Just outside are lava rocks (from old eruptions they say) with lots of critters. So far we have noticed these crabs
and these... uh.. no idea what these are actually. Anyone else have an idea? We thought they might be barnacles but that does not seem to be right. 
In other news, Tovina finds the beach exhuasting
And sometimes really upsetting. Actually, this was because her mommy refused help her go to sleep. Bad mommy.
5 comments:
They look like chitons - hard to tell without scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton).
The ones I have seen are generally small - size of a quarter - there is one on the wikipedia page that looks hand-sized.
Have a great time
Karen B
I feel that way myself sometimes!
They are shingle urchins (haukeuke or Colobocentrotus atratus)
Here is a link:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~cbird/HawaiisRockyShore/predators.htm
http://www.hawaiianforest.com/prints/main.php?g2_itemId=710
Enjoy Hawaii!
-Rebecca
Thanks so much for figuring this out! How on earth did you discover those answers?
I figured there had to be a finite set of types of sea creatures one might find in Hawaii, so I googled "Hawaii beach creatures" and took a look at the different classifications. I realized they were not mollusks, crabs, etc, and then I thought their structure was similar to an urchin, but the texture was a bit weird for an urchin, so I used google images to search for "hawaii urchin" and found a matching photo. Google images is useful when you are trying to identify creatures or plants without a field guide. I use it a lot in my preschool classroom when we are trying to figure out what kind of plant or bug we have found. I guess I've developed a knack for this essential early childhood education research skill!
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