One Stingray, Two Stingray, Swimming Stingray, Dead Stingray!

Today's walk was all about the Stingray!

 

I got the kids off to their first day of school and I arrived at the beach at 8:30am just about the time I am usually leaving the beach.  There is a slight breeze and it is hot.  There are very few clouds in the sky.  I worry about getting sunburned so I try to keep my jacket on as long as possible.

The water is calm but not as placid as yesterday.

As I head down the ramp from the pier after my pit stop, I hear a woman yelling about dolphins.  As I approach the waters edge I can see the dolphins off in the distance.  Again, I don't get any pictures or videos. I watch them for a few minutes.

I am standing down by the pier and I see the stingray pictured above.  While standing there I notice two more swimming by in the water.

Then there are three more swimming by.

As I continue to peer into the water, they are everywhere!  I stand here taking pictures and videos of them for about 10 minutes.  While the water is somewhat clear today, it still is brown.  It gets really clear at times and then it is really murky.  So I don't get any more good pictures of the stingrays.   Suddenly there seem to be no more around so I head on down the beach for my walk.

Once again the beach is empty.  No birds again today, not even Stretch and the gang.

I don't get very far when I come across a sand sculpture.  Well not really a sculpture, but it was cute!

We were at the beach last night and Maria made this:

It is Squidward from SpongeBob, but I think it looks like big bird.

There is a lot of seaweed today floating in the water and on the beach.

The dark line in the water in the picture below is the seaweed.  It runs all the way up the shore line.

As I am walking along, every so often I see one or two of the stingrays swimming along.  There are also a lot of crabs in the water again today.  Only a few are dead on the beach today.

As I get closer to the pavilion, I notice that there is more and more seaweed.  Also every few steps, I am finding a dead stingray.   I cannot believe how many I find.

Funny, the other day I flipped one to see the bottom and today three of them were lying on their backs.

As I walk along looking at all of these stingrays, I wonder what is killing them.  Is it something in the water?  Do they just get washed up onto the beach and can't get back into the surf?  They do swim close to the edge of the water.

As I go along I notice that I see several of the stingrays tails sticking out of the sand.

It makes me wonder if there is a whole stingray buried under there or is it just the tail got cut off.  I sort of kick at several of them and they don't really move.  By the fifth tail my curiosity has gotten to me so I finally find a stick near one of them and I dig the tail up.

Yup, there is a whole one under there.  I dig up a second one to make sure.  Now I am feeling really bad for these stingrays.  I continue along and find two more dead ones.

There are two people following me and I think that they think that I am nuts!  Stopping and taking pictures of all these dead stingrays.

As I make my way out of the stingray graveyard, I notice the seagulls are sitting down by the water today.  There are a ton of them.  Finally some birds on the beach.

 Haven't really seen any but a few flying by or one lone bird on the beach here and there.  Only two small groups of pelicans have flown by today.

Walking along the beach is starting to get steep so I step up and walk up in the soft sand.  I come across this crab.  He cracked me up!

It is hard to tell from the picture below but the beach is steep up from the water.  He was lying right at the top of the hill, just right before it starts to level off.  He looked like he had walked out of the ocean and walked all the way up the hill and then just pooped out!

As I am nearing the end, I come across another big flock of seagulls.

A bunch take off out over the ocean.

Something out by the end of the pier catches my eye.  It is a parasailer.

I have seen these in the evening when I am at the beach but never in the early morning.  So this was a pleasant surprise.

Thinking I am about done with picture taking, I put my camera away and start power walking back to the pier.  I feel like I am starting to burn.  I have been out for about 1 1/2 hours.

I am looking in the water as I walk along and suddenly I see a school of little fish.  Not minnows.  They are a bit bigger.  So I whip out my camera and take a few more photos.

I watch these fish swim around the seaweed for a little bit.  Every once in awhile, they seem to get stuck in the seaweed.  They are fun to watch.  They move fast.  Finally they are gone and by now I am back at the pier.

Well I haven't seen my friends Stretch and the gang at all today.  I know he was here.

I cross his tracks while I head up to the dunes where my flip flops are.

I decided today that my favorite music when I am not power walking, to listen to at the beach, beside Josh Groban,

 is classical or instrumental music.  It just seems to go so well with what I am watching and seeing.  It is very relaxing, especially when the water is very calm and serene.   Plus, I do a lot of thinking while I am walking and the words from the songs sometimes interrupts my train of thought and then I start singing!  The classical or instrumental music just really makes the walk enjoyable for me.  I can think with nothing interrupting my thoughts.

Well, here's hoping tomorrow is a good walk!