When our oldest son was about 11 years old we visited the Oregon coast. We were exploring a lovely beach on a warm summer day when our son ran up and claimed that he'd been attacked by a bunch of bugs, "that bit him really hard". He showed us a shallow tide pool less than a foot deep. We didn't see anything in the pool, but he assured us "they" were there. I waded into the pool, and instantly dozens of small crustaceans came out of hiding and proceeded to merrily chomp on my exposed feet. They were completely unconcerned with our size differential and did bite "really hard". We never were able to identify those voracious crustaceans, but delighted to see that warning signs are now displayed on the beach.
Note: Very few crustaceans will actually bite you but this nasty little creature is definitely one of them. Barefoot waders in an area with Excirolana will find that the animals quickly swim toward and swarm over bare feet, biting them so hard that blood will be flowing within moments. Since the animals are so small the bites are tiny but painful like a pin prick, and animals are often present in swarms of thousands. Rapidly shuffling the feet reduces but does not eliminate the number of bites.
Excirolana Kincaidi
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