Photo of the Day: Horseshoe Crab, Hilton Head SC

Last week, on vacation in Hilton Head, S.C., I stayed more alert than I usually do to the environment around me—partly because I was encountering this particular setting for the first time, and partly because the resort was sponsoring an activity asking photographer wannabes like me to spot more than a dozen objects along the beach. One of these was the horseshoe crab.

The first day I was out riding my bicycle along the beach, I only came across one or two of these creatures. The next day, I spotted more like 10, and all without having to look far for them.

The weather was substantially the same on these two days. There’s probably a reasonably good naturalist with a reasonably good explanation for the difference in sightings. If you have one, I’d be delighted to hear about it.