A Kos beach trip means time by the sea on Kos, an island in the south-east Aegean. It is one of the Greece tours on this site. The notes below look at the shore through its sand, its animals and its sea: sandcastles, the octopus, the starfish, the herring gull, the sandpiper, the loggerhead turtle, the dolphin, paddleboarding, shells, waves and the jet ski. Each term is explained in plain words, and the facts come from reference articles. A short FAQ closes the page.
What does a Kos beach trip mean?
A Kos beach trip is time spent along the shoreline of Kos, which belongs to the Dodecanese. Sand art is one way people play on a shore. Sand raking, for example, makes patterns on a sandy beach by raking the sand.
The raked designs are temporary and wash away with the next tide. A tide is the rhythmic rising and falling of sea level. Tidal forts are very large sandcastles with thick walls that guard against the sea. A Kos beach trip belongs to the same world of shore play.
Lappeenranta in Finland makes a new sand artwork each year around a changing theme. Bettystown beach in County Meath, Ireland has hosted a sand sculpture competition since 2003. A sculpture here means a shape made from sand. A Kos beach trip shares its setting, the shore, with such contests.
A World Championship in Sand Sculpture was held in Harrison Hot Springs, Canada, from 1989 to 2009. The largest sandcastle made in a contest was 18 feet tall. A championship is a contest to find the best. A Kos beach trip is one more way to meet the shore.
In southeast Asia, sand pagodas are built to earn Buddhist merit. The tradition of building sand pagodas has continued since the 1500s. A pagoda is a tiered tower, and merit is a good deed in Buddhist belief. A Kos beach trip touches only the play side of the shore.
- Sand angel: A sand angel is made by lying on the back and swishing arms and legs in sand.
- Heap game: A popular game builds a sand heap as high as possible to withstand the tide.
- Coloured sand: Colored sand can be suspended in water between two sheets of glass.
In short, sand play covers raked patterns, forts, sculptures, pagodas and games. Part of it is washed away within hours, and part of it is kept in glass. A Kos beach trip offers one more look at how people shape sand.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the common octopus add?
A Kos beach trip is about the sea, and the common octopus is one sea animal. The common octopus is a mollusk in the class Cephalopoda. Its mantle reaches 25 cm in length and its arms reach up to 1 m.
The common octopus can weigh up to 9 kg, about 20 pounds. It ranges from the eastern Atlantic to the southern coast of South Africa. A mollusk is a soft-bodied animal, and the mantle is the main body part behind the head. A Kos beach trip meets this animal only through facts.
Crabs, lobsters and bivalve mollusks such as cockles are its preferred prey. The common octopus hunts at dusk. It uses its beak to break into the shells of shelled mollusks. A bivalve is a mollusk with a two-part shell. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such feeding.
The common octopus can shift its colour so that it blends into its surroundings. The interior surfaces of its arms are covered with circular, adhesive suckers. A sucker is a round pad that sticks to a surface. This is how the arms grip. A Kos beach trip sits beside a sea that holds such animals.
It can distinguish brightness, navigate mazes and recognize individual people. Octopuses have been observed keeping gardens of marine plants, algae, shells and rocks. An alga is a simple water plant. A Kos beach trip raises questions about how clever sea animals can be.
- Spawning: Spawning in one reported area runs from December to September, with a spring peak.
- Protection: The common octopus was the first invertebrate protected by the UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
- Range: It ranges from the eastern Atlantic to the southern coast of South Africa.
In short, the common octopus is a clever, soft-bodied hunter with arms that reach up to 1 m. Its life runs from spawning to dusk hunts and colour changes. A Kos beach trip is one way to turn the mind to such sea life.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the starfish bring?
A Kos beach trip is about the shore, and the starfish is a shore animal. Starfish, also called sea stars, are echinoderms shaped like a star polygon. An echinoderm is a spiny-skinned sea animal. Their arms radiate from a central disc.
Starfish can live from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths. The intertidal zone is the strip of shore between high and low tide. Abyssal depths are the deep ocean floor. The number of arms varies by group. A Kos beach trip meets this animal only as a topic.
Their tube feet look like suction cups but grip through adhesive chemicals, not suction. Pisaster brevispinus uses specialized tube feet to dig deep into soft seabed for prey. A tube foot is a small fluid-filled limb under the arm. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such feet.
Certain starfish species can regrow a whole new limb given time. Starfish are vulnerable to infection in the early stages after losing an arm. A limb here means an arm. The regrowth is slow, and the wound is a weak point. A Kos beach trip raises questions about how such animals heal.
The starfish fossil record dates back to the Ordovician period, around 450 million years ago. The French zoologist de Blainville gave starfish the scientific name Asteroidea in 1830. A zoologist is a scientist who studies animals. A fossil record is the set of remains found in rock.
