Wrack Line 2022

December 15, 2022

A trail cuts through the beachgrass and runs off the foredune down onto the beach. In the background, the surf zone and morning glow colors a cloudless pre-sunrise sky.
Anticipation
A beachcast twin-sailed salp (Thetys vagina). 15 cm rule for scale.
Thetys vagina
A beachcast Pacific sea nettle jellyfish (Chrysaora fuscescens).
Chrysaora
An upside-down Pacific mole or sand crab (Emerita analoga).
Emerita analoga
Gaper clam chondrophore. Probably from the fat gaper (Tresus capax).
Chondrophore
Empty and upside-down carapace of a Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) with a thin layer of sand inside.
Metacarcinus magister carapace
Empty valve, Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula). Exterior surface with intact periostracum.
Siliqua patula
Half a bleached Dendraster excentricus test (shell).
‘Bout half a dollar
Upside-down cockle (Clinocardium nuttallii) fragment (one valve) partially filled with sand.
Clinocardium nuttallii
Wind-driven sand coats the headless carcass of a post-spawn coho salmon.
Scavengers made off with the head
Coho salmon head and gull tracks.
Found: Coho salmon head
Rippled sands with horizontal (east-west) streaks of blown sand.
Under the spell of an east wind
Empty valves cast a shadow over wind-blown beach sand. Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula). Both valves are still attached, and the interior surfaces are exposed.
Siliqua patula
Two elk prints in the sand.
Trace of a lone elk
Low-angle morning sunlight illuminates large protruding driftwood and the surf zone beyond. However, the beach itself remains unlit.
When morning sunlight tops the foredune

December 14, 2022

An empty mussel shell (Mytilus), both valves, on smooth, undisturbed sand.
Beauty inside
Moody seascape with a massive rock in the distance. Its profile resembles a resting lion. Mostly cloudy skies.
The Lion presiding
Wrack line mainly consisting of conifer needles. Eelgrass (Zostera) and numerous tiny black seedlike specks are also present.
Trace of the tide
A drifted mass of surfgrass on the sand.
Phyllospadix
Empty rough keyhole limpet shell framed by four large pebbles resting on the sand.
Diodora aspera
A drifted mass of eelgrass on the sand.
Zostera
Drifted thatched barnacle shell fragment resting on the sand.
Semibalanus cariosus fragment
A cluster of drifted dogwinkle eggs resting on the sand.
Nucella lamellosa
Dungeness crab shell fragments resting on the sand along with traces of a scavenger.
Metacarcinus magister shell fragments
Swash pattern in the sand around a bleached empty whitecap (I think) limpet shell.
Empty limpet shell and swash work magic
A dwindling film of sea foam on the sand.
Sudsy sea foam remains
***

November 29, 2022

From the foredune, the view across a sandy beach to the surf zone and beyond. Skies suggest rain is on the way.
From the foredune, the morning looks promising
A somewhat intact jellyfish.
Chrysaora
Empty Pacific razor clam shell, both valves (though one is a fragment). The view is of the whitish interior of the valves. The background is undisturbed sand.
Siliqua patula
Close up on a mole crab. Its head is to the left.
Emerita analoga
Empty Pacific razor clam shell, both valves (though one is a fragment). The view is of the brownish exterior of the valves. The background is undisturbed sand.
Siliqua patula
A dark flight feather on undisturbed sand.
Avian trace
A sand dollar test (shell) on beach sand.
Dendraster excentricus
An empty and upside-down Dungeness crab carapace on undisturbed beach sand. The interior of the carapace is partially filled with sand.
Metacarcinus magister carapace
A few strands of surfgrass and other drifted materials rest on the sand.
Phyllospadix and other sea wrack
Big driftwood, low on the beach. Winter surf will sweep it away or push it onto the backshore.
Good-sized wood, and it’s on the move
Mole crab exoskeleton (appendages only) on sand
Partial Emerita analoga exoskeleton
Fucus, eelgrass, and a terrestrial plant stem rest together on beach sand.
A meeting of drifted material from three ecosystems
Partially buried line (lost gear).
Lost line
Tracks of a lone elk (I think) zig-zagging down to the swash zone.
Disappearing in the swash
Fragment of a California mussel shell (exterior surface visible. In the background, impressions of raindrops in the sand.
Mytilus californianus
Bleached fragment of a gaper clam, probably fat gaper, on the sand marked with impressions left by raindrops.
Gaper fragment, probably Tresus capax
Small, silvery clupeid washed up in the swash zone, resting on the sand.
Identifying juvenile clupeids on our shore can be tricky
***

