During a recent trip up to Whistler in beautiful British Columbia, I had the opportunity to stop along the way and check out some local marine life during a low tide. Low tides provide a glimpse into interesting marine life communities that are seldom seen.
I’m a HUGE starfish fan! I was so excited to see literally hundreds of them attached to rocks. Did you know that starfish have microscopic eyes at the end of each arm? This enables the starfish to view movement and differentiate between light and dark.
Some marine life you just can’t see during a low tide. We talked to some scuba divers in the area and they said that just 20 feet below in a rocky cave was a Giant Pacific Octopus! I couldn’t get a picture for obvious reasons so here is captive octopus at the Vancouver Aquarium.
These little crabs could be found everywhere! It was so funny to see the males with these huge claws fighting one another over the females. Gotta love it!
It shocked me to find that even the smallest marine creatures could withstand being out of water during a low tide; like this little eel! We found him under a rock along with several crabs.
Here is a great picture taken during our walk back up to the car. It captures British Columbia’s gorgeous waters and holds the mystery of what lies beneath the waves.