The stars are out in China Poot Bay

When I first arrived in Kachemak Bay, I had no experience with ocean invertebrates. This added to my amazement when I began to explore the intertidal zone. When the tide is out, walking on the beach is like touring an aquarium. On a good low tide day, you can find over 100 species hiding in the rocks and tide pools. These creatures range from tiny shrimp and mollusks to three foot wide Sunflower Stars.

The Sunflower Stars have a huge range of colors, from deep blue to bright orange. They are voracious intertidal predators but will scavenge when they can. I've been finding quite a few of them searching for scraps in the holes otters dig in search of clams. They are soft creatures with up to two dozen arms, and it's rare to find them above the negative one tide line. At that depth, they are only exposed for a few hours on very low tides. The last tidal series enabled me to take a few pictures of these amazing creatures.