Seal Harbor Beach, Valentine's Day, 2012 (Beachcombing series No.61)

It was 9:30 in the morning on a bright, sunny Valentine's Day when I headed over to Seal Harbor to see what the sea had washed up. There was a light but steady breeze from the east that made it feel much colder than the 30ºF on my thermometer, and when I took my gloves off to pick things up or to take pictures, my fingers froze quickly.

Panorama of the Seal Harbor beach

The beach looked fairly clean as I walked down; not a lot of debris at the tide lines, although I could see some seaweed piled by the water off to the west. As I walked toward it, I found a small, dead sea cucumber. It was the first time I've ever seen one washed up. I threw it back into the water, hoping it would revive (and if not, it would at least have a sea-burial).

Ever see a beach full of sand dollars? Well, here you go! Most of them are buried, but you can tell they are there by the circular lumps in the sand.

Lots and lots of them had left tracks like these. I think they move around on the little spines that cover them (it looks like dark pink fur).  I need to learn more about sand dollars.

This little guy is a scud (a kind of teeny tiny shrimp). They are about the size of my pinkie nail. I love the way they wiggle - top photo is stretching out, bottom photo is curling up. Stretch, curl, stretch, curl... (there's more information about scud here.)

As the sun rose higher my fingers began to thaw, and I took my hat off. It was even warmer on the rocks, but snow and ice lingered in the shadows. That was distracting because, you know me, I can't resist trying to photograph ice.

These are of frost on the pinkish sand. I love all those intricate squiggles.

After a while I worked my way back to my starting point, where I got distracted again, this time by reflections on the stream bottom under the ice.

Altogether a satisfying day out!



P.S. These photos were all taken with a new camera I'm testing.

I bought it for a big trip that's coming up soon - I'll tell you more when departure day is closer. Here's a hint - this camera is supposed to be good to 30' underwater...


So far, I like it. The (above-water) photos seem fairly crisp, colors are good, the macro function works well. The lens doesn't have a cover, though, so I worry about scratching it. It's also flush with the casing, so I have to concentrate on NOT putting my fingers in front of it. Haven't used it underwater yet, but I'll report back when I do.