Lunch at Fidel's in Solana Beach. More expensive than Carmen's but pretty good and there was a lot of food on each plate.
Walking on the beach at La Jolla Shores
Someone made a mountain of sand to hold these flip flops. I hope the owner came back and found them.
Kyla sank into the sand while Earl was busy taking several pictures.
The tide was out and we were able to see more at the tide pools than we usually do. Two young women showed us where they had seen some starfish (sea stars).
A large healthy star
We used to see these large orange sea stars at the north end of the beach. It was amazing to see this very tiny one. We talked to the girls for awhile. They did not know that the starfish are rapidly dying or that they were looking at sea animals in a protected preserve. They said they had also seen an octopus but it hurried away.
A spider sea star. We also saw three good size sea hares nestled together among the rocks. As we were wading through water to get back to the shore, Steve spotted a small ray hiding by a rock. When it suddenly darted towards us, all of us panicked. Fortunately, no one made contact with the ray, so no one was hurt.
It is easy to see why this is commonly called a spider starfish.
Why many starfish are dying
The leg of this Pisaster ochraceussea star in Oregon is disintegrating as a result of sea star wasting syndrome
ABOUT STARFISH
Marine scientists have undertaken the difficult task of replacing the beloved starfish’s common name with sea star because, well, the starfish is not a fish. It’s an echinoderm, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars. Sea stars have one eye at the tip of each arm.
Octopus found in a tide pool at San Luis Obispo, California
Small stingray
A closer look at the pavilion
Looking at the tiny sea animals on the other side of the rocks.
I persuaded Kyla to bring a sweat shirt with her, but she never needed it.
It made a great accessory for me.
I like this cropped picture of Kyla and her grandfather.
Digging in the sand for sand crabs.
Close up of a sand crab
Lots of information about sand crabs at this site.
We drove over to where the Cove is and were surprised by some seals and sea lions up-close to the sidewalk. This group was cuddled together below us on the beach.
One of these sea lions was very vocal and very loud.
This showoff was only about two yards away from us on the other side of the rail dividing the rocks and the sidewalk.
All of those animals do not smell very good.
4. Expect a smell from (very important!) poop
La Jolla Cove may naturally be a little stinky from seal and sea lion poop, but visitors adjust to the smell very quickly. However unappealing it might be to human noses, poop actually serves a vital role in the ocean ecosystem! When seals poop, the nutrients and nitrogen from their deep ocean diet are made available to feed planktons and algae that other animals eat. Without seals, these plants would not get enough nutrients and would die, along with many other species.
5. Seals or sea lions?
La Jolla Cove has both seals and sea lions — but how do you tell the difference between them? Firstly, you’re way more likely to see seals at the Children’s Pool, whereas the sea lions live next door near the cliffs at the Cove. Seals are much more quiet than the vocal sea lions and only move on land by wiggling on their bellies, whereas sea lions are able to “walk” using their flippers.
Very interesting trees in the park by the Cove.
A rock populated by pelicans and cormorants
La Jolla Cove stink goes national
The New York Times featured a story about the infamous stink on its home page on Saturday, about two weeks after Voice of San Diego wrote about the stench and why state regulations have complicated efforts to clean it up.
We have tried to take a picture of the pelicans that float serenely along the ocean close to the La Jolla Shores. Obviously we need an expert like this.
Immature brown pelican
Cormorants Mother tending three young birds.
One of the many squirrels that dig burrows on the cliff side
Birds of paradise
Photo by Jill Gottenstratter
I love her page. She has wonderful pictures of sights we see so often here.
http://www.jillgottenstrater.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/B-Cool-tree-in-La-Jolla.jpg
Painting on Etsy by Mary Alfred $150.00
A London taxi in La Jolla?
Shopping for souvenirs
Chasing bubbles
Kyla put some money in his jar before we left.
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