Sea urchin and sea bluebells

Oysterleaf and sea urchin on a rocky coast in Iceland
Oysterleaf and sea urchin.

Beaches are always interesting, especially if you are into natural sciences. Iceland is no exception. Today I want to demonstrate a combination of a sea urchin shell with a beautiful nordic plant called sea bluebells or oysterleaf that commonly grows on rocky coasts.

I have mentioned sea urchins several times before because their colorful spines often end up being sand grains. I found one fellow with lots of its spines still attached but I will leave it for another day.

This sea urchin is one of so-called green sea urchins because most of its spines are green. Its latin name is Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. It is common in cold arctic oceans. The plant next to it is Mertensia maritima. It grows even in Svalbard and Greenland and seems to feel quite comfortable in Iceland.