures in Austin. The purple starfish looks like it would be fun to photograph.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
L.M.
/ November 25, 2011It was a pretty cool opportunity!
jack15324
/ November 26, 2011It’s been many years since Shirlee and I visited the Oregon coast … a far cry from the “Jersey shore” that we knew as kids. Thanks for posting.
L.M.
/ November 27, 2011I’d only visited the southern shores of the Atlantic Ocean prior to this trip…it was pretty amazing to see the rocky coastline along Oregon.