Wrack Line 2023

November 16, 2023

A view to the south just before morning sun crests the foredune.
Any treasures out there?
Closeup side view of a mole crab on sand
Emerita | Head to the right
Ventral surface of a mole crab resting on sand
Same specimen, different angle
Internal surfaces of both valves or a razor clam, one valve somewhat fragmented.
Pacific razor Siliqua patula
Condrophore and a little bit more of the shell remnant resting on sand.
Gaper chondrophore
Drift seaweed and seagrass resting on sand.
Postelsia and Phyllospadix
Dungeness crab carapace (exterior surface visible) resting on sand.
Dungeness crab carapace
Fairly fresh drift bull kelp with the bulb and blades and stipe. Barnacles at the base of the blades and on the stipe.

Nereocystis is a generous barnacle host (at the green arrows)
Closeup of pelagic gooseneck barnacles on the base of drift bull kelp blades. (I think two species, one in the foreground and another in the background, are present here).
Hitchhiking pelagic gooseneck barnacles on the base of blades
A drift Nereocystis stipe encrusted with pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas (Lepas) pacifica.
Hitchhiking pelagic gooseneck barnacles on the stipe
Mussel fragment with barnacle scars rest on the sand.
Mytilus
Closeup on one elk print with dew claw marks in the sand.
Beach treat
A short length of frayed line rest on the sand.
Frayed remnant
An upside-down root wad protrudes from the sand. Beach and surf zone in the background. Sunny sky.
Root wad (upside-down)
A mass of drifted worm casings, maybe those of the glassy tubeworm Spiochaetopterus costarum, but I'm not sure.
Spiochaetopterus costarum casings?
Large bleached clam shell, both valves, resting on the sand.
Know your seashells?
The wad from a shotgun shell casts a shadow on the sand.
The wad
An empty and drifted rough keyhole limpet shell cast a shadow on the sand.
Empty rough keyhole limpet shell
A long straight log, once part of some kind of structure, rests in the shadow of the backshore shelf.
At rest in morning shadows
Decaying bull kelp provides shelter and food for beach-dwelling crustaceans
Hardworking bull kelp
A heavily encrusted toy jet ski rest on the sand against a razor clam shell. Back beach and foredune in the background. Blue sky.
Needs detailing
Coyote tracks in the sand lead off to the south.
On the southbound
A spruce branchlet tip rest on a small mound of beach sand, casting a shadow. Surf zone in the distance.
A perch of its own
A small beachcast fish, maybe a Pacific herring, rests on the sand.
Small beachcast clupeid
A stranded jellyfish on the sand (more or less upside-down).
Chrysaora, brother of Pegasus
A cluster of drifted snail egg cases rests on the sand.
Detached and drifted Nucella egg capsules
***

November 15, 2023

A single Postelsia stipe and its blades and a few blades of surfgrass rest on the cobbles.
Cobbles play host to drift Postelsia and surfgrass
A dead grasshopper in a tangle of surfgrass resting on the cobbles.
You never know what you’ll find in a tangle of Phyllospadix
A small piece of driftwood with three sizable tunnels rests on the sand.
Did shipworms do the tunneling?
A zone of big wood resting on a cobblestone shelf
Sometimes you’ll find a zone of big wood above the wrack line
From top to bottom, cobbles, bare sand, mixed cobbles and sand with small terrestrial material, surfgrass, and at the bottom, bare sand.
Layers
A tangle of surfgrass resting on the sand nearly hides a loop of lost line.
Surfgrass and lost line
Lots of small plastic fragments left behind in the drift. (Resting on the sand.)
Oh no
Up in the cobbles, fruit flies have found a drifted pumpkin fragment.
Fruit flies will find the pumpkin fragment
Beachscape with wet cobbles from the previous high tide and dry cobbles above the reach of tide. On the right, a headland; on the left, beach and the surf zone. Cloudy sky.
The cobble zone is probably a little underappreciated
From the cobble zone, peering down a hollow bull kelp stipe as it snakes off toward the surf zone. Cloudy sky.
Confirming bull kelp’s hollow stipe
A seascape raging from cobbles at the bottom to the beach and swash zone, and the surf zone and beyond. On the horizon, Tillamook Lighthouse. Just above the horizon a layer of clear sky, and finally, up top, a cloudy sky, also somewhat layered.
Layers I love
In the foreground, kelp and big wood high in the cobbles. in the distance, beach and swash, the surf zone and beyond. Cloudy sky.
A perch in the cobbles
A jar of cured roe and an empty Red Bull can join eelgrass, surfgrass, feathers and terrestrial material in the wrack line up in the cobbles.
Roe and Red Bull
***

