My Heart's Been Stolen by Cabrillo Beach

A striped shore crab at Cabrillo beach.

          On Sunday, June 30 we are heading to San Pedro to see a small but highly rated donation-based aquarium.  We arrive shortly after ten and the greeters correctly guess that this is our first visit.  We are told about tide pools on the beach that we should go explore a bit then be back by eleven to take part in a grunion hatching, whatever that means.  We thank them for the information and head to the Cabrillo Beach tide pool area.

One of the hundreds of hermit crabs moving between the rocks.

          When we get there we are stunned by how many hermit crabs, red crabs, and snails are everywhere.  This beach is covered in rocks and doesn't have sand like I would normally expect.  Instead the areas between rocks are covered in fragments of shells and rock to create a very colorful ground.  We spend most of our time hunting the fast crabs that dart between and under the rocks.  I'd love to catch one but they are so fast!  I make sure to get pictures of my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean before we head back to hatch grunion.

My first view of the Pacific Ocean with the waves crashing in.

          We make it back to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium with plenty of time to spare so we hang around in a shady building and read some information while we wait for the show to begin.  A woman carts out a tray full of little jars and a full water bucket and everyone gathers around.  We will all get to hatch our own grunion eggs after we do the grunion song and dance.  The little kids all get into the simple motions and now they are handing out jars of sand and fish eggs.

Tiny limpets that live on the rocks.

         D grabs a jar for us and I have my camera at the ready for pictures and video.  We can see the tiny silver bodies inside the eggs but nothing is happening, yet.  We are instructed to shake the jar with our hand over the top to mimic strong waves that tell the grunion it is time to hatch.  After a couple minutes of vigorous shaking we begin to see tiny silver fish pop out of the eggs just like popcorn.  D stops shaking so we can watch as more and more fish pop out and begin swimming in the jar.  After naming all our fish the same name (I think it was Fred) except one, we hand our jar back and begin exploring the buildings.

D hatched a bunch of grunion!

          There are two main buildings separated into three exploration areas.  The first building we explore is their Aquatic Nursery where aquaculture and research are being run to learn more about the marine life and find ways to protect the endangered species and the ocean in general.  Many fish are also being raised to be shared for education purposes to prevent wild animals from needing to be caught.  There are many interesting fish in here including a creature that looks like a mix between a seahorse and worm.  It is long and straight with a long thin nose sticking straight up like the rest of its body.  I don't take any pictures in this room since most of the tanks are covered in condensation and even my eyes were having trouble picking out the details on most of the animals.

A super fast fiddler crab who disappears almost as quickly as you spot it.

          Now we head next door to the Exploration Center where we start to learn the names of some of the creatures we just saw at the beach.  The crabs we saw are striped shore crabs and all the tiny shell creatures are limpets which can actually dig themselves into rock.  In this building are a few tanks of fish and plants with one tank that we can crawl under to be surrounded by the fish.  That one is very cool and great for taking distorted pictures.  We learn about rockfish at the next tank and are then surprised to find living specimen of several creatures under microscopes and in open shallow tanks that we can explore to our hearts' content.  I start up a conversation with the women working there to find out what some of the creatures are and why they look the way they do.

A pretty white animal with a brittle sea star.

          We see sea slugs, anemone, urchins, kelp, star fish, baby swell sharks and even swell shark eggs which look like plant seed pods rather than animal eggs.  We learn that sea urchins also dig into rock and that they are in their own secondary container within the tank to prevent them from digging a hole in the side of the tank again!  I can't imagine what it must be like to live here and have all of these animals and plants be just a normal part of the ecosystem.

A really colorful sea cucumber (?) with a large anemone.

          Before moving on we explore the jars of preserved specimen, skeletons, and exoskeletons of a few more animals: sea otter, a 30 some year old lobster , and shells of all kinds.  There are a few more crabs to explore under the microscopes and it is fun to focus on their mouth parts and shells to see all the detail that is harder to see with the naked eye.

The two sea horses on the right were wrapped around each other in a very cute way.

          Onto the main building full of tanks.  The Susanne Lawrenz-Miller Exhibit Hall manages to fit so many tanks full of colorful and exciting creatures that it makes the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago look like it doesn't know how to manage its space efficiently.  We easily spend hours exploring these tanks and trying to learn the names of the animals.  D loves the seahorses and I like watching the jellies.  We head to the highlight of the aquarium, the touch tank, to find out when it will open next.  We have some minutes to wait so we get a closer look at the huge crabs and lobster in a nearby tank.  Another area is full of orange, pink, purple, and white star fish much larger than my hand living with deep purple sea urchins and pale pink brittle sea stars.

Bat stars, brittle sea stars, and sea urchins.

          Suddenly a mouth opens in the next tank taking in a gulp bigger than its whole body to strain out the small krill for food.  Is this some type of unusual sea slug?  We've already seen a couple pretty sea slugs but none had mouths like this.  I catch a quick video of this strange thing before we look at the next tank. I'm beginning to learn that when it comes to the ocean it is harder to distinguish plants from animals.  The giant acorn barnacle fans out like a plant but it retracts its long "fingers" as to tries to pull in small bits of food.  A group of red, spherical feather dusters share the tank and definitely look more like a plant than animal.  As we loop around we realize we can get behind some of the tanks to get a different view.  One tank has several back-lit swell shark eggs at various stages of development so we can see the growing embryo feeding on the yolk.  I get a couple pictures of D next to a huge lobster before we go back to wait for the touch tank to open.

