May 26, Tide Pools

Tide pools are fascinating. The other morning at a minus tide, I got up early to go to the beach below the lighthouse. Below the big rocky outcroppings where the birds roost, the lava is exposed at low tide. All of those rough edges, and pockets of water are full of life. I had on my lovely rubber boots and carefully walked on the rocks.

As I examined the sea anemones, I noticed around the edges of the ones that were submerged, little pieces of shell all around them. Then as I continued my walk up on the rocks that were not under water, over barnacles and mussels all crowded together, I noticed what appeared to be many piles of tiny pieces of shells. I realized that these were the outsides of anemones that were completely closed up because they weren’t under water. I stood up and looked around where I was standing and felt trapped. I wondered how much of my weight these sea creatures could withstand without being crushed. 

this creature is about 1" long

I felt that every step I was about to take might kill one of them, some of them so small and fragile. And even the tough barnacles, their protective outer layer crunching under foot. The tiny mussles, their fragile edges broken with every step. I stood there for several minutes pondering what to do. Buddha nature about non-harming very present at that moment. I decided I would not go back the way I came, I would look for bare rock and make my way to the sand to try to lessen which of these creatures might be crushed under my steps. 

I made my way to the sandy spots below the cliffs. The green moss vibrant from the water dripping down, creating perfect circles in the sand. There were some bird footprints too, and a lot of feathers. There are bald eagles here and they prey on the sea birds. This footprint was just a little smaller than my hand and I imagined it must have been from an eagle that had caught a seagull and landed here. 

maybe an eagle claw print

While I was on the rocks, there had been a great commotion from the gulls, the murres and cormorants. It seemed as if every bird on that rock took flight and raised its voice in alarm. I looked up and saw them all circling the peak, black and white and brown all together chasing one bird much larger than all the others. It was an eagle. This time the smaller birds managed to chase it off, I watched it fly away toward the cliff across the inlet with empty talons this time.

Circle of life. Move with awareness. My purpose is simply to be awake.