Trail of Snails

11.10.11

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One sunny Alaska Peninsula day in 2011, after a day of successful halibut fishing, we decided to venture far across the bay to a remote beach for some exploration. This particular beach is of very different character compared to the beaches “near” camp – in the upper tidal region, it’s covered in large, beautifully rounded rocks, created as the cliffs sloughed off their rocky faces over time, then tumbled over and over throughout the eons from daily surf action.

It was low tide, and in fact, I had never seen this particular beach with a tide this low. As we scoured the rocks and tide pools and cliff formations, we noticed several snails heading for higher ground from the waterline. But what we found so interesting in the network of snail trails, each often crossed and led into the other. Sometimes multiple snails converged into a single trail, making a train of snails.

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In the photos here, you see two snails together. But at times there would be 3, 4 or 5 in a line.

It was a scene unique to me, and it’s always fun to “see something new,” so I snapped several macro-style photos with my camera.

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