strange creature ...
This was something new for me. I was peering into the rock pools at Lochbuie as is my wont, and I became aware of lots of these spikey urchin-like creatures, covered with upturned shells of various kinds. The pools were quite deep, in tall rocky outcrops surrounded by deep sea water. I managed to get to this one in a shallower area of the pool near the edge, and cleared away some of the shells covering the urchin. To my amazement, within minutes, when I looked at it again, it had managed to gather these shells back on to it, and what was even more amazing, and a bit disconcerting, was that it appeared to have grown a couple of eyes which were looking straight at me!!
I assumed that this gathering of shells must be something to do with camouflage to fool predators, but I have since been told by someone who knows more about these things than I do, that it's thought that they may do it as a protection against UV.
strange creature ...
This was something new for me. I was peering into the rock pools at Lochbuie as is my wont, and I became aware of lots of these spikey urchin-like creatures, covered with upturned shells of various kinds. The pools were quite deep, in tall rocky outcrops surrounded by deep sea water. I managed to get to this one in a shallower area of the pool near the edge, and cleared away some of the shells covering the urchin. To my amazement, within minutes, when I looked at it again, it had managed to gather these shells back on to it, and what was even more amazing, and a bit disconcerting, was that it appeared to have grown a couple of eyes which were looking straight at me!!
I assumed that this gathering of shells must be something to do with camouflage to fool predators, but I have since been told by someone who knows more about these things than I do, that it's thought that they may do it as a protection against UV.