Thursday, July 08, 2010

Watery suns

It's too hot. Summer has come, finally, to the Lower Mainland, and it's making up for lost time. Out at the far end of the Fraser Valley in Chilliwack, the temperature reached a record 34.7 °C (almost 90 °F) almost 2 °C higher than the previous record, 90 years unmatched. They tell us it will be hotter later in the week. Oof!

Here in Delta, we're a bit cooler; 30 °C (86 °F).  It's still 'way too hot for me; I'm a product of the westcoast rain forest. I'm glad to have my shade garden, with its sheltering circle of tall evergreens. I cringe away from the naked sun of our summers.

But these cool suns from Vancouver Island, I have no trouble with:


Sunfish, otherwise known as the sunflower star. Cool and wet. Lovely!


Deep red sunflower star, under a couple of inches of water.


This one's a baby, barely a couple of inches tip to tip.

And I may as well add a few stars, too.


A pink brittle star, maybe the Daisy brittle star. It is less than the width of my thumbnail.


Long-armed brittle star, burrowing into the sand. Also very tiny.


Blood star, of some sort. Long, skinny arms.


A small leather star. I like the sunburst in the centre; two rows of brown dots connected by radiating lines.


And the ubiquitous purple star.


Four purple stars. One is pinkish orange, but it's still a purple star. Names can be confusing.

Aaahhh! I feel cooler, already.

7 comments:

  1. I love the pictures of the stars. They're not something I'm likely to stumble upon in Ohio. Our temperatures are expected to cool down to 86 °F next week.

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  2. It's going to be a tough summer.

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  4. Oops! Sorry I messed up my comment. :) I wanted to say what great pictures! They are so beautiful! I can't wait to see some star fish in real life at the beach. I'm really hoping to see some this summer. :-)

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  5. Jay, Check the tide tables for your area, and watch for the lowest tides. Time your visit to get there as the tide drops to its lowest point.

    Some places starfish are to be found close to the high tide line, but we've had more luck at the lowest lows.

    Here's a handy tide table, set for Olympia. Tidal heights.

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  6. I just checked. You have a beautiful low low, Saturday morning at 11:24. Or try Monday at 1 PM. Something like -3 feet! The beach will be crawling with critters.

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  7. Ah, so you're getting the heat wave as well. I too prefer the cooler Pacific Northwest summers ... not this hot stuff.

    Love the suns and stars you have!!! They are all so beautiful - and so different!

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