Bummer, but a dead whale greeted us on the beach next to pillar point.
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Fresh kill, looked like.
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The whale is belly up with head down.
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What IS that black stuff on the "bottom" of the whale. Looks like thick tar, but it was clearly something more like fur or something.
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Elissa shakes hands. Or flippers. Or something.
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A kid was jumping up and down on the whale. We yelled at the kid to respect the whale....
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Ok, this is the beach as the tide was going out.
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Don wandering up.
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Tide is going out. Note the difference from a few minutes ago....
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Bottom of the whale. Note that the tail is completely missing.
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Eyeball.
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The mouth (in the front) has collapsed.
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The crew gathers to pay last respects.
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The tail is completely gone. Looks like the sharks got it? Notice the gashes....
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Wow, shark teeth! No kidding!
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Tide is REALLY flying out.
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Wow, a Heron!
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The reef is totally exposed now.
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No kidding, mountain bikes...
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I love the rocks on the beach.
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Look like dead sea mammals or something.
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Wow, the water is GONE!
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How's the water, Mister Clam? Tsallright!
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Sea Enemies everywhere. Or enemas. Or something like that.
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Hard to believe that this was underwater about 15 minutes before....
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Clam Diggers everywhere.
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The reef.
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Huntin mussels!
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MUSSELS! We FOUND them!
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Joe. Event initiator. Gourmet chef. Master paddler. And MUSSEL MURDERER! Joe wears yellow shorts because the mussels are color blind and can't see yellow as he sneaks up on 'em. Or something like that.
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Tide pools are fascinating.
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Check out the sea enemas....
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Hunter / gatherers swarm the rocks.
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Mussels are EVERYWHERE!
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A happy mussel girl.
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And here's one of 'em....
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The attack of the Killer Mussel?
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Gathering and gleaning.
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What Concentration!
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Heh, it's palm trees. Nahhh, only palm kelp.
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TA DAA! Catch of the day: 10 pounds of mussels!
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Scouring the area for more mussels.
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More sea enemas.
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Birds hang out everywhere, looking for hapless critters....
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Looking back, it's STILL hard to believe that this was underwater about 30 minutes ago.
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Riverlets everywhere.
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Birds on the rocks....
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Palm kelp in the big waves....
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Awwwww, how cute....
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Check out the dishes.
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Palm kelp is fascinating.
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Wow, the sun breaks thru the clouds.
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4 birds pointing south.
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Foolhardy souls....
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These things fascinate me.
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Crashing breakers.
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Critters nestle everywhere in the rocks.
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Goochy goochy goo....
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Check out the urchins.
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Still gatherin....
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What a forelorn looking dude. Or is it "fivelorn"?
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Jack, the photo guy.
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Birds are multiplying....
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Checking out the critters.
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Exposed urchins.
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Climbing the clif.
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Check this out: the dog is walking himself....
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A blight of pelicans.
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The happy musselers.
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Yup, 10 pounds, our limit.
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The sunset is spectacular (these don't do it justice....)
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Big Joe is hella successful because his yellow shorts are invisible to the mussels. Or something like that.
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This guy is "tickling eels". No kidding, he pulls eels out of the rocks with a long rod.
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Sunset hits fast.
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Even with the rising tide, oyster guys are still oystering.
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An oyster guy. Check out the PILIES of sand he's shoveled.
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Ahhhh, sunset.
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Going, going....
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Almost gone....
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The whale is still there.
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Mister Heron is back....
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...and takes wing....
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...migration....
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There's a clam in the middle of the picture. He was spitting at us. You can't see it here, but it was quite the stream of spit....
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Gorillas in the mist. STILL looking for critters.
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The Mussel Gang. Half Moon Bay mussel harvesting on negative tide day. Only an hour before, this area was covered with a foot or two of water. Now it's walkable as we head back with buckets of mussels.
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The sun goes down.
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Quite the catch! 10 pounds each.
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Clammers in the Pillar Point harbor.
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A wind surfer walks his foil back to his car.
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Look closely. The black thing at the top of the picture is an EEL!
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And that's all she wrote. Pillar Point, we'll see you again....
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