This afternoon we wanted to go swimming... we decided to try and sneak into the pool area at Club of the Isle over in Cove View. We came so close, but were unsuccessful. So we drove a little ways down and found this cute little beach off 8 Mile Road.
We staked our claim of sand, laid down our beach towels,
and Brent promptly fell asleep. I decided that while he was snoozing, I'd
take a walk along to beach to see what I could find, maybe start my collection
of beach treasures. That's when I found this little guy!
I think he's either a young blue crab or a sargassum
crab... you can't see them in the picture, but his back appendages are
definitely tiny paddle-like swimming legs. I found him inside a tubular
plant stem. I enjoyed examining him for a few minutes, released him, and
then continued walking down the beach.
Not too long after releasing the little crab, Brent woke and joined me on my walk and he spotted this big guy! I've never seen a hermit crab of this size out on the beach, and he was the only one around. I'm not sure if hermit crabs live on the beach side or if someone dropped him off there, but we decided it would be a good idea to take him to the bay side - just in case the beach wasn't his natural habitat. So we carried him back to our towels, put him in an empty Sonic cup, and headed to the bay.
There's a boat launch and fishing pier on the northern end of 8 Mile Road where you can usually find hermit crabs, so that's where we decided to take him. Sure enough, we found several more just like him! We took a walk around the beach area, looking at the hermit crabs and watching the birds hunt for fish, and waited for the sun to set.
The sunset over the bay was beautiful as always. What a great way to end the last day of school. Crossing off the first thing on my Summer Bucket List - #11 Watch a sunset off 8 Mile Road. :)
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