Leo Carillo

I love the beach! I used to think that the beach was just sand and water and rocks (and seagulls) and that there wasn't really any "life" there. Then I took an oceanography class and opened my eyes. That sand and those rocks are teeming with life! You just have to know where to look.

I discovered sea slugs (think squishy, brown, cucumbers), spiny sea urchins, muscles, crabs, tiny fish - it was amazing and beautiful. When kelp washes up on shore I like to look in the holdfasts (roots) for shells of small sea creatures just to see what is there.

A lot of life is like that - we go through our day seeing only the surface of things (or people) and never knowing the richness of diversity of life that is right there to see if we just look in the right place or get to know something or someone a little better.