How I love the critters and living organisms that fit this category! Though I don’t often visit dry desert places, when my younger sister lived in San Diego, my older sister and I visited her and she treated us to many of the beautiful sights in the area. The photo below is a detail of cacti taken at the SD Botanical Gardens.

There are over 12,000 species of moss, so identifying them has not been a priority of mine, however, the shape of the one in the middle of the gallery below is a giveaway!

From the Pacific Ocean, many different critters are washed ashore. Though no expert, I have made an effort to learn what they are and a little about them. A year ago I posted this photo of a single pink blob, about 2-3 inches long that I found. Steve Morey (The Outer Shores) identified it for me – Rat-tailed Sea Cucumber.

“Active nocturnally, they vary in size, from small to over 60 cm (2 feet 0 inches) in length. They are found on, under and within rocks, rubble, and sand from the inter-tidal zone to depths that exceed 300 m (984 feet). They feed by ingesting large amounts of the sand/mud substrate and filtering out the organic matter, and are prey for fish, sea stars, crabs, gastropods, and marine mammals.” https://mexican-fish.com/sea-cucumber-of-the-molpadidae-family/

The above creature looks like a Moon Jelly that has produced a clone. I have searched the internet and have yet to find out what it is for sure. I welcome suggestions!

Alloniscus is the mystery midnight Rune Writer of the dunes. It is hard for me to be selective taking photos of their wonderful, abstract patterns in the sand! I like how the little plants accentuate the image above.

Our constant Pacific Ocean wave activity on the Long Beach Peninsula (WA) creates what I call ‘natural sand-paintings’. One of my favorites is this image that appears to me as an angel, with wispy wings on either side of the face, as it reaches for the feather.

Wishing everyone safe travels. Please be kind and stay safe.🐾

Thank you Leya for another fun, weird and wonderful challenge!