Tidal Delights
On a trip to Olympic National Park in 2007, I took an early morning walk down Rialto Beach and happened to come upon an area of rocks exposed by the low tide. Nestled in the nooks and crannies of these rocks was a multitude of brilliantly colored starfish, and small pools of water were subtly animated by the slowly waving tentacles of sea anemones. I was thrilled and delighted, and I spent the next couple of hours joyfully scrambling among the rocks with my camera. On subsequent trips to the Olympic peninsula I always studied the tide tables and made a point of looking for tidal pools at low tide. On a trip in 2015 I eagerly hiked to my favorite tidal pool location but was disappointed to find that the rocks were entirely devoid of sea stars. I later learned that a disease had decimated the starfish population, and it appears that warmer ocean water was a strong contributing factor. I doubt that I will ever again have the opportunity of seeing so many colorful sea stars, and I cherish the memories of my tidal pool explorations in the past.
