Slime, beautiful slime.....

[canetoad]

Autumn here in the Southern half of the planet. Predictable, settled weather. Some beautiful low tides and calm days. Perfect for hunting out my beloved slimes, jellies and invertebrates.

I have absolutely no idea what this is. I have several photos over the years, always well hidden under rocks. Mystery creature.



Eggs? Sponge? Algae? Again, not a clue but nice and geometric.



This little critter made me laugh. I think it's a shovel-nosed stingaree. Frying pan shaped and sized, sometimes called a round ray.
He saw Gibby and I before I saw him. He came to the surface, right in close and had slow, languid look at us them departed.



OK, you won't believe this. True limpets are territorial. They clamp on to their spot on the rocks and in time, bodily chemicals etch their position on the rocks.This is called a Homescar. They go out hunting during the day and at low tide they return to their homescar and batten down.

This homescar is about 5cm or 2 in. across. By depth, a big old limpet lived here for many years.



The shell of the above limpet may very well be in this aboriginal shell midden. There are shell middens every few metres, up and down our location. This is the only one I know, undisturbed enough to see the burning layer - the carbon remains of the campfire where the shellfish were cooked. The original people were the Bun Wurrung people. Time has morphed the name into the Bunnurong Marine Park.