Strawberry Hill

Tide pools are fascinating! We spent another day wandering around, peeking under rocks, peering into little pools and gawking at the amazing scenery. This time we were at Strawberry Hill, a little pull-off on Hwy 101. You can barely fit maybe 10 cars into this little lot, so we went early and enjoyed a picnic lunch and a thermos of coffee while we waited for the tide to ease on out. Our hunt was happily rewarded with some more pictures of the abundant life that lives at the edge of the rocks and the oceans, what a hardy bunch of little critters.

Purple Sea Urchin
Spiny Chiton
Northern Striped Dogwinkle
Sea Star, Giant Green Anemone, and Goose Barnacles
There were about 30 Sea Lions lounging on the rocks of their own little island. They were soaking up the sun on this beautiful day.
This little one kept an eye on me. I think he was worried I might dive into the ocean and swim over for a visit.
Now this is a rare species for Oregon, Hominum Scotus, from the northwestern edge of Scotland. I wonder how he ended up on the Pacific coast?

Tidbit: There is a very different type of pool in Colorado called Strawbery Bank Hot Spring. We highly recommend it if you ever get out that way.