October 26, 2023

Trace of color in a partly cloudy sunrise. Beach on the foreground, surf zone in the middle distance.
Any treasures out there?
Mermaid's purse resting on the sand among sea wrack
Mermaid’s purse
Carpet of hydroids (I think) on driftwood come to rest. Sand and sea wrack in the background.
Carpet of hydroids (I think)
Lost leash
a couple drifted surfgrass rhizomes and their blades rest on smooth, clean beach sand.
Ever-lovely Phyllospadix
The clip end of a dog leash rests on the sand.
Beach hopper workings in ad around drift eelgrass Zostera
A drifted California mussel shell rests on the sand.
Pretty common on lots of northern Oregon shores
A stranded sea nettle and a mussel shell fragment rest together on beach sand.
Cnidaria meet Mollusca
Sea wrack adds essential nutrition | Many beach hoppers agree!
A long somewhat coiled length of bull kelp stipe.
The argument for bullwhip kelp
Moon jelly fragment and a singe blade of eelgrass rest on the sand.
Zostera and a moon jelly fragment
A pebble and some sea wrack rest on smooth sand. Landward, raindrops dimple the sand.
The tip top of the tide
Seascape featuring a Zostera-dominated wrack line. Headlands to the left, surf zone to the right. Mostly cloudy sky.
Staring down the barrel of a Zostera-laden wrack line
A scallop fragment resting on the sand.
Scallop Chlamys, probably
A plastic bottle stands out among sea wrack.
Reality in the wrack Line
A Bull
Star of the show
Pacific razor Siliqua patula
An eternal wrack line cycle
Two bull kelp holdfasts buried under beach hopper workings in the sand.
Beach hoppers love beached bull kelp holdfasts
A drifted cluster of snail egg capsules rests on the sand
Nucella egg capsules
A small, thick-shelled clam shell rests on the sand.
An abstruse bivalve
Half a sand dollar rests on the sand.
Dendraster fragment
A bull kelp drift mass rests on a mix of sand and cobbles.
Drift bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana
An empty and drifted rock scallop Crassadoma gigantea shell, just one valve, partially buried and resting on the sand. Exterior surface exposed.
Rock scallop Crassadoma gigantea
Bleached piddock shell fragment rests on the sand.
It makes sense the anterior rasping surface would remain
Smooth bay shrimp rests on the sand.
Lissocrangon
A drifted cluster of California mussels rests on the sand.
A loss to the mussel bed
Dungeness crab carapace upside down and filled with water and bubbly sea foam resting on the sand.
Tiny tide pool
Closeup sideview of Emerita analoga on the sand.
Emerita analoga
***

October 13, 2023

A pink and purple view south as the sun hasn't risen yet above distant headlands. Wet sand mirrors the colorful clouds.
Sunrise shaping up
Small terrestrial plant material, maybe from conifers, and lot of small dark seed-like objects rest on undisturbed beach sand. 15 cm rule for scale.
Lot’s of terrestrial material in the drift
Half a dozen active beach hoppers on drifted material. I think these are pale beach hoppers Megalorchestia columbiana.
Fall means beach hoppers
Seascape featuring a largish drift log in the foreground and a sea stack in the distance. Partly cloudy sky.
Remember to look up
A divided red seaweed blade rests on the sand
Lovely blade with distinctive veins (maybe something in the Hymenena / Cryptopleura crowd)
The exterior surface of a white bivalve shell rests on the sand
Know your seashells? (Part 1)
An empty drifted Chlamys valve resting on the sand. The shell has been cleaned off and turned over to expose the exterior surface.
Know your seashells? (Part 2)
Exterior surface of a seashell (a bivalve) resting on the sand.
Green false-jingle Pododesmus macroschisma
Interior surface of a seashell (a bivalve) resting on the sand.
Same green false-jingle flipped over to expose the namesake green interior of the left valve
***

