scooting around so cal

i have been bumming around southern california with andy. we played in some tide pools and saw lots of fun things but it was overcrowded with purple sea urchins. seriously overcrowded. i wanted to smash them all for being so destructive. andy and wang have both mentioned how devastating it is to be diving and see a front of urchins marching across the bottom looking for kelp to munch on. i had heard that people were increasing the harvesting of urchins to combat the problem - but andy said it is not not really successful.

andy is doing field work about an hour north of san diego and i am crashing his hotel room. i drove highway 101 here and it is spectacular. lovely sand beaches and quaint seaside towns (which turn out to be huge once you leave 101 but you don't realize it from the road).

i played in some more tide pools the other day and there were tons of people doing the same. i heard a five-year-old exclaim, "dad, dad, i found a nudibranch!" what five year old knows that word? i had to check it out. and he did - a spanish dancer which is beautiful fuschia with orange soft spikes. i showed him, his slightly older brother, and dad what chitons were and then we found a brittle star together. another guy flipping rocks found an octopus let me take a picture of it.

while exploring, my phone fell out of my pocket and into a tidepool. initially it seemed alright, but then it started buzzing like crazy. then it decided to turn off and on. and two days later, it is slowly getting better, but still likes to think it has a headset plugged into it in the middle of conversating with hot mel. interesting.

i hiked torrey pines state park to see what a torrey pine looks like. looks like a pine tree - nothing spectacular. other than it is extremely endangered and only found two places in california - here and santa rosa island. it is also threatened with impending global warming doom. but the sandstone cliffs were nice and made for a beautiful morning hike. especially when a pod of dolphins caught my eye. i am in the midst of peak gray whale migration south down the caifornia coast and i have yet to see a single one - though i have had my eyes peeled.

so tooling around, enjoying sunshine and beaches, and exploring the area. today's mission - julian, known for it's apple pie and because it is national pie day. then more tidepools and dueling pianos.