Tide Pools of Cross Harbour Bight

Juvenile swimming crab in Cross Harbour tide pool.

We spent a quiet morning exploring the tide pools at low tide in Cross Harbour Bight, an amazingly beautiful and pristine bay located southeast of Sandy Point on Great Abaco Island. I felt like a kid again, carefully looking among the crevices and ledges along the rocky shoreline. Lots of cool critters to see.

Fuzzy chitons (one of Brenda's favorites).

Cross Harbour Bight has recently been declared a National Park by the Government of the Bahamas, with support from a local Abaco environmental group called the Friends of the Environment.

It's great to see that special places like Cross Harbour Bight can receive marine protected area status through public and private involvement.

From what we could see on our low tide walk, the site is highly deserving of protection, due to the amazing level of biodiversity and the pristine condition of habitats here.

After sunset, Pandion was surrounded by the fire of bioluminescence in the clear waters of the Bight.

 Corals at low tide.

As fish (maybe a few sharks among them) swim underneath us, they brush up against comb jellies and other plankton that can produce light. This happens as the result of a chemical reaction, and is thought to be for defense.

Blunt-Spined Brittle Star.

Variegated Urchin, covered with mangrove leaves and seagrass to shelter from sunlight.

Rock-Boring Urchin.