2022-0211 A Day On The Beach
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Emerita eyes
If you look carefully along a strip pf the photograph about 1/4 up from the bottom you can see pairs of eyestalks poking out of the water's surface as the wave washes back into the ocean. These eye stalks belong to sand crabs, Emerita analoga. They disappear into the sand if birds (or people) get too close.
Think of this. As you walk along a beach like Limantour Spit, literally millions of sand crabs are watching you pass by. You need binoculars, a spotting scope or a telephoto lens to see this, because when you get close the burrow into the sand. They also disappear when birds are feeding in the area.
Next time I'm on an Emerita beach I'm going to work hard to get a better photograph.
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