Of stones and crabs

When I go out without a fixed end point, I usually go north or west, away from the cities and the noise, the road crews and the traffic. This Wednesday I decided to break the pattern and head south. I didn't know where I was going; somewhere beyond Comox, 45 minutes to the south of my place; somewhere between the Comox valley and Union Bay, probably.

I'd barely gotten to Royston when I saw the sign: Royston Seaside Trail. Destination found. I drove to several spots along the trail, going down to the shore in each spot. The tide was low and going out; I walked to the water's edge in each location.

The setting. Royston is on the far side of a bay with Comox and Courtenay on the other two sides.

The shore is flat and stony; there was no sand, some mud. Very slippery mud. After three steps, it slithered away underfoot and almost threw me. I moved back to the rocks.

The stones here are hard, angular, sharp-edged, firmly glued to the underlying mud. And everywhere I looked, tiny crabs were scuttling about, sometimes stopping to threaten me.

It was low tide, and the sun was hot, so I was surprised to see so many crabs out in the heat; usually they find shelter under stones or seaweed when the water goes away. Not here; maybe because the stones are so solidly embedded, maybe because there was almost no seaweed, except for a few patches of bright green stringy algae and the occasional lonely rockweed.

In an area with rounder rocks, a green shore crab finds a bit of shade.

This poisonous-green algae formed mats here and there. Possibly Urospora pencilliformis.

I collected a stone with barnacles for my snails at home, and wrapped it in some of the green algae; the crabs and hermits would appreciate it. Before I wrapped it, though, I shook out the seaweed, scattering tiny snails and crabs. Still, a dozen miniature shore crabs somehow made it home unobserved. They're in my tank now; I'll have to return some of them (the ones I can catch) back to the shore.

There were crabs everywhere. In this patch, I can see at least 6 crabs; more will be hidden under the rockweed and hair algae.

The other residents of the shore seem to be mostly barnacles and snails, and a few oysters. I looked, but found no worms, no anemones, no tiny swimmers. And surprisingly, no hermit crabs, which are usually in abundance where there are many snails to provide shells.

This crab molt probably came from lower in the intertidal zone. A young Dungeness crab, Cancer magister.

Another Dungeness crab, this one underwater. So clear the water!

There were a few patches of sandstone like what we find around Campbell River.

The trail website suggests that many of the rocks on this beach are not original to the site.

Starting in 1911, steam locomotives hauled logs from logging camps throughout the Comox Valley to the Royston log dump. ... Where it approaches Hilton Road, the railway grade was constructed in the intertidal area. From the end of Chinook Road, a mile long wharf extended into the water.  Logs were tipped off the wharf until the early 1950s when the railway stopped running. ... The wharf was taken down and replaced by a breakwater in the 1950s. ... The rocks that can be seen within the intertidal area during low tides most likely originate from the fill material placed to construct the railway grade. (Royston Seaside Trail website)

More rocks, the breakwater, and - what's that?

About those rusting hulks, tomorrow.