October 12, 2023

Seascape looking out to sea from the foredune. In the midground, the beach and surf zone. Mostly clear sky with a band of clouds on the horizon.
Will there be any action down there?
Closeup on the highest reach of th tide. Above the reach of tide, bare sand dimpled by raindrops. Below, decaying eelgrass and dingy foam remnants.
Tiptop of the tide
A drifted cluster of snail egg capsules rests on the sand.
Drifted Nucella egg capsules
A drift log and root crown rests on the sand before the morning sun tops the foredune.
From driftwood to foredune
A closeup head-on view of a juvenile Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister resting on the sand.
Vulnerable out on the surface
A jelly fragment, maybe a moon jelly remnant, rests on the sand.
Jelly fragment
An empty plastic bottle rests on the sand, among a few beachgrass blades.
Uh oh
Drifted Postelsia almost buried in sand amid beach hopper diggings.
Going, going, gone
Razor clam fragments partially buried in the sand, and a couple drifted eelgrass blades.
Razor clam fragments and eelgrass
Closeup of a cluster of three drifted sea sacs Halosaccion resting on the sand among eelgrass and other wrack line debris.
Halosaccion
A jelly fragment, maybe a sea nettle remnant, rests on the sand.
Jelly fragment
Several eelgrass blades lay out parallel in the sand.
Eelgrass Zostera
Gaper clam fragment (exterior surface exposed) resting on sand.
Gaper fragment
Marker buoy (probably from the local Dungeness crab fishery) resting on the sand, Beach and surf zone in the background. Low clouds on the horizon.
Lost marker buoy
Three or four large burrows and some workings along a bull kelp stipe.
String of beach hopper burrows
A decaying bull kelp bulb (looks like it's been chewed on quite a bit) rests on a bed of mostly eelgrass.
Drift bull kelp provides nutrition on the beach
A fairly large but short drift log casts a shadow over the beach. Surf zone in the background. Clear sky.
Big red
Lost Clattertad (steelhead gear from upriver) rests on a drifted stump.
Ouch
Drift egg capsule (probably from a big skate) rests on a bed of sand and drift eelgrass.
Mermaid’s purse
Partial bird skeleton (and feet) rests on the sand. Anterior skeleton covered in drifted eelgrass.
Brown pelican?
Closeup of a Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister pinching claw on the sand. Scattered clumps of drifted eelgrass in the background.
Pinching claw
***

August 15, 2023

Stranded krill-like crustacean rests on the sand.
I don’t see much stranded krill (if that’s what this is)
Closeup on a dew-covered female maritime earwig Anisolabis maritima resting on the sand.
Maritime earwig
Two people on the shore. A mix of sand and rocks in the background, and a forested slope beyond.
Meetup
A hand-held drifted tuft of crinkly red seaweed.
Another meetup
A stranded crystal jelly rests on the sand.
Aequorea
A stranded lion's mane jelly rests on the sand.
Lion’s mane
An empty razor clam shell with both valves rests on the sand. The interior surfaces are exposed (except both valves are partially filled with sand).
Both valves!
An empty razor clam shell with both valves attached rests on the sand. The shell has been turned to expose the exterior surface.
The same shell flipped over to expose the exquisite periostracum of the razor clam
A ball of drifted surfgrass rests on the sand.
Drift Phyllospadix: 1
A few strands of drifted surfgrass rest on the sand. A lone crystal jelly photobombs the scene.
Drift Phyllospadix: 2
A wrinkled blade of drifted Pyropia rests on the sand.
Drift Pyropia
A detached empty California mussel shell rests on the sand.
An empty mussel hosts doomed barnacles
***