- Keystone: Robert Paine first used the term keystone species in 1966 for a starfish.
- Outbreaks: Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish have damaged coral reefs in Northeast Australia and French Polynesia.
- Coral cover: In a Polynesia study, coral cover dropped from over 40% to under 5% in four years.
In short, starfish are spiny-skinned animals with arms around a central disc. They can live from the shore to the deep sea and regrow lost arms. A keystone species is one that shapes its whole habitat. A Kos beach trip is one way to turn the mind to the shore and its animals.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the herring gull add?
A Kos beach trip is about the coast, and the European herring gull is a coast bird. The European herring gull is a large gull, up to 66 cm long. It breeds along the northern and western coasts of Europe.
Adult males are 60 to 67 cm long. The wingspan can range from 125 to 155 cm. A wingspan is the span between the two wingtips. To breed is to nest and raise young. A Kos beach trip meets this bird only as a topic.
Adults in breeding plumage have a light grey back and white head and underparts. The wingtips are black with white spots called mirrors. Plumage is the covering of feathers on a bird. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such markings.
The herring gull has a varied diet of fish, crustaceans and plants. A crustacean is an animal such as a crab. Despite the name, herring gulls have no special preference for herrings. A Kos beach trip joins a bird with a wide menu.
Herring gulls drop shelled prey from a height to break the shell. Two to four eggs are laid in colonies, either on the ground or on ledges of a cliff. A colony is a group of birds that nest together. A ledge is a narrow shelf on a cliff.
- Incubation: Both parents incubate the eggs for 28 to 30 days.
- Long call: The raucous territorial long call marks boundaries to other birds.
- Age: The maximum recorded age of a herring gull is 49 years.
In short, the herring gull is a big coast bird with a wingspan of 125 to 155 cm. It has a clever way of breaking shells. To incubate is to keep eggs warm until they hatch. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to sea birds.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the sandpiper bring?
A Kos beach trip is about the shore, and the sandpiper is a shore bird. Sandpipers are small to medium-sized birds, 12 to 66 cm long. They have long bodies, long legs and narrow wings.
Sandpiper bill tips contain a high density of tactile receptors. A tactile receptor is a nerve ending that senses touch. Their bills are sensitive, letting the birds feel mud and sand while probing for food. A Kos beach trip meets this bird only as a topic.
Bill shape varies widely across the family, reflecting differences in feeding. Probing soft soils, muds and sands for prey is a frequent feeding method. To probe is to push the bill into the ground to search. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such feeding.
Phalaropes peck at the water for small prey. A phalarope is a small wading bird of the same family. Sandpipers lay three or four eggs into the nest. A clutch is the set of eggs laid in one nest. A Kos beach trip joins a family with varied habits.
The nest itself is a simple scrape in the ground. A scrape is a shallow hollow in the soil. The term sandpiper does not have a strict meaning. It is a loose name that covers a broad bird family. A Kos beach trip touches that broad group.
- Sanderling: The sanderling is an Arctic species that spends its non-breeding season in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Godwit: The bar-tailed godwit holds the record for the longest non-stop flight of any bird.
- Shorebirds: Shorebirds are commonly found wading along shorelines and mudflats to forage.
In short, the sandpiper is a long-legged wader with a touch-sensitive bill and a scrape for a nest. To forage is to search for food. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to the birds of the shore.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the loggerhead sea turtle add?
A Kos beach trip is about the shore, and the loggerhead is a sea turtle. Of all hard-shelled turtles the loggerhead is the largest, slightly heavier than the green sea turtle. It is also the second largest living turtle, after the leatherback sea turtle.
The carapace is rimmed by 11 or 12 pairs of marginal scutes. The carapace is the upper part of the shell. A scute is a horny plate on that shell. A Kos beach trip meets this reptile only as a topic.
The shell is external armor, but loggerheads cannot pull their heads or flippers inside. A flipper is a broad limb for swimming. This sets the loggerhead apart from land tortoises. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such shells.
Loggerheads crush prey with large, powerful jaws. No other sea turtle has so long a list of known prey as the loggerhead. Prey means the animals that a hunter eats. A Kos beach trip joins a long list of sea life.
Loggerheads spend up to 85% of their day underwater. Female-female aggression is common among loggerheads but fairly rare in other marine vertebrates. A vertebrate is an animal with a backbone. Aggression here means fights and chases between the animals.
- Nesting range: Loggerheads nest over a range wider than any other sea turtle’s range.
- Mediterranean: Almost 45% of Mediterranean juveniles have migrated from the Atlantic.
- Hatchlings: Nest temperature decides the sex of loggerhead hatchlings.
