I miss the ocean when I go to sleep-Broad/Lechuza

It had been a really long time since I had gone tide pooling, very close to a year and a half when I had visitors from Minneapolis visiting.  I have been tidepooling a handful of times, as you have seen on this blog, often visiting Malibu Lagoon. I like Malibu, but I was feeling a little been there done that and thought it would be nice to try some place different. I asked a friend who is a geologist/surfer for recommendations because who would know more about the ocean than that person. He recommended Broad Beach, a little further up the Malibu coast's 27 miles of coastline. 

Broad Beach is a little harder to find and a bit daunting, because although there are public access points to the beach they are hidden between rich people's houses and even though those access points are in fact public, the residents may try to dissuade you, but you have a right to be there, so they really can't do anything about it. We tried going through a few people's yards first before finding beach access, but where we found access was actually Lechuza Beach.

We made it there just as lowtide was happening. When the tide receeded, it didn't reveal pools like the other places we had been, but rather revealed tide boulders. Hidden in and around those black jaggedy rocks were all kinds of things I wasn't expecting. Attached to the lower parts of these boulders were dozens of sea stars having a sea star orgy (pictured above) I found something new (pictured right) which looked like some sort of alien armor in a sci-fy movie. It has a fancy Latin name I am sure, but it is more commonly called "Pork Sponge" I wanted to touch it, but didn't. I do want to re-name it though, something a lot cooler than Pork Sponge.

 

There are a few small caves and arches carved out of the rocks not a lot of room to walk around in. T spotted a few fossils and pre-historic tide creatures because she is good at stuff like that.

As we walked around the boulders we heard clicking clicking clicking and when we looked closer in the small canyons in the rocks we saw 10s of little crabs hiding clicking their claws, most likely hiding from the birds that hang out during low tide to see what they can come up with for an after lunch snack. The crabs would squinch up a bit more as our shadows passed them. I wish my camera could have caught the amazing reddish pink of its claws.

I paparazzied the heck out of them, but very few pictures turned out. This one is my favorite.

This was a great recommendation and I hope to find more new places, in hopes of finally seeing an octopus.