August 3, 2023

Seascape from above a beach covered in cobbles at its uppermost reaches. A dark headland to the left. Cloudy sky.
Any drifted treasures down there?
Dungeness crab molt, minus the carapace.
The molt rolls on
A wrinkled olive-colored blade rests on the sand.
Drifted Pyropia (I think!) is pretty common in places
A light colored worm rests on the sand's surface.
You don’t pass up Nephtys on the surface
Closeup of a beached Pacific sea nettle jellyfish Chrysaora fuscescens resting on the sand.
Sea nettle Chrysaora
***

August 2, 2023

A dimple in the sand indicates a razor clam below
Show indicates a Pacific razor
Both valves of a razor clam (exterior surfaces) resting on the sand.
Pacific razor Siliqua patula
A drifted tuft of red seaweeds, hand- held. Sand in the background.
Plocamium and more
A drifted tuft of Flustrellidra, a bryozoan, on the sand.
Flustrellidra
A beached jellyfish rests on the sand.
Doomed beauty
Know your sculpins?
A drifted coralline rests on the sand.
Drifted coralline (Bossiella?)
Over a dozen molted crab legs in a small portion of beach.
The molt is on!
***

July 6, 2023

Willows frame a view of the surf zone. An accumulation of large drifted logs forms an apparent barrier to the beach. Cloudy sky.
Step right up
View over the cobbles onto the beach where a bunch of gulls are loafing in the delta of a small freshwater stream. Surf zone in the distance. Cloudy sky.
Count on the gulls to know the best spots
A drying seaweed bulb and blade fragment (and a small chunk of driftwood) on wet cobbles.
Macrocystis
A Dungeness crab carapace rests on wet cobbles.
Carapace and cobbles
Blades of drifted surfgrass on the sand, swept parallel by the backwash.
Surfgrass Still (Part 1)
A few surfgrass strands, a molted crab leg, and a pebble rest on the sand.
Surfgrass Still (Part 2)
A drifted Pyropia-like blade and a pebble on the sand.
Pyropia probably? Maybe?
A small length of commercial line and a pebble rest on the sand.
Its working days are over
California mussel shell rests upon the sand. Boulders in the background.
Mytilus californianus
Closeup on a portion of a clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Fucus
Foggy beach scene with four boulders and two large pieces of driftwood jutting from the sand.
Wow, just wow
Closeup on raptor tracks in the sand. 15 cm rule for scale.
Know your raptor tracks?
A piece of driftwood resembling a human femur rests on the sand.
Not a human femur
A small drifted seaweed rests on the sand.
Soranthera
Closeup on a barnacle, probably Balanus crenatus.
Barnacle, maybe Balanus crenatus, on a molted Dungeness crab carapace
A large thin drifted blade rests on the wet sand.
A big red blade
***

June 21, 2023

Closeup on a fairly clean wrack line showing the boundary between the highest reach of the swash and the sand above it dimpled by raindrops. 15 cm rule for scale.
Tip top of the tide
A cobblestone heart with "A + V" in pebbles on the sand. The highest swash has run up about halfway over the heart, slightly moving one of the pebbles in "+".
Cobbles doing their part
A drifted tuft of tubular Ulva-like seaweed rests on the sand.
Has the Ulva look
A loose assemblage of feathers, surfgrass, eelgrass, and pebbles and cobbles rest on the sand.
Wrack Line still life
Cluster of snail egg cases resting on the sand.
Drifted egg cases, maybe Nassarius fossatus
Both valves of an empty Pacific razor clam shell.
Pacific razor
Two similar looking trees and their root wads resting parallel to each other high up in the cobbles. Portion of an unidentified wooden structure, maybe stair steps, rested upon the tree trunks.
Been knocking around in the cobbles for a couple years
A somewhat dried out clump of drift Fucus and a pebble resting on the sand.
Desiccation doesn’t diminish its beauty
A drifted tuft of hydroids rests on the sand.
Hydroids on a kelp fragment
Drift seaweed and a strand of surfgrass rest on the sand.
Nori
Closeup on a portion of a clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Fresh Fucus
The hooks of a squid jig show through a beached tangle of nylon lines.
The business end of a squid jig tangled in lost lines
Squid jig resting on a tangle of ropes.
The same jig, extracted
A drifted mussel valve rests on textured sand.
California mussel
Lone razor clam show on the beach.
Razor clam show
small starfish upside-down on the sand.
Lost its perch
Dark interior surface of an upside-down limpet shell resting on the sand.
American crows eat the limpets then discard the shells
Pieces of empty sand-coated tubes on the sand. 15 cm rule for scale.
Who made these sand-coated tubes?
***

