Looking Beachy

The sunrise and sunset over the ocean is completely astonishing. It is both wonderful and terrifying. We visited the beach on several occasions for sunrise/sunset photos.

   

Even on cloudy mornings the sun colors the clouds in a most spectacular way!

   

   

On this morning there was a rainbow. It was worth it to be on the beach while it was raining and I didn’t get that wet…

I went looking for shells on a couple days and even found a sand dollar. We saw a ghost crab that skittered across the sand sideways and finally buried himself. My sister gifted us with clear plastic Christmas ornaments that are designed to be filled with small shells. It was much easier to find really pretty tiny shells than to search for large undamaged shells.

But the highlight was the bio-luminescence on the beach 2 nights in a row. The locals call it sea sparkles. They are microscopic free-living, marine-dwelling species of dinoflagellate that exhibits bioluminescence when disturbed. The scientific name is Noctiluca scintillans. When they wash up onto the beach and are deposited in the sand, they will glow or sparkle when they are disturbed by walking on the sand or by scuffing the sand with your foot or hand. The released light is blue-white and it will flash for only a moment. Depending on the number, the sand and water can look like they are on fire. We went to the beach (with Xangan Crystalinne) and stomped, hopped, and dragged our feet around to see the sparkles. I wish my camera was good enough to capture the glow. The pictures below are from the internet …