Cerezo Bluffs Tide Pools...

I have loved exploring tide pools my entire life. When we learned of these ones, we knew we had to go. Patience is the key. We waited until an ideal low tide (-.13 ft. at 2:26 PM).

I'm going to quote our friend Brady a bit here as she describes this magical place so well and is the one who told us about it. "The Cerezo Bluffs tide pools are the closest thing we have to an aquarium close by. It is better than an aquarium in the sense that there is a hunt involved; which wonderful creatures will be found hidden in the intertidal zone today?"


As we strolled the shore, Steve discovered something for the first time, in the 50+ years of exploring the beach. He found not one but two of these small, gelatinous, crystal-clear blobs. Upon further research,  these unique little creatures, often referred to as jellyfish eggs, are called salps, and they have more in common with people than they do with jellyfish. The only thing salps and jellyfish have in common is that both are gelatinous and both float around in the ocean. Salps, like their relatives the sea pork, are part of a group called tunicates, are considered one of the most evolved of all marine invertebrates. They have a kind of primitive backbone, which jellies lack. They're just there to chow down on algae. So interesting right?





Who doesn't love hermit crabs? Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab and we saw several today.

We arrived in the late morning, meandered and then had a beach picnic.
Once the tide went out, Brady arrived. Brady has a background in biology so to be with her, in a nature setting, is to not only learn something but to be positively affected by her unbridled enthusiasm.
She truly is a kid in a candy shop in the tide pools.



This big guy was camouflaged, we didn't discover it until Steve saw it move. Brady says it is a wavy turban snail. Another first for us.

Brady was absolutely giddy with her discovery of a kelp crab. She has been tide pooling for years and has never found one of these little guys. What fun.

She also found a live, baby lobster.



Perfect weather, an afternoon with a good friend, being seaside, and new discoveries... It was a very good day indeed.

“Steinbeck wrote about the tide pools
and how profoundly they illustrate the interconnectedness of all things,
folded together in an ever-expanding universe
that's bound by the elastic string of time.
He said that one should look from the tide pool to the stars,
and then back again in wonder.”
-Robyn Schneider

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1 comments:

Four Points Bulletin said...

Ahhh! So much fun. I love the tide pools so so much. The time goes by so quickly, and before you know it they are covered with water, all the hidden creatures even more hidden!
Until next time!
Great pictures, by the way!!

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