June 20, 2023

Portion of a smooth driftwood log. Beach and the surf zone in the background. Cloudy skies.
What finds await?
A few strands of watermilfoil resting on the sand
Watermilfoil has a freshwater origin
Seascape featuring the cobble szone, beach and surf zone. In the distance, crested slopes and offshore rocks.
Cobbles at work
Dark, wet pebbles and cobbles rest on moist sand.
Cobbles and pebbles
A pebble, a cobble, and a mussel shell form a widely-spaced triangle on sand dotted by raindrops.
Pebble, cobble, mussel
White plastic bait jar lid rests near a small cobble. Raindrop patterns in the sand.
Lost bait jar lid
A dangle of surfgrass rest on sand.
Surfgrass tangle
Dungeness crab pinching claw rest on wet cobbles.
Pinching claw
A patch of drifted Pyropia resting on wet sand.
Pyropia
A patch of Fucus resting on sand dimpled by raindrops.
Lost its perch
Drifted hydroids anchored to a kelp stipe fragment rest on sand dimpled by raindrops.
Hydroids on a kelp stipe fragment
A drifted Pterygophora resting on the sand. The holdfast is in the foreground, the stipe and sporophylls are in the background.
Pterygophora holdfast with pelagic barnacles and Obelia-like hydroids
Crow tracks in moist sand.
American crow tracks
A tangle of knotted twisted commercial lines resting on wet cobbles.
Knotted and twisted lines
Closeup of seven pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas attached to heavy commercial line.
Often the fate of ocean drifters
Pyropia nereocystis (and some hydroids) on a drifted bull kelp stipe resting on the sand.
Bul kelp nori
Closeup on a skeleton shrimp, a barnacle (maybe Balanus crenatus), and a bunch of hydroids.
Caprella and associates on a bull kelp stipe
A cluster of six pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas (Lepas) pacifica on a drift Nereocystis stipe.
End of the line for these hitchhikers
Stranded nudibranch on a beached Pterygophora stipe.
Dendronotus, probably something like D. venustus
Bull kelp stipe on sand with lots of attached sea life (e.g., Laminaria, Pyropia, pelagic barnacles).
Bull kelp stipes host a variety of life (even Laminaria)
Beached bull kelp bulb (with bull kelp nori) and blades resting on the sand.
Bull kelp bulb and blades
Beached Pterygophora on sand. The scene features the stipe, blade, and sporophylls
It’s not too common to come upon drift Pterygophora in northern Oregon
One valve of a bleached tellin resting on textured beach sand,
Bleached tellin shell with lovely concentric rings
***

May 13, 2023

Blue hour view north to Neahkahnie in the distance.
The blue hour gently giving way to the golden
A stranded salp on the moist sand.
Salp
Crustacean molts, a strand of surfgrass, a ladybug, and a stranded crane fly on the moist sand.
Crustacean molts
About 10 sandpipers (I think)feeding in the mirror. Surf zone in the background.
Feeding in the mirror
Closeup of a drifted breeding plumage rhinoceros auklet carcass resting on the sand.
Rhinoceros auklet (note breeding plumage and bill)
A stranded crystal or water jelly on the most sand.
Aequorea
A gaper clam chondrophore on the moist sand. Surf zone in the distance.
Chondrophore
Both valves (bleached) of a razor clam rest on the moist sand.
Razor clam
An upside-down dungeness crab carapace with a little wet sand inside.
Dungeness crab carapace (interior surface exposed)
Closeup of the wrack line full of winged and a a sprinkling of ladybugs and iridescent green beetles.
Winged ants
Golden hour view north to Neahkahnie in the distance.
Golden hour not too gently giving way to the blue
***

