The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. The top photo was one of these and I thought, I must have run this before, but I hadn’t. It turned out to be a photo I’d processed, but neglected to move from my originals folder. Without The Numbers Game, I would never have found this!
This week’s number is 138. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 134. Captions are on the photos.
You can see more responses here.
One recent early morning, I spent a while watching A’ama Crabs on the rocks at Spencer Beach Park. This one held its position as the waves washed over it and then receded ….
…. Time after time.
I spotted this Jeweled Anemone Crab scuttling over some very uneven rock and coral, but it was still able to move at a pretty good pace. The Jeweled Anemone Crab is a hermit crab, meaning it lives in a snail shell, either one it found unoccupied, or one from which is evicted the current tenant.
This one looks to have found a colorful shell, but looks are deceiving. The shell isn’t visible at all, because it’s covered by at least four large anemones! These are Calliactis polypus anemones. They give the crab some protection because, if disturbed, they shoot out stinging threads. In return, they get transportation and possibly scraps of food from the crab.
A few days ago, I posted here an image from a recent walk along the coast to Hapuna beach. I thought I’d post more photos from that walk for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme of ‘Paths and Trails’ (more responses here), and for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (more responses here).
The trail crosses beaches large and small.
Of course, besides the views I was on the alert for anything moving on the beach or in the air.
Other parts pass through trees and other vegetation.
An A’ama Crab at the aptly named Crab Cove at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.
The top photo looks like a regular shot of an a’ama crab on the edge of a tide pool with the ocean blurred in the background. But the second photo shows that the ‘tide pool’ is actually a depression in a large rock, one of several placed along the edge of a parking lot, to stop people driving into the ocean (yes, they would, in case you’re wondering.).
For some reason, this encounter reminded me of the incredible climbing ability of these crabs even though I often see them skittering up or down vertical walls, in rolling surf, when I get in the water.
I’ve only seen one or two seven-eleven crabs (Carpilius maculatus) before, and not for several years. My wife had never seen one. One reason for this is that the crabs are active at night. But we saw this one a few days ago, scuttling over the rocks and sand. It was quite early in the morning, so the crab was probably headed for its home.
These crabs are quite large and have the distinctive markings that give it its name. There are the two spots alongside each eye and three across the center of the shell. Four more spots are less obvious on the back edge of the shell.
In Hawaii, these crabs are called ‘alakuma. Legend has it that a god caught an ‘alakuma, but the crab struck back and drew blood. This happened a second time, before the god finally snagged the crab. But the crab’s descendants continue to bear the markings of the god’s bloody fingerprints.
Graham's Island 