Tidepool Visit

This past Saturday, our family and some friends went to Crystal Cove State Park to enjoy an afternoon at the tidepools. It was a perfect day for tidepooling: warm and sunny with a light breeze and a minus 2.8 tide which means the water was 2.8 feet lower than the average low tide. Because the water level was so low, we were able to see things that hide farther out like sea urchins and starfish.

This starfish was about 12 inches across. A purple sea urchin is to the right

There were lots of sea anemones. In places there were so many it was hard not to step on them.

Alyssa had fun playing with the hermit crabs. The most exciting thing we saw was an octopus. It was hiding back under a rock, but we got a pretty good view of its tentacles. The man that showed us the octopus found it in that same hole under the rock about a year ago. He lives in the area and comes to visit it frequently. It’s always in the same spot. He breaks open a mussel or two to feed it. Now that we know where to find it, we’ll look for it next time we go, too. In this picture two of its tenticals are visible as well as its two eyes. The orange at the bottom of the picture is the mussel they were using to try to lure it out. The octopus was probably about two feet long.

The sunset was a beautiful end to a lovely afternoon.