Beachcombing By Moonlight

About a month ago we'd registered with the Seattle Parks to attend a winter solstice beach expedition and invited some friends and family to join us. The group convened at Mee Kwa Mooks park near Alki at 8pm when the tide would be at its lowest. For those who don't watch the tides, the solstices have one small exchange of water and one large exchange of water. Full moons also increase the tidal exchange, so this low tide was a "low low tide" - probably the lowest of the year and definitely exposing a great amount of sea life that live around the tidal zone.

We set our torches alight with glee and began scouring the tidal zone for signs of life. Our guide was quite knowledgeable about the creatures we found and helped us learn the names of different species such as a Nudibranchia named Discodoris (A spotted sea slug) and the Scarlet Sea Anemone.

At one point the skies cleared and the moon lit up the beach so well that I doused my torch and observed the tranquility shimmering off the sand. It became very cold and we were about to call it a night when one of the explorers discovered an Octopus! The guide identified it as a Giant Octopus (though this one was maybe 8 inches from tentacle tip to tentacle tip). We lovingly captured her in the bucket of water for inspection and were amazed at how nimble these little critters can be. After a short time, you could tell she was completely harassed by us, so we set her into a nearby pool and watched as she crawled off. After that, we didn't think it would get better, so we drove home to warm our bones by a fire and drink hot cocoa. What better way to celebrate the solstice than to connect with your environment and witness a lesser seen side of nature. It was glorious!