Bright Star

 First day of crabbing in Sequim! It sure felt like the first crab hoop we pulled for today had a really BIG crab in it, but as it rose to the surface in the relatively clear cold water it looked empty! Just the empty dark bottom of a trap with no crab. And yet the chicken in the bait bag was also not visible which it should have been. Vas es loaf? as the Dutchman would say. The answer to all the questions was soon answered. The ENTIRE bottom of the crab hoop was covered by a gigantic sea star with 20 arms. We have never in all our years of crabbing come across something like this. It was a thing of mystery and beauty.
 

 

As it turned out we crabbed about three hours and brought home only a single 6 1/4 inch across the carapace male dungeness crab for the day. But it was a beautiful day and we talked to a bunch of locals who really had some good local knowledge for us regarding the fishing rights between what one business owner called the "Indians and the Cowboys." VERY INTERESTING STUFF!

Just another word about the dungeness crabs that we brought up on this day. Most of them had a deep purple color on the legs which we have not seen anywhere else. Very pretty. Just mostly not big enough to keep and eat.