Nature Study at the Beach :: Low Tide

We were so excited to arrive at one of our usual beaches and find the tide unexpectedly low.  (The water usually comes right up against that cliff on the left.)  I wasn't sure how quickly to expect it to come in, so right away, I left the littles with my generous husband and called my oldest three to take a long walk down the cloudy shoreline.

The main part of this beach has a very man-made look: colorful shops and parking right along the sand, lots of surfers year round, kids and umbrellas in the summertime.  But just around the bend of the cliffs, a route usually covered by seawater, it's a whole different world.  Layer upon layer of shoreline, each with a different texture, usually underwater but exposed that day for us to explore.

Closest to the ocean: bulky rocks peeping out of the low sea, heaped in mussels and barnacles.  Turban snails, limpets, chiton, anemones--all of our "friends" from the tide pools, whom we have seen many times but are always excited to revisit.

Next working inland: a dark stretch of sand scattered in wrack, with washed-up crabs, clams, vellela, and more tucked within.

Beyond that: rocks upon rocks upon rocks, full of eerily smooth holes or fossils of bivalves and crustaceans.  They are truly breathtaking.  Sagging anemones hunched along the bottoms of these boulders, waiting for the water to return.

Next: a broad swath of pebbles of all shapes, textures, and colors.  We gathered a small handful of favorites.  We tried digging down to see what was underneath: more pebbles.  They kept going on for at least a few inches deep.

And after that: the cliff, still dripping wet from far above us, wildflowers clinging to its sides.

We had so much fun exploring all the layers of this shoreline--a morning very well spent.  Next week I'll share one of our more exciting discoveries from that beach.