Beach time

Low tide was around 10:00 am this morning, so we started the day by heading all the way out to the water far across the sand bars.  When the tide went out it revealed a bunch of cages on the tidal flats.  There were people out there, so we stopped by to ask what they were doing.  They were harvesting oysters.  We asked them a bit about it.  They leased the right to use the land for an oyster farm.  They bought the cultured baby oysters for .05 a piece (by the thousands), then waited for 3 years until they reached marketable size (3 1/2 inches) when they would sell them for .60 cents.  They usually lost about 60% of the babies before they reached full size.  When they die, their shells open up, so they can tell which ones to weed out of the baskets.  They had to have 5 different permits and had to be located in an area where there was not a lot of boat traffic.  They marked the area with buoys.  Very interesting.

Oyster cages at low tide.

Delaney, David, Adam, and I went all the way out at low tide.  Delaney and I made a sandcastle then we decided to head back.  We saw hermit crabs scuttling along in the water channels, fiddler crabs hiding in the sand, and a number of crabs who became breakfast for the seagulls.  There were also small clear jellys floating (no tentancles thank goodness) and tons of small shrimp that would get stirred up as we walked and would bounce against our feet.

We walked back to the main beach and built another castle in the creekbed (where the old cool water was to be found while the tide was out).  After lunch we came back to watch the tide take out the castle rather quickly.  We found the inflatibles, swam and floated for a while, then came in to clean up and head to the store for food.  Seafood, lots of seafood while at the beach!