In short, the loggerhead is a big sea turtle with a hard shell and strong jaws. Its list of prey is long. A hatchling is a newly hatched turtle, and a juvenile is a young one. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to the sea and its reptiles.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the bottlenose dolphin bring?
A Kos beach trip is about the sea, and the common bottlenose dolphin is a sea mammal. Common bottlenose dolphins are grey, with a short beak, a single blowhole and a hooked dorsal fin. Males are larger and heavier than females.
Five of their seven neck vertebrae are not fused together, making their necks more flexible. A vertebra is one bone of the spine. The brain can interpret echolocation signals at a frequency of 120 kHz. A Kos beach trip meets this animal only as a topic.
Echolocation tells a dolphin the location, shape and size of objects. It works by sending out sounds and reading the echoes. Dolphin pods work as a team to harvest schools of fish. A pod is a group of dolphins that live together. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such teamwork.
Females stay with their calves for three to eight years. A calf is a young dolphin. The long bond means that young animals learn from their mothers for years. A Kos beach trip joins a story about family life in the sea.
Common bottlenose dolphins live in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, absent only from polar waters. Offshore populations can migrate up to 4,200 km in a season. Temperate means mild, and polar means near the poles. To migrate is to travel between regions.
- Markings: Superficial knicks and notches on the body or dorsal fin make each dolphin individually identifiable.
- Memory: They have the longest social memories of any non-human species.
- Brain: Their encephalization quotient is 5.26, which is even higher than chimpanzees.
In short, the bottlenose dolphin is a grey sea mammal with a flexible neck. It has a sharp sense of echo and a long memory. An encephalization quotient compares brain size with body size. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to sea life.
On a Kos beach trip, what does stand-up paddleboarding add?
A Kos beach trip is about the water, and stand-up paddleboarding is a water sport. It grew out of surfing and has modern roots in Hawaii. Riders stand on boards floating on the water and propel themselves with a paddle.
In the traditional form, a rider stands on the board and works a paddle with one blade. SUP stands for stand-up paddleboarding. A single-sided paddle has one blade at the end of the shaft. A Kos beach trip meets this sport only as a topic.
John Ah Choy stood on his board and paddled out with a canoe paddle to catch waves. For Steve West, the basis of SUP is outrigger canoeing joined to surfing. An outrigger is a float fixed beside a canoe. A Kos beach trip joins a sport with island roots.
SUP surfing lets a rider stand on the board from shore and paddle out to the surf zone. The displacement hull lets a touring board glide and track like a canoe or kayak. A hull is the body of a floating craft. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such boards.
Boards over 12 feet are used mainly for racing, and boards under 10 feet mainly for surfing. An inflatable SUP, or iSUP, is built from a drop-stitch core of thousands of fine threads. A core is the inner part of a board. A Kos beach trip touches only the shape of this craft.
- First contests: The first World Championships of the sport were held in Peru in 2012 and 2013.
- Later contests: Later editions were held in Nicaragua, Mexico, Fiji, Denmark, China and El Salvador.
- Styles: Variations include flat water paddling, racing, surfing, whitewater SUP, yoga and fishing.
In short, stand-up paddleboarding grew from surfing and outrigger canoeing into a sport with boards of different lengths. A championship is a contest to find the best. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to the water and its sports.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the seashell bring?
A Kos beach trip is about the shore, and the seashell is a shore object. More than 65,000 gastropod species live in marine, freshwater and land environments. A gastropod is a mollusk such as a snail. A key feature of gastropods is a muscular foot.
The muscular foot is used for crawling, burrowing or swimming. Gastropods undergo torsion, a developmental process that twists the body and internal organs. To burrow is to dig into the ground. A Kos beach trip meets these shells only as a topic.
Bivalves draw water through their gills, which trap tiny food particles. A bivalve is a mollusk with a two-part shell. A gill is the organ for taking in oxygen. Carrier shells of the family Xenophoridae are fairly large marine sea snails. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such shells.
Spirula is a deep water squid-like cephalopod. Its internal shell is small, about 24 mm, but very light and buoyant. Sepia, the cuttlefish, has a large internal shell called the cuttlefish bone. Buoyant means able to float. A Kos beach trip joins a family of shells found inside the body as well.
Tasmanian Aboriginal women made fine whole shell necklaces for more than 2,600 years. Shell necklaces have been found in Stone Age graves as far inland as the Dordogne Valley, in France. A necklace is a string of beads or shells worn around the neck. A Kos beach trip touches this long human use.
- Giant clams: Giant clams have been used as bowls and, when big enough, as bathtubs and baptismal fonts.
- Bailer volute: Melo melo, the bailer volute, is so named because Native Australians used it to bail canoes.
- Sculpture: Maggi Hambling designed a 13 ft (4 m) high scallop shell sculpture at Aldeburgh, England.
In short, shells range from the small internal shell of the Spirula to bowls made from giant clams. People have worn them, bailed with them and shaped them into art. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to the shells of the shore.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the wind wave add?
A Kos beach trip is about the sea, and wind makes sea waves. Five factors work together to set the size of wind waves and the flow structure inside them. Wind must move faster than the wave crest for energy to pass into the wave.
Ripples appear on glassy water when the wind blows and die quickly once it stops. Surface tension is the restoring force that lets ripples travel across the water. A restoring force is one that pulls a disturbed surface back. A Kos beach trip meets these waves only as a topic.
Sea waves can keep moving after the wind dies, because gravity is their restoring force. The largest single waves are expected to be somewhat less than twice the significant wave height. A crest is the highest line of a wave. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such sizes.
The Draupner wave stood 25 m high, 2.2 times the significant wave height. The RRS Discovery recorded 29.1 m waves in a sea with 18.5 m significant wave height. Significant wave height is a measure of the average of the highest waves. A Kos beach trip joins a field of careful measuring.
The highest of those waves was only 1.6 times the significant wave height. The largest recorded wind waves are standard waves in extreme seas, not rogue waves. A rogue wave is a single wave far larger than those around it. A Kos beach trip touches only the facts of the science.
- Turning: Wind waves curve slightly left in the southern hemisphere and slightly right in the northern.
- Far travel: Waves made south of Tasmania in heavy winds can cross the Pacific to southern California.
- Seventh wave: The seventh wave is not always the largest, but middle waves in a set tend to be bigger.
In short, wind waves grow with wind, can travel far and follow measured size rules. A hemisphere is half of the Earth. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to the science of the sea.
On a Kos beach trip, what does the jet ski bring?
A Kos beach trip is about the water, and the jet ski is a water craft. A personal watercraft is a primarily recreational craft designed to carry a small number of occupants. Personal watercraft are also called jet skis or water scooters.
The compact runabout style holds no more than two or three people. The stand-up style is built for one occupant who rides standing up. An occupant is a person on board. A Kos beach trip meets this craft only as a topic.
Both styles use an inboard engine that drives a pump-jet with a screw-shaped impeller. An inboard engine sits inside the hull. A pump-jet pushes water out to drive the craft. A Kos beach trip is a fair prompt to read about such engines.
The United States Coast Guard defines a personal watercraft by set criteria. One is a jet-drive boat under 12 feet long. In the mid-1950s water scooters first came out in the United Kingdom and in Europe. One early model reached speeds up to 40 km/h. A Kos beach trip joins a craft with a short history.
In the 1960s, Clayton Jacobson II of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, developed the idea further. On 5 June 1970, the Greek inventor Dimitrios T. Moraitidis submitted a patent. A patent is a legal right to an invention. A Kos beach trip touches this history only in facts.
- Rescue: Lifeguards use personal watercraft equipped with rescue platforms to rescue water users.
- Patrol: Police and rangers use personal watercraft to enforce laws in coastal waters, lakes and rivers.
- Fishing: Personal watercraft are used for fishing, one of the industry’s fastest-growing segments.
In short, a jet ski is a small recreational craft with a pump-jet drive. Its history began in the mid-1950s. A segment is one part of a market. A Kos beach trip is one more way to turn the mind to craft on the water.
Ahead of a Kos beach trip, which common questions come up?
A Kos beach trip prompts four questions. The first concerns a mineral and the second the salt of the sea. The third concerns a sedimentary rock and the fourth a sandy rock. Brief facts answer each below.
Which mineral lies behind the sand of a Kos beach trip?
Quartz is a hard mineral composed of silica. Quartz is the mineral that defines the value of 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness. Quartz is the second commonest mineral group in the lithosphere of the Earth, about 12% by mass. Silica is a compound of silicon and oxygen.
Which salt comes from the sea behind a Kos beach trip?
Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. Production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times. Sea salt is mentioned in the Vinaya Pitaka, a Buddhist scripture compiled in the mid-5th century BC. Evaporation is the change of a liquid into vapour.
Which sedimentary rock lies behind a Kos beach trip?
Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock. Limestone is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite. Cave systems are found mainly in limestone bedrock. A sedimentary rock is one built from layers of settled material. Calcite and aragonite are two forms of calcium carbonate.
Which sandy rock lies behind a Kos beach trip?
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized silicate grains. Sandstone is mostly quartz or feldspar, the minerals that best resist weathering. Sandstones make up about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. A clastic rock is one made of broken pieces of older rock.