There is actually something called pork sponge

It had been a really long time since I had gone tide pooling, very close to a year and a half when I had visitors from Minneapolis visiting.  I have been tidepooling a handful of times, as you have seen on this blog, often visiting Malibu Lagoon. We thought it would be nice to try some place different. I asked a California native a new place to go. He recommended Broad Beach, a little further up the Malibu coast's 27 miles of coastline.  As we passed Moonshadows and the rows of beach cottages, I remembered that many of these houses were featured on the Star Tour I went on when mom was visiting.  Strangely, no one was outside signing autographs like usual.

Broad Beach is a little harder to find and a bit daunting, because although there are public access points to the beach they are hidden between rich people's houses and even though those access points are in fact public, the residents may try to dissuade you. That didn't happen to us luckily. If it does though, you definitely have the right to be there.

We made it there just as lowtide was happening. When the tide receeded, it didn't reveal pools like the other places we had been, but rather revealed tide boulders. Hidden in and around those black jaggedy boulders were all kinds of things I wasn't expecting. Attached to the lower parts of these boulders were dozens of sea stars attached together like a blob as shown above.  I found something new (pictured right) which looked like some sort of alien armor in a sci-fy movie. It has a fancy Latin name I am sure, but it is more commonly called "Pork Sponge" I wanted to touch it, but didn't.

There are a few small caves and arches carved out of the rocks not a lot of room to walk around in. T spotted a few fossils and pre-historic tide creatures.

As we walked around the boulders we heard clicking clicking clicking and when we looked closer in the small canyons in the rocks we saw little crabs hiding clicking their claws, most likely from the birds that hang out during low tide to see what they can come up with for an after lunch snack. They would squinch up a bit more as our shadows passed them. I wish my camera could have caught the amazing reddish pink of its claws.

I hope to go tide pooling more often because I miss it. Until next time sea creatures.