Carkeek Park is one of my favorite Seattle beaches for a low-tide walk. There is wide variety of homes for sea critters. Rocks and boulders provide cover for sea stars, barnacles, cucumbers and a host of other creatures. The sandy areas lets us see siphons from gapers, clams, and geoduck. Carkeek also has large eel grass filled tide pools once the tide goes out. These tide pools and their eel grass forests provide a home and nursery for many species of fish and crabs. Us beach naturalists try to stay on the edges of the pools, careful not to trample through the grass. During this low-tide walk we spotted a couple for interesteresting fish species.
We have all been gripped by the heartbreaking images of our Southern resident orca Tahlequah (also known as J35) as she mourned the death of her calf this past week. At the Seattle Aquarium we are all grieving along with the rest of the world. And though we are sad, we are viewing this as a wakeup call around the health of the Salish Sea and our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.