April 21, 2023

End of a beach trail cluttered with driftwood. Beach, surf zone, and offshore rocks in the distance. Partly cloudy sky.
Wrackline threshold
Driftwood with probable shipworm workings.
Lovely workings
Lost plastic toy fish rests on the cobbles.
Fish out of water
***

April 20, 2023

Remains of a shipwreck jut from the sand (Peter Iredale).
Wrecked in 1906
Tracks of a lone coyote on an empty beach.
Traces
Empty plastic bottle resting on cobbles.
Coca-Cola
Plastic water or fuel container up on the cobble shelf. Beach and the surf zone in the distance. Cloudy sky.
The drift stops here—or does it?
A small piece of driftwood with a few large tunnels and smaller workings (at rest, up in the cobbles).
The work of borers
Empty plastic bottle on the cobbles; clear with a diamond pattern.
All kinds of plastic bottles
Pelagic barnacles Lepas on a plastic bottle at rest on the cobbles.
Hitchhiking is a risky business
***

March 29, 2023

A drifted log covered in barnacles, probably Balanus crenatus, rests on the beach. Surf zone and beyond in the distance.
Drift logs introduce barnacles to the beach
Drift dominated by conifer needles and crustacean molts. Raindrops dimple the sand above the tideline.
Tip top of the tide
Drift bull kelp float with a red epiphyte at the base of the blades. Raindrops dimple the surrounding sand.
Bull kelp with a red epiphyte
A dead smooth bay shrimp rests on the sand
Smooth bay shrimp Lissocrangon stylirostris
A tuft of hydroids rests on the sand.
Hydroid
A bone, maybe something like a preoperculum, rests on the sand.
Bone from a fish skull
Two bivalve shells rest on the sand (possibly a spiny pink scallop and a gaper clam).
Pink and white
Drifted Nucella eggs rest on the sand.
Sea oats
An upside-down Pacific mole crab rests on beach sand.
Emerita analoga
A shotgun shell wad rests on sand dimpled by raindrops.
The wad
A bleached sand dollar fragment rests on the sand.
Dendraster
Pleurobrachia rests on the sand.
Sea gooseberry Pleurobrachia
A colorful tangle of lost lines and buoys. The beach and surf zone in the distance.
A tangle of lost lines
A small patch of sea foam rests on the sand. In the distance, the beach, mirror, and surf zone.
Seafoam
A looped strand of Phyllospadix rests on the sand.
Surfgrass
Rock formation in the surf zone. A sea stack in the distance. A few clouds.
The Lion knows
A line and the word "Finish" scraped into the sand.
A beach walk comes to its end
***

March 28, 2023

Foredune trail to the beach cuts through a nearly pure stand of beach grass.
Beach trail through an Ammophila monoculture
Bleached clam shell resting on sand.
Softshell Mya arenaria
Left valve of a soft-shell clam flipped over to expose the condrophore.
The same shell flipped over to expose the softshell’s unique condrophore (left valve)
Shell fragment partially embedded in sand.
Gaper fragment with condrophore
Bleached clam shell resting on the sand.
Tellin
Mussel shell (one valve) rests on the sand.
Mytilus trossulus (or something very like it)
Drifted stump resembling a pig's head emerging from the sand.
I’ve been told it’s a piggy
Empty plastic bottle resting on the sand.
Too much of this
The underside of a mole crab stranded on the sand.
Emerita anloga
Closeup of a few barnacles attached to driftwood.
Pelagic barnacles on driftwood
Nine widely-spaced pebbles resting on the sand's surface.
Pebble selection
A drift log pointing out to the surf zone. Its head resembles an angry sea lion. Cloudy sky.
Angry sea lion
Metacarcinus magister carapace
Two carboys draped over a driftwood stump.
Speaking of crabs, some lost buoys with an up-to-date tag
Closeup on a small drifted salal branch resting on the sand.
Salal
Lonely branchlet
Old growth stump mostly buried by beach sand.
An old friend
Razor clam shell (both valves) rests on the sand.
Siliqua patula, the razor
Drift bull kelp with epiphytes resting on the sand.
A reminder that bull kelp is a prodigious host of epiphytes
Drifted California mussel (both valves) rests on the sand.
Those ribs
***

March 27, 2023

A broken plastic bait jar lid rests on wet cobbles.
Bait jar lid
A shotgun shell wad rests on dry cobbles.
The wad
A clear plastic C'estbon beverage container rests on dry cobbles.
C’estbon
Big driftwood in the cobbles up against a cliff. Maritime forest, beach, surf zone, and offshore rocks in the distance.
Coming to you from the zone of big wood, high in the cobbles
***

January 26, 2023

An accumulation of lost float and marker buoys in the cobbles. Surf zone and a headland in the distance. A kiss of sunrise in the sky.
A sight of sea garbage
A two-lug float rests on cobbles shiny with indirect morning sunlight. Beach and the surf zone in the midground. The sun hasn't yet topped the low headland in the distance. Moody sky.
Two-lug float
A lost front wing rests at the top of the cobbles.
Front wing (from a hydrofoil board)
A marker buoy (#991) and a smaller float posed on a piece of driftwood high up on the cobbles. Coastal bluffs, the beach, and the surf zone in the distance. Sky a glare.
Marker buoys and floats were all too plentiful on the cobbles
A flat float, probably an old school gill net float, rests on the cobbles.
Flat floats are pretty common
A insulated soled bootie rests on the cobbles.
Big tides, big swell, and a west wind bring in all kinds of stuff
A white plastic jug with an ornate design wedged in the driftwood.
Long-distance drifter come to rest
A Dungeness marker buoy for a commercial crab pot wedged in the rocks. The tag is up to date for the 2022-23 season.
Timmie Boy lost a marker buoy with an up-to-date tag
Both valves of a razor clam, Siliqua patula, partially buried in the sand. Reflections of the forest above in the backwash sheen.
A meeting of sister ecosystems
A few strands of tangled surfgrass rest on the sand among several pebbles.
Drift Phyllospadix
***

January 25, 2023

Alt: 15 cm diameter ball-like mass of drifted fish eggs. Individual eggs are 1-2 mm in diameter. The mass rests on wet cobbles.
A good-sized mass of fish eggs (I think)
Two pelagic gooseneck barnacles attached to a deflated soccer ball.
Doomed hitchhikers
A tangle of a few strands of drifted surfgrass rests on the sand.
Surfgrass Phyllospadix
Half a bleached sand dollar test (Dendraster) on the sand.
Half a dollar
A conifer branchlet (hemlock, I think) and drift Zostera rest intertwined on the sand.
A meeting of material from sister ecosystems
A single valve, exterior exposed, resting on the sand.
Green false-jingle Pododesmus macroschisma (pretty sure)
Closeup of a single sea gooseberry resting on the sand.
Sea gooseberry Pleurobrachia
Both valves of a drifted California mussel resting on the sand. Exterior surfaces exposed.
California mussel Mytilus californianus
A closeup of an upside-down and struggling mole crab on the sand.
Emerita analoga
January's dropping sand level exposes a few inches at the top of a boulder.
Seasonal changes in sand level mean this rock comes and goes
One and a half valves of a drifted Pacific razor clam shell. The exterior surface of the half shell is showing, and portions of the interior surface of the other valve is exposed.
The razor
A drifted eelgrass rhizome and a few tattered blades resting on the sand.
Recently washed out of the estuary
A closeup of a drifted rough keyhole limpet shell, right-side-up, resting on the beach while morning sunlight shadows patterns in the sand around it.
Diodora aspera
A sea gooseberry's clear jelly acts like a sense, catching morning sunlight and focusing it on the sand.
Sea gooseberry Pleurobrachia
***