October 27, 2022

Trail to the sea through an Ammophilla monoculture; in the distance, the surf zone and beyond. Sparse clouds.
Any treasures out there?
Closeup of last night's tide line; the boundary between wet and dry sand contains a small amount of nondescript material.
Trace of the tide
Closeup of a drift bull kelp bulb on dry sand. The kelp blades are eroded away, except at the base where they leave the bulb. Beach in the midground, the surf zone in the distance. Sparse clouds.
Bull kelp Nereocystis
Closeup on a mass of drift eelgrass resting on sand.
Eelgrass Zostera
Beachscape showing a band of sea wrack, mostly eelgrass, between wet sand and the surf zone below and drier bare sand above. The view is south, with dunes and coastal mountains to the left and the surf zone to the right. Sparse clouds.
Wrack between the surf zone below and bare sand above
Closeup of red fringe on a folded drifted eelgrass blade on the wet sand.
Red fringe Smithora on an eelgrass blade
Closeup of thin green blades growing on a drift eelgrass blade. The epiphyte is so transparent the sand grains underneath are visible. There is also a bit of red fringe attached to the eelgrass blade. All this resting on the wet sand.
A delicate green epiphyte on eelgrass
Closeup on a 1-2 cm medusa in the surface film in the swash zone.
A beachcast jelly | Halimedusa?
Beachscape with driftwood in the foreground. Beach in the midground and dunes beyond that. A few clouds in an otherwise blue sky.
Drifter come to rest
Closeup of raven tracks in the sand. 15 cm rile for scale.
Common raven tracks near a carcass
One valve of a beached and eroded oyster shell on the wet sand.
Oyster
One bleached fat gaper valve with the chondrophore exposed. Swash and the surf zone in the background. Hazy sky.
Fat gaper Tresus capax 
Closeup on a drifted mass of surfgrass on the sand.
Surfgrass Phyllospadix
Closeup of the eroded remains of a jelly fragment resting on the sand, picking up morning sunlight.
It resembles an agate, but it’s a jelly fragment | Chrysaora?
***

September 30, 2022

In the foreground, on bare sand, a heart outlined with a bull kelp stipe. Ammophila monoculture in the background. Coudy skies.
Love on the foredune
View down the beach to the south. A broad band of washed up kelp and eelgrass. Ammophila-cloaked dunes on the left-hand side. Cloudy sky.
Down on the beach, a broad band of sea wrack
Mesh bag on a stainless clip resting on a mass of drift eelgrass
Bait bag, probably from a commercial Dungeness crab trap
Closeup on a lone saury on clean beach sand, but with some damage done by beach hoppers.
Pacific saury, seldon seen on the beach
From sand level, piles of drift eelgrass, surfgrass, and kelp on otherwise clean sand. Hazy clouds.
Masses of eelgrass, surfgrass, and kelp dot the beach
Looking straight down on a fragment of drifted eelgrass (Zostera) fringed with the epiphyte Smithora naiadum. The eelgrass fragment is resting on clean beach sand.
Red fringe Smithora naiadum on eelgrass
Closeup on two Costaria blades framed by bull kelp stipes on the right and bull kelp holdfasts on the left.
Costaria hiding out in a bull kelp tangle
Drift Postelsia from the holdfast, out along the stipes to the blades. Several broken-off barnacles are embedded in the holdfast. Beyond is the beach with clean sand and the surf zone. Cloudy sky.
Drift Postelsia‘s business end
Low morning sunlight illuminates half a sand dollar test (skeleton) while casting a sand dollar shadow on the sand.
A whole sand dollar test!
A small drift mass of a seemingly tubular drifted green seaweed on sand.
I bit of drifted green
A big blue fish tub (one end of a plastic barrel with DYI handles) resting a bit above the main band of sea wrack.
Fish tub
A long piling encrusted with now dead barnacles and mussels. Dunes and coastal mountains in the distance to the left. On the distant right, the surf zone.
A drifted piling, but from where?
A not too close view of a California sea lion carcass. In the midground, