Sea stars!  Luna got into a bit of drawing at Piha today, shouting (and dancing) “I did it!”

We all got into it…

In the rock pools, chitons…

Barnacles… tiny muscles and blue snails.

I know it’s obvious, but sea stars are some of my favourite animals.

So while Luna was after as many green lipped mussels she could cram into her hat, I was oooh-ing and aaaah-ing about some stunning sea stars.

Look how many they are?  They were just amazing, lots of little (and *cough* big) getting up close with these babies.  Each was unique, their colours so varied.  They felt like jeweled reptiles to touch, and I remembered what a deadly predator they are, exuding their stomachs onto their victim, then slowly digesting them…  I’m glad I’m not a mollusc.

This one was mauve!

So many, oozing and squeezing into the rocks.

Really, there is so much to explore and see at the beach.  A good day at Piha is completely exhausting for us all, clean water and life in and around the rocks.

A bit too wild for swimming in the sea for the little ones, though we found a perfect tidal pool, complete with tiny fish.

Luna is really keen on green lipped mussels just now, and she was bagging any she could find.  After a converstation about only taking empties with us, and remembering that there was an animal inside the shells, we reduced the risk of finding smelly shells in the back yard.

And limpets!  Luna found these ones.

Beautiful day.

Watching the waves.

Sand and space.

This time of the year is a good time to visit the beach, there’s a feeling of change in the gusty wind, and days are starting to be shorter.  Autumn is approaching.  We took a trip out the Piha yesterday and although it started out looking like it would be a windy overcast day, by the time we arrived the sun was beating down, I realised I was totally over dressed, with a beret instead of a sunhat.

We have enjoyed some stormy weather this past week and so I was keen to explore the tide line and see what may have washed up.  The most noticeable thing was the the beach had changed considerably since my last visit, we headed to the northern end of the beach and found a stream had changed direction, cutting through the dune, and was swiftly making it’s way to the ocean.  The wind had also eroded away at shells and other debris on the beach so cool, I took a few snaps..

There were also plenty of sea jellies washed up, and washing up as we walked in the shallows, the occasional blue bottle is no surprise but we only came across these aurelia or petipeti sea jellies, which are quite harmless.