August 22, 2017, Tuesday — Quigley Creek Cove, Laredo Inlet, Princess Royal Island —

There’s a really low tide this morning, so I decided to land my kayak on the mud flats and take a look around. 

 

 

 

I noticed something that looked odd, like a bunch of snorkels. I felt them and they didn’t feel like plants.  What on earth were they?  Could they be siphons?  It’s a mystery.

 

 

Then, I spotted some Moon Snail egg collars.  The Moon Snails lay their eggs in these collars.   The eggs are sandwiched between two layers of sand cemented together by mucous secretions.  The collars look like rubber.

 

 

 

 

I was really excited, because I’ve never seen Moon Snails anyplace other than St. John Harbour.  After looking a little farther up the beach, I found the Moon Snails.  These are very large shells, about 5 inches in diameter, and the foot, which is edible, is enormous.

 

 

 

There were lots of pretty colored cockles also.

 

 

And there were millions of mussels, fields of them.  I’d never seen anything like it.

 

 

 

 

 

I love mussels, so it just kills me that we can’t eat them because of the fear of paralytic shellfish poisoning.  Oh, well.  Someone needs to design an inexpensive PSP test kit.

At the far end of the mud flats I saw some Canadian Honkers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as they spotted me, they took flight, headed upstream.