24 May 13. Unable to determine which image I should share with you today, I had to fall back on the judgement of one of the cherubs who thought this one most reminder her of a recent visit to Salt Creek Park to look at the animals residing in the inter-tidal zone that are only visible during low tides. This particular tide was only a -0.3, but on Decoration Day this year those of us neighboring Puget Sound will experience a -3.0 tide which means that there will be a LOT more to see and do. There are many areas around here to go and explore when the tide is out, but the best two of which I'm aware are Salt Creek Park on the west side of Puget Sound and Golden Gardens on the east side of the Sound, walking distance from where we used to live in Ballard. So for those of you living in this neck of the woods, Monday is a primo time to go look at the life abounding under the surface of the water. If a holiday means too many people for you, Tuesday will also be rather nice with a -2.4 tide, not as spectacular as a -3.0, but still something very much worth considering. While we were walking the tide pools at Salt Creek Park Jan found this red spiny sea urchin (Stromgylcentrotus franciscanus), or at least its remains. The animal had previous died, or been killed, and all that was left was this exoskeleton, but it was something none of us had seen before. I took a few shots of it, none quite as nice as I would have preferred, but in this one, if you zoom in sufficiently, you can get a nice view of its spines. The tides that allow for our easy of viewing, sans SCUBA gear, occur twice a year, generally in mid - June around 1200 and again in mid - December, around 2400. So it is just the daylight hour displays that I endeavor to shoot. Weather permitting (not rainy or blustery) perhaps I'll see one or more of you on Decoration Day in Golden Gardens. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f / 7.1.