Oh. My. Google... I had a magic moment today! I was taking pictures on the beach and became fascinated with the dry sheds of some sand fleas and the patterns the sheds had made. The sheds reminded of some curious things I'd found last year that looked like leaf skeletons - like you find in late fall when a leaf has decayed all except the veins - only these were on the beach so they couldn't be leaf skeletons. I had gone home and looked it up and discovered they were Purple Sails. You can read all about them here (Blue Zoo). After reading about them I thought that I had missed my chance to see a live one.
I continued to explore more of the beach when suddenly, right there in front of me, was a Purple Sail! I immediately dropped to my belly to get as close a picture as I could. To my further joy I discovered that the tide line was littered with them - not thousands, like in some of the web site photos, but scattered all along where I was standing.
It's interesting that this memory came to me right when it did. If it hadn't, I may not have been paying close enough attention to realize what they were. They are so much smaller than I would have thought. Crazy how things work...
When I first moved to the coast I would go the beach in hopes of finding this or that specific thing. I've come to trust that if I arrive with no expectations the Ocean will gift me with something very special every time. Today was a treasure beyond treasures. I couldn't wait to get home and start editing the photos. So exciting! Enjoy!!
"Purple Sail at Twin Rocks"
"Purple Sail Trio in the Sand"
"Stranded Purple Sail"
"Scattered Purple Fins"