These hooded nudibranchs have large mouths!

          As usual we are asked to only touch the animals gently with one finger and then we are allowed to the edge of a large tank full of anemone, star fish, and sea urchins.  Little kids and their grandparents alike are leaning over the edge, excited to get a close look.  Amusingly it is the older generations who are more hesitant to reach in for a feel.  The inner tank that we are not to reach in has leopard sharks and some large fish.  Leopard sharks are generally docile, but they eat food the size of our thumbs so it's best not to confuse them and scare some poor little kid who gets a nibble.

Back lit swell shark eggs with hatched shark resting on the bottom.

          I am really excited to get to touch the urchin and anemone.  I got to feel star fish at the Shedd before but these two are new to me.  The anemone tentacle is covered in what feels like tiny velcro spines and they grab onto our finger hoping we're food.  Our skin is too thick to worry about getting stung, though, so don't worry.  I touch a tentacle first then feel the inner slick circle.  As I touch this area several tentacles close in and slowly grab my finger and I feel like I'm in an old fashioned horror movie.  I carefully detach my finger from all the tentacles and laugh at the experience.  D does not like anemone as much as I do and he's satisfied with one touch.

D touching a sea anemone for the first and last time.  I couldn't get enough.

          Next I touch the spines of a sea urchin.  They feel like the same material as a fingernail but are very sharp and pointed.  As I'm touching these spines I notice small flexible "fingers" come out and try to suck onto my finger.  I touch one of these and it attaches itself to me.  I gently pull my finger away and the suction is broken and the finger withdraws.  That was cool so I do it again, and this time it gets a much better suction on me.  Now the tip of this little finger is about the size of a mechanical pencil lead so it's hardly big enough to feel, but as I pull my finger away this time, it doesn't let me go.  I slowly pull further and further and I can feel the suction grip me tighter and I don't know what to do.  It doesn't hurt, in fact it more tickles than anything, but it won't let me go.  So I pull further away assuming at some point it will let go but it breaks off instead.

Touching the spike on a sea urchin before I discovered the small suckers.

          Aww, I feel bad.  I didn't want to hurt it.  At least it has hundreds or thousands of these tiny suckers so losing one probably doesn't matter.  We take a quick look at the sharks and head back in to explore the rest of the tanks.  Sand dollars burying themselves and jellies glowing under black-light are the last exciting things to see before we hit up the gift shop and head to the beach.

Waves crashing over the breakwater that separates the bay from the rest of the ocean.

          After a quick phone call to my sister we decide to spend some leisure time on the beach and postpone our trip to the USS Iowa battleship.  We can come back on a low tide day to explore the tide pools then visit the ship afterwards.

D's foot prints in the bi-colored sand.

          As we walk along the inner bay side of the Cabrillo beach the sand appears to be the typical tan color, but as we walk we notice a lot of black hiding beneath the surface.  The sand getting stirred up by the gentle waves makes it hard to see below the surface of the water as we dip in our feet.  It feels so nice to be walking barefoot in the sand, letting the water pull the sand from below my feet as the waves roll out.  We walk along the shore hunting for shells and soon I'm excited to spot a live sand dollar.  I pick it up to show D and several small water "rolly polly"s or pill bugs go crawling away and I quickly rinse the remainder into the water.  Eek!  I don't expect sand dollars to be covered in creepy crawly things.  As I release the sand dollar back into the water something bites my foot.  I shoo it away with my other foot and we continue hunting.  Soon our feet and ankles are getting bit again and we decide we want to get away from this water.  Maybe the locals are used to getting bit by tiny unseen creatures and are willing to brave them to wind surf and play, but we've had enough of this biting.  (It turns out the "rolly polly" creatures are the offenders called beach pillbugs that will attack human feet if they are hungry enough.)

A view of the shipyard from atop the rocks.

          The view of San Pedro from here is wonderful.  The city sits atop a hill that is currently obscured by low clouds.  This is the first time it's been this cloudy since landing.  We climb up some rocks and walk along the fishing pier taking in the view of the shipyard across the bay.  The USS Iowa is somewhere over there.

          Seagulls fly up and circle back to their spot as we pass, only slightly caring that we are here.  After looking at the long stretch of beautiful San Pedro that ends in cliffs at the ocean's edge, we head to the ocean side of the beach.  The waves are strong enough to push us around by our ankles and sometimes we're surprised with a splash that gets the bottom of our shorts.  We're holding hands and D stops to maintain his balance every time a wave comes making me halt as well.  Kelp tangles itself around our legs.  Walking sure can be a chore when you're fighting the ocean over who is stronger.  I love the views of the distant waves and watching as they crash onto the shore, but we did not come prepared for all the water's power, kelp, and the flies that come with it.  While all of this is normal for the people around us, we Midwesterners will have to get used to it.  I am very eager to learn to get used to it.

A seagull returning to its post on the fishing pier as pigeons also fly in from the left.

          Back at the car we promise to return at the lowest tide opportunity we'll get in the next month to explore the tide pools.  I wonder what we will be able to see.  We rinse the sand off our feet and begin the 55 minute drive home.  How awesome is it that this treasure of a location is less than an hour away?

We'll be back under those cliffs to explore the tide pools the next lowest tide day we get.