Richard And Jo Demeester's photos with the keyword: Siquijor

Protoreaster Nodosus, Horned Sea Star, Knobby Sea Star, or Chocolate Chip Starfish.

Going by a variety of names (see the next picture), we grew quite fond of these abundant echinoderms. Wonderfully colourful and abundant in knee to waist deep water, Siquijor.

A fleeting encounter between two sea stars.

Generally, they were just laying on the wet sand. At first, we thought they were dead. Every now and then, one or two decided to get moving, and they could muster quite a cracking pace, considering they were out of the water.

Claws and legs pulled in nice and tight, flattened so that all the toughest shell locks together to create a defensive armour. On the shore, Siquijor island.

If we stood still for a few minutes, the buried crabs would bravely emerge from their sandy hiding places. They just didn't notice us when we were not moving.

For about half an hour, while the tide was at the its lowest point, thousands upon thousands of tiny crabs scuttled across the beach. Taking a step towards them, they would bury themselves in the sand, and in seconds, there was almost no evidence they had even been there.