If you went out walking on Crescent Beach right now and looked at the surface of the water very carefully, you’d see the tops of dozens of seals’ heads. Look even more carefully and you’ll see that they are watching you. I talk to them – I’m trying to get them familiar with my voice. don’t think you can see them very easily if you’re whizzing by in a car.
That’s like many of nature’s patterns. You might miss them right under your nose if you don’t stop and look around.
About a week ago, the seagulls were having a convention in the water off Crescent Beach. It lasted about 10 days or so. Hundreds of them were clumped in different areas, squawking and excited. Was it an influx of fish? I have no idea.
Before that, in mid-November, I was walking along Crescent Beach and didn’t even notice until about 20 minutes into it that the water was FILLED with moon jellies, all pulsing open and closed. As the tide was going out, it was rubbing the ones closest to shore ragged along the bottom and eventually stranding them on the sand. Did the thousands behind the front lines know what was coming?
It’s amazing to watch these guys. For being so delicate, they’re incredibly resilient and tough until their membranes are completely worn out by the elements.
Poor guys. It’s hard to watch beautiful creatures alive one minute and stranded by the thousands the next.
Even before the moon jellies, there were some massive jellyfish near and on the shore.
One of my favorite things to do in warmer weather is lie on the dock in Deer Harbor and watch the comb jellies float by. There are all shapes and light patterns, and they are incredibly otherworldly. (They are actually ctenophores, while jellyfish are cnidarians.) If you haven’t seen them before, here’s a look at one type, thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium:
Go see the seals at Crescent Beach while they’re congregating, and talk with them a bit. It’s cold out there on the beach right now, but sometimes you see things no one else sees.
