It’s Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of
summer, so let’s take a trip to the beach and check out the tide pools. Growing
up in Pennsylvania, my only marine biology experience was seagulls and jelly
fish at the sandy beaches of the Jersey Shore. Moving to Washington opened up a
whole new dimension of ocean life for me.
Washington has rocky beaches in some areas and sandy
beaches in others. The best sandy beaches have large rocky outcroppings called
sea stacks. At low tide, the rocks reveal their living treasures. I also had my
first seal encounter, but unfortunately this harbor seal was a carcass.
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| Sea Stacks |
My best tide pool walk was at Olympic National Park’s
Ruby Beach. I just happened to time it with the super low tide that comes with
a full moon and summer solstice. Instead of just the usual starfish and
anemones, we were also treated to sponges, chitons, and even a shrimp. Higher
rocks had an assortment of mussels, barnacles, and snails. Snails prey on barnacles,
and I managed to witness this segment of the circle of life.
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| Giant green anemones |
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| Ochre Sea Stars |
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| Chiton |
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| Barnacle (white) and Mussels (black) |
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| Snail eating barnacle |
Dash Point State Park’s sandy beach has a nice batch
of sand dollars. These are living critters, not just fancy shells in a store.
Live sand dollars are fuzzy and should be left alone. Only pick up the bleached
white ones.
The tide pools of a rocky beach, such as Larabee State
Park, are different. There, I encountered pools of standing ocean water teeming
with life, rather than exposed to the elements like at Ruby Beach. Larabee gave
up crabs, limpets, sea cucumbers, starfish, and anemones.
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| Crab and limpets |
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| Sea Cucumber |
There was even a pig
at the beach last time I was there. Apparently Washingtonians take their
livestock to the beach. I came across a chicken with its human at Shilshole
Beach in Seattle.
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| Pig at the beach |
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| Chicken getting ready to hit the beach |
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