Star Search...

Canada Day on Galiano Island.

It is Canada Day.   I wake up as the morning sun peaks through the curtains. It promises to be another bright, sunny day on Galiano Island. Sophie has crawled into bed with me, no surprise. She is excited about our little vacation, two days with just the two of us before her mom and sister, and Gerry, join us.

Our mission today is to go in search of Starfish, or as Sophie informs me, they are now called Sea Stars because they are not really fish. She remembers clearly that last year we found starfish down on the rocky shore below the cabin. (Which is perched on the edge of a cliff about 30-40 feet above the rocky ocean shore.)

First order is to make sure we have good solid shoes with good grips, the rocks are rough, uneven and covered with barnacles so you don't want to slip or fall. And we have to negotiate a precarious trail down the hill to the rocks first.


The tide is out so we explore and examine the cracks where starfish attach themselves to the underside of rocks where it is cool and wet, waiting for the tide to come back in. At first the seem evasive, but eventually I find one that has been stranded, upside down on some rocks. We rescue it and she holds it, studying it closely, the rough outer shell and the tiny tentacles or suction cups on the underside. This one is orange, while most are a bright purple. We pick our way along the rocks and toward the little beach we call Tiny Cove, discovering starfish of varying sizes and colours. Sophie is in her glory, she carries them around for a while them releases them in a protected crevice where they will be fine until the tide returns.

Our next stop is Morning Beach, aptly named because it faces to the east and is bathed in the morning sun. It is a small bay, sheltered, so the water is warmer here and it is sandy  while most of the beaches here are covered in shells or pebbles.

Hunting for Starfish on Morning Beach.

 
 


The beach is accessible by a short walking trail, several hundred metres from the parking lot. The tide is out so we scour the bay for starfish or any other interesting creatures that she can find. I'm sure she will be a marine biologist when she grows up.


 
 
 

Looking out from Morning Beach with Mount Baker in the background as a ferry passes by.

15 starfish and a couple of jellyfish later and we settle on our blanket for a picnic lunch.

The tide is coming back in and the bay is filling with water so Sophie grabs the little boogie board I found and plays in the shallow water. Childhood fun, running, jumping, splashing under the hot July sun. What could be better!

Jellyfish on the beach.