Ocean treasures
We recently spent a fun morning at the rock pools on Dakesbrook beach near Kalk bay.
As the water is warmer on the Southern part of Cape Town, the rock pools are full of sea creatures and we were able to find many star fish, fish, sea anenome , baby crabs, lipids, and sea urchins.
One of Hamishs greatest finds was a rock pool full of dead sea urchins.
He naturally, decided to collect a few to bring home to add to our homeschool classroom so that we could examine them and draw them in our nature journal.
At the time I told him I was sure that he had found a sea otters kitchen and a few days later, on a Facebook group, I saw a video of a sea otter visiting the same spot. I’m totally convinced that he discovered the disguarded lunch remains of these otters.
Once at home we tipped out the bucket which had a very little bit of sea water from inside the urchins shells, in and discovered a living eco system of tiny shrimp and three mini crabs.
The crabs and shrimp had been inside the sea urchins shells , which is why we hadn’t seen them before. A gentle reminder to us to examine any shells for life before adding them to our examination bucket.
We proceeded to examine them all before heading to our local beach to put them back in the ocean.
We did however keep the urchins shells and they are drying out in the sun as we speak.
About sea urchins
Sea urchins are small, spiny, globe-shaped marine animals that belong to the phylum Echinodermata, making them very close relatives of starfish and sea cucumbers.
Sea urchins are found across all global oceans and in any depths, from tide pools to the deep sea.
They play a major role in ocean ecosystems.
They feed mainly on algae, kelp, and seagrass and if ocean predators like sea otters or large fish decline, the urchin will populations explode and overgraze the kelp forests, turning them into barren areas.
Sea urchins are eaten by sea otters, eels, starfish, large fish, and humans.
