At times, we struggled to move in any direction without killing something.

Barnacles and tiny mussels beneath limp flags of bull kelp crunched under our feet. Dark-ringed burrowing anemones, at times blending with ripples in the wet sand, also succumbed to our plodding. When we placed our hands on seaweed-draped boulders for balance, we pressed plate limpets, black leather chitons and other tiny invertebrates tucked beneath the green fronds.