Children of the Stars!

I have blogged about a beach comprised of all sea shells and a beach of all fish bones,  but now I've found something even more spectacular.... a beach of STARS!!    It's the Star Sand Beach  (星砂の浜 Hoshizuna-no-hama) found in a remote area of Okinawa, Japan.  To locals, it's Happy Sand and Love Sand :)The sand is formed of  the exoskeletons of tiny crustaceans that are shaped with five to six arms.  Their name is Baclogypsina Sphaerulata and they live amoung the sea grass.  They are a protozoa that use their tiny arms help them move about from place to place.  The small creatures eventually pass away, and only their outer shell made of calcium carbonate remains.  An enormous number of these crustaceans washed to shore over time to create Star Beach.  Now,  the locals tell a much different story.  They tell a story of these tiny stars shells being  the offspring of the Southern Cross (constellation) and the North Star.  They are the children of the stars, born in the ocean, but were killed by a giant serpent leaving behind only their skeletons.  A beautiful story until the serpent arrived :(.   Either way, I just thankful the world creates such wonderfully strange spots.