Tag: beach

• Meet Mexico’s hidden beach, Playa del Amor of the Marieta Islands

  

  There’s a hidden beach deep in the Marieta Islands of Mexico known as Playa del Amor (Lover’s Beach).

  Like Portugals’ stunning Benagil Sea Cave, the beach is concealed inside a hinged cave and can only be reached by swimming or kayaking through an extensive water tunnel during low tides.

  But first, to get to Playa del Amor, visitors must take a 22-mile boat ride from Puerto Vallarta’s coast and then decide how to navigate the Pacific Ocean and the cave’s ceiling level to the sandy beach.

  The romantic beach, however, has a gruesome past that’s not all attributed to geology. The gaping crater in the center and the surrounding odd rock formations resulted from military bombing exercises in the 1900s.

  Jacques Cousteau’s conservation efforts in the 1960s helped preserve the uninhabited islands from further military destruction.

  

  

  

  Wells Baum

  November 16, 2022

  Travel

  beach, caves, Mexico, Ocean, Travel

• The stealthy ghost crab

  

  The ghost crab is about as big as your hand but as fast as lightning. 

  The eight-legged little creature moves across sandy beaches at 100 body lengths per second, up to 10 miles per hour. That’s blazing-fast compared to the size of a human and a cheetah, who achieve speeds of 11 and 20 body lengths per second, respectively.

  The camouflage king of the sand

  Now you see me, now you don’t.

  The ghost crab typically burrows deep holes in the sand and reemerges late in the day. They can even adjust their pale colors to match the distinct hues of the grains of sand. So you’d be lucky to spot one of these near-invisible creatures. And if you do, be prepared for it to dash away as soon as it gets a glimpse of you.

  But within those stalky eyes, which can also operate like self-cleaning windshield wipers and cute little faces are teeth that growl at predators when threatened. The ghost crab is the first example of an animal that uses its stomach to communicate. 

  Meanwhile, the crabs survive off insects, small clams, and other sand crabs. 

  

  

  

  Wells Baum

  October 20, 2022

  Animals

  animals, beach, ghost crab, Ocean