What's under the dock? 

Usually when we sail, we look at big marine animals. Orcas gliding by in packs. Dolphins circling like synchronized Ferris wheels.  Seals flopped on the rocks, usually upside down. We scan for rarer creatures, like humpback whales,  so exciting to observe when they blow.

But what's under the dock? Besides seaweed and mussels, there are red and purple spiny starfish. Crabs. Sea slugs. Barnacles. All sorts of fish, from smelt to salmon. Two types of jellyfish: the clear, ghost-like kind, and the stinging ones that look like a fringed fritatta. 

On our recent trip, a dozen children armed with nets and buckets entertained themselves for ten days in, on, and over the water. No screens allowed; no screens needed.  They fished, netted, scooped; paddled, swam, read. They studied the world just inches below, populated by animals, plants, and maybe a mermaid?  This has me thinking about what kind of watery world might exist just beneath our feet.