We decided to head further north on this first day of the new year to check out tide pools and hopefully avoid the crowds. That really wasn't to be. We stopped at Carpinteria State Beach as there were some good sightings there for nudibranchs. I don't think we found quite the right area but the tide was still up a ways and more and more people kept on arriving so we decided to leave. We mostly did some beach combing for shells and didn't find anything too unusual. Tip: Don't go to the beach on a holiday or weekend even in January.
We wanted to stop somewhere else but as we drove along the coast we saw crowds and crowds of people and cars. We eventually made it to PCH and Point Mugu. It was mobbed there. Not that we were planning to stop there but it was discouraging. The trailhead for the Chumash trail was absolutely packed and teeming with people. So was the area of the steep sand dune.
Finally as we approached Deer Creek beach we saw an area where we could get down to some rocks and though there were people, there were fewer. We got down to the beach and most of the beachgoers were taking selfies and throwing balls for their off leash dogs (ugh). No one was at the rocky area.
The good news was that I thought the tide pool area looked in better shape than most I've seen. The animals we did see looked healthier and more robust (check out the nice mossy chiton). However, there just wasn't a lot of tide pool life. There is probably not quite the right terrain for a diversity of plants and animals.
But we did make a few good finds. I finally started using my macro lens which I should have been using at the tide pools all along. It paid off as I was able to capture very small animals that just aren't that easy to photograph using a long lens like I have been using. Our best find was a nice looking brittle star. I also found a really cool tiny snail on some surf grass. Last but not least, I found and photographed a nice surfgrass limpet.
Deer Creek beach is probably not a hot tide pool zone but I can bet on a week day non-holiday it is probably fairly quiet so for the solitude alone I might stop back there some time.
Deer Creek Beach
Deer Creek Beach
Looking for ID on the really small snail on the surf grass
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