Tracks in the Sand

Each day, twice a day, the sea comes in and wipes clean the sands of the lonely beaches along Ardnamurchan's north coast, and....

....then something comes along and leaves a trace of its passing on their pristine surfaces.  From the size of its tracks, and the way it seems to jump as it moves, this is likely a mink or, possibly, a young otter.

The tracks tell a story. To the left are those of a dog. It ran down into the sea as a small wave came in, turned to its left, and came out again, but the next wave didn't come up as far, so more of the return tracks are left. Much later, and probably only a short time before we passed, the mink came up the beach.

We too left our marks, on top of the tracks of the mink, the dog, and the people accompanying the dog.  The tides had passed springs and were moving towards neaps, so it will be some days before they rise high enough to wipe the whole beach clean.