There were lots of hermit crabs scooting around in the tide pools. A pair of them got into a bit of a scrimmage; actually, one attacked the other, who fought back for a bit then scuttled away, with the larger one in pursuit. They were in shells of the same species, and the crabs too seemed to be of the same species—their “feet” were light-coloured. I wonder what the fight was about. Maybe they were just feeling crabby.
The largest shell I find on our local beaches is the wavy turban snail. I was alarmed to learn that this gastropod is being harvested for food in growing numbers, with no oversight and no research. Sounds like another extinction waiting to happen. And before that, a radical decrease in the size of the turbans, as they pick off the largest ones.
Took a little walk along the beach while waiting for my lunch date at Cholada. This pink and orange seaweed caught my eye.
I ventured back to the beach today, expecting a huge amount of storm-delivered trash, but the sand was actually pretty clean.
Sitting in the shade of the huge old sycamore tree at Adamson House, looking towards the beach.
This was meant to be a five-minute drawing exercise, but I hadn’t even started on the rocks when the timer ran out. Reference photo by Stephen Travers.
Spiny lobsters can produce a loud rasping sound by rubbing an extension of their antennae against a rigid part of their body below their eyes. This noise may be used to communicate with other lobsters or to ward off predators.
This was the most intact lobster shell I’ve ever seen at the beach. Sure, it was broken in half and was missing a few legs, but it was mostly there.
It’s always fun to poke around the tide pools with Suzanne. We saw several California brown sea hares (Aplysia californica), so-named because their rhinophores look like long ears. Like all sea hares, the California sea hare is hermaphroditic, acting as male and female simultaneously during mating. A. californica is known to form mating chains with up to 20 animals. That would be a sight to see!
Most common item of plastic trash at the beach: drink bottle lids.
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