Three minutes before sunrise, a seemingly peaceful scene, but beach hoppers were tussling on the drift line.
On the beach, the driftline was littered with seaweed debris. With the sun not yet shining brightly, and the air warm with almost no breeze, beach hoppers were out and uninhibited. If you’ve never hung out with beach hoppers, give yourself a treat. Pick a warm still morning and make your way down to the driftline around first light. If you’re not a morning person, Ricketts and Calvin offer a solution.
Observers with a trace of sympathy for bohemian life should walk with a flashlight along a familiar surfy beach at half-tide on a quiet evening. The huge hoppers will be holding high carnival– leaping about with vast enthusiasm and pausing to wiggle their antennae over likely looking bits of flotsam seaweed. They will rise up before the intruder in great windrows, for all the world like grasshoppers in a summer meadow.
Ricketts and Calvin (1968)
Active beach hoppers can devour patches of drift algae in a night or two, leaving only a ghostly outline of their workings in the sand. These are California beach hoppers, Megalorchestia californiana. Wherever they are abundant, you’ll soon find their isolated oval-shaped burrows. Males are famous for fighting over them.
I’m grateful for the the opportunity I got to observe these two clash over burrow rights. For a few seconds I existed only in that world.
The battle ended without warning. I’ve never wished more for the ability to read crustacean body language.
Around sunrise males, and pretty much all the hoppers, retreat to burrows or seaweed shelters. I watched the fellow below search for something suitable. At the time, I didn’t notice rival antennae poking out of all the nearby entrances.
My guess is the burrows shown here were constructed the previous night, the night of the highest tide of the cycle. With lower water in the forecast, these burrows had a chance to last a while. Maybe that’s what made them worth fighting for. Still, I wonder what goes on in there.
By four minutes after sunrise all the big males had retreated to burrows, or were working on it. Activity was slowing.
The hoppers needed privacy. Low tide was less than an hour off. It was a good time to turn my attention to the tidepools. Incredibly, I was with the hoppers less than four minutes!
The first time I connected with California beach hoppers in person was in June, 2013. I tell that story and share a few photos in California Beach Hopper, Megalorchestia californiana.
References
Kozloff, E. N. 1993. Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast. 3rd ed. University of Washington Press.
Ricketts, E. W., and J. Calvin. 1968. Between Pacific Tides. 4th ed., revised by J. W. Hedgpeth. Stanford University Press.
Online Resources
Check out The Invertebrates of the Salish Sea’s page on Megalorchestia californiana
theoutershores 
Wow, what a battle royal! And all under the perspicacious eye of your camera!
thanks for sharing your morning at the beach. We miss the West coast and appreciate your posts.
Love this post so much. The picture with every hole occupied by a pair of antennae was awesome. Great natural history!!
Isn’t that the coolest? Thanks for taking the time to mention it. The wrestling match was epic. What I showed was only about 8 seconds. I watched about two seconds longer.
That was a fun read with some cool shots. Thanks Steve. These are different than what I hear referred to as “sand fleas” right?
-Chris ____________________________ Chris Allen Acting Aquatics Division Manager USFWS, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite 100 Portland OR 97266 Phone: 503.231.6906 chris_allen@fws.gov
Thanks Chris. Good question. People do call these sand fleas. I favor beach hoppers. And, these are the biggest of ours in Oregon. There is a super common smaller version too. Looks similar, but males lack red antennae. And there are a few other less common species too.
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you for posting so many interesting photos of of the beach hopper. What drama!
I know, I was mesmerized. Seems so much longer than a few seconds. You are so welcome and thank you for taking the time to let me know.
What a fascinating series that documenting these movements. Thank you for sharing!