We finally went boating and luckily it was low tide along the river. This is the best time to search the sand bars for sea life. Today, I found a living sand dollar! I believe this is the first time I have ever come across such a thing.
Because I can’t see in the bright sun when taking my iPhone photos, I take a few hoping that some will be okay. This sand dollar was such a wonderful sight. The color was a purple brown. The bottom had little bristles I could feel. I only held it for a few seconds to get the pictures, then put him back in the same spot.
Later, after I walked away to the deeper water, I saw this sand dollar slowly moving closer to the river. The water was flowing in that direction so maybe he was riding the current. That is good, because if he was beached, he would dry up and die in the hot August sun.
Former Finds in This Area
This Three Sisters area has been especially good for unique sea life sightings – for me. Low tide is the best time to search the area and it helps if the water is warm and fairly clear.
You can see the difference in my photos of the same area at the islands when the tides change.
We visited Three Sisters a few weeks before this and I could barely walk around because there were many stingrays. The water was at just about high tide, which means the sand is covered, but the water is still shallow enough to walk around. I know all about shuffling my feet while walking in the sand here, but sometimes these stingrays are not easily scared off! That was a good day to stay on the boat.
In years past I have found the giant red hermit crab – 2017 (the only one I’ve ever seen), a big living horse conch nearly buried in mud, a big sea star, a tiny sea star, and a friend found an empty, huge horse conch seashell.
