The winter beach is a special place, swept clean by raging Nor’easters, inviting only the hardiest souls to enjoy its pleasures and treasures. Tourists are scarce and it’s not so hard to find times we can have this island beach all to ourselves.
Remains of an old jetty appear in the sand as daylight moves in and the tide moves out.
To the north is a peninsula and other beaches with a sandbar between. At lowest tide you can sometimes walk from the island across to the peninsula, exploring the creatures left behind in the tide pools.
This morning the sandbar is covered with hundreds of birds — mostly brown pelicans, gulls, and cormorants. Too far away to identify the gulls with my binoculars. Oh, well.
Wouldn’t you like to own that house on the point (at least until the next hurricane pays a visit anyway)?
Look what the tide has brought up along the old jetty: several overturned starfish, stuck there as the water receded.
I moved several of them back into the water, hoping to give them another chance at survival.
The tubular structures you can see on the arms of this overturned starfish are what starfish use to move. Eyes are located at the end of each arm.
There are over 2000 species of starfish in the world’s oceans. I was surprised to know that they even exist in the polar regions.
I think it is common knowledge that starfish can regenerate lost arms, but did you know, they don’t all have five arms? Some can have many more than that, some fewer. This guy, found quite far up the beach from the water’s edge, only had four.
The tide was coming in and I passed many more of this same starfish species. We see many small gray ones at different times of the year (3-4 inches in diameter) but the ones on the beach today were bigger, 7 inches or so. There are species that grow up to 11 lbs!
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Thanks for the walk along the beach! Yes I would love to live in that house:)
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that the number of star fish arms varied.I don't think I would want to live in that house which looks so exposed.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed joining your beach exploration. Your passion for life evidenced by your list of interests and your energy are wonderful
ReplyDeleteThanks for the walk along the beach! The starfish certainly appreciated your coming along! That would be cool if you found an old photo that showed the jetty and dock intact. Bet that huge house on the point may not be in such a photo. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThanks for that interesting and scenic walk. There's so much I didn't know about starfish!
ReplyDeleteIt was delightful to come on this walk with you. I would have enjoyed the real event immensely, so the vicarious experience is very agreeable. A beach devoid of seething humanity is among the most fascinating of places, with so much to see, pools to explore, birds to listen to, and starfish too! If I were to place a price on the countless happy hours I have spent exploring tide pools and rocky shores, I am quite sure I would exceed my ability to imagine wealth. Great job, Cynthia!
ReplyDeleteThe beach is so pretty. Reading your posts makes me want to go back to the beach. I've never found a starfish, never! Aren't they pretty!
ReplyDeleteGlad to tag along on your beach walk. Don't know when I'll get to a beach again. Still here in Buffalo doing child care and cooking. Newest granddaughter now 1 week old.
ReplyDeleteI have recently gone over a number of your postings. I like what I see. Some great photos of nature, I always like that and find it relaxing.
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