Sea Star Feeding on Mussel at Tide Pool
Saturday, July 18th, 2026 at 2:59:35 PM · 2026/Schoolhouse Beach Tide Pools
This extreme close-up macro photograph captures a purple ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) actively preying upon a large mussel, its tube feet visible as white filaments working to pry open the bivalve's shell. The sea star's aboral surface displays its characteristic granular texture with white ossicles scattered across a deep purple-maroon body. The mussel's dark shell shows iridescent streaking with encrusted algae and barnacle growth, indicating a well-established intertidal specimen. The image is shot from the underside/side angle, revealing the sea star's oral surface and the gap it has created between itself and the mussel shell. The setting is a rocky intertidal tide pool environment, likely submerged or in a moist crevice between rocks.
Chronologically Adjacent
