Snorkeling in January

This week the weather rose above °80 so we made a fast diversion to the beach to explore tide pools. It was such a beautiful clear day for January and we decided on Little Corona Beach. The video below was filmed and edited by Ben (13) in which he and his brother identified garibaldi fish and other ocean creatures. Wind and swell conditions were ideal for snorkeling and the even though the water was cold, it was worth it! (external Link to Video)

On finding the Wavy Turban (or megastraea undosa, in the mollusc family) we could see the operculum (trap door) was closed. Operculum is a white calcareous flap that secures the creature inside it's shell. This snail shell was surprisingly heavy out of the water and we were curious to see the animal inside. We placed him in a container of salt water and immediately he came out to have a look around!  After our observations he quickly closed the operculum and we safely returned him to the water.

Octopus Adventures

"Twice a month the shore experiences extreme tides. When the sun, earth, and moon are in a straight line, their combined tug causes spring, or extra high and low tides. When the sun and moon are in right-angle position with regard to the earth, their influence is less, as the respective pulls tend to cancel each other out. The ensuing neap tides, as they are called, have a small rise and fall. Excessive spring tides occur in May and June and in November and December, prior to and around the summer and winter solstices." ~An Island Called California, p.3

California Aglaja (Navanax Inermis)

Black Sea Hare (Aplysia Vaccaria)

Coralline Algae (Lithothamnion sp.)

The dark area beneath the rock slab in the foreground is the Octopus' lair

My 5yo found the first octopus on one side of this rock after seeing it, the following video shows how we found the next one on the other side of the same rock.