Sunday, August 22, 2010

Point Reyes


Expected mid-day fog along the beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. Fog meant the beach was largely deserted, even on a weekend at the height of summer. No surfers even, because surfing is impossible here. The waves crest and break too close to shore. Not much of a beach for shells, either. The bottom shelves steeply into deep ocean. What I found as I explored the shore was an incredible variety of washed-up seaweed.










Seaweed – and other things.






Next thing I knew the sun came out, to my great surprise, and the sea changed color dramatically within just a few minutes. My seaweed finds suddenly started to glow in a different way.










This final example was the only one I might possibly have been able to identify by name. It looked like a tangle of fresh green grass and I think it was what the Japanese call wakame often served as a little salad in sushi restaurants.