Ok, so we've looked in the tide pool, now let's really get our feet wet in the sea grass and coral reefs, this is where we will find SEAHORSES!!!
There are 32 species of seahorses, mainly found in shallow tropical and temperate waters around the world. They prefer to live in sheltered areas such as sea grass beds, coral reefs, and mangroves. They can be very small (1 inch) or large (1 foot)
Although seahorses are fish, they do not have scales, instead they have a thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates arranged in rings throughout their bodies. Seahorses swim upright rather than horizontal. Each seahorse has a coronet on their head, which is distinct to each one, much like a finger print. Because they are poor swimmers, they are most likely to be found resting in seagrasses or coral reefs with their tails wound around a stationary object. They have long snouts, which they use to suck up food, like small shrimp, tiny fish and plankton. Their eyes can move independantly of each other like a chameleon.
When two seahorses discover a mutual interest at the beginning of breeding season, they court for several days. During this time they change color, swim side by side holding tails or grip the same strand of seagrass with their tails and wheel around in unison in what is known as their "pre-dawn dance". They eventually engage in their "true courtship dance" lasting about 8 hours, during which the male pumps water through the egg pouch on his trunk which expands and opens to display appealing emptiness. When the females eggs are mature , she and her mate let go of any anchors and snout to snout, drift upward out of the seagrass, often spiraling as they rise. The female deposits her eggs as the male fertilizes them. The male carries their eggs two to four weeks. Then small fry are spouted out and on their own.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3XJF-uY8SQ
the bracelet. 
We headed to Encinitas on the coast to a little Hawaian hole in the wall. It was good! We had Kalua pig and rice!! Dale and Sheena like this kind of food. Dion enjoyed it too! Of course we had a shaved ice! I was hoping they might have African Ice, but no it was Hawaian. Anyway, we walked around this beach town looking in the stores, bazaar, and then drove on down the road to a beach we all love and got our feet wet and ocean air in our lungs! It was just what I needed to calm me down. Good Kids, good food, good air, good times. So, as the saying goes: Alls well that ends well!
To see under water more accurately, dolphins use an echolocation, or sonar, system which operates on a frequency similar to that of an ultrasound scan. The dolphins send out clicks, and the "pictures" they receive enable them to locate food and other objects of interest --including us! Dolphins communicate with one another using high-pitched whistles--transmitted at frequencies ten times higher and four and a half times faster than human speech. Rather than using a language as we know it, dolphins seem to create 'sound pictures'
The summer of surf (when my children were home) we went to the beach nearly everyday. I learned to surf and I enjoyed it very much!!! The boys of course wanted to catch as many waves as possible. I too wanted to catch a wave, but what I really enjoyed was relaxing just past the wave break on my surf board, just taking in the rays (sun, not sting) and looking down into the deep clear dark water beneath me. The kelp grows in a forest out there and that is where I saw the big gold fish called Garibaldi!
Garibaldi are found in the cooler temperate waters as opposed to tropical reefs. Their habitats range from the shallow subtidal regions down to depths of approximately 100 feet. They occupy shallow rocky reefs near where the intertidal and subtidal zones meet. Here they swim in and around the kelp forests that are prevalent in this habitat. These kelp forests are a critical habitat element as they provide potential protection from predators, are a source of food for them, and are important for reproductive success.
For having fun with Garibaldi with your under water camera see this website!!!
No bones. No brains. But what a sting! The sting of some "jellies", can be deadly. Others are harmless to humans. They look like blobs when washed up on the beach. But in the water jellies are graceful. They range in size from about 1 inch to 200 feet long.
Jelly fish are not fish at all. They are invertebrates, relatives of corals and sea anemones. A jelly has no head, brain, heart, eyes, nor ears. It has no bones. But that's no problem! To capture prey for food, jellies have a net of tentacles that contain poisonous, stinging cells. When the tentacles brush against prey (or a person's leg), thousands of tiny stinging cells explode, launching barbed stingers, and poison into the victim. Where there's water -from icy polar seas to tropical Pacific shores-- there are jellies. Scientists estimate there may be 2,000 species of jellyfish.
DON'T GET STUNG!
Ok, so we've looked in the tide pool, now let's really get our feet wet in the sea grass and coral reefs, this is where we will find SEAHORSES!!!
I love starfish! Sometimes you can find them in tidepools. I can spend days in delight just looking in tidepools! Dalton and I were out kayaking one summer with freinds when we saw starfish on the bottom of the ocean floor. We dove down, down, down. It was deeper than it looked, the water was murky. Everytime Dalton dove down the starfish would move, faster than you would think. We could not catch them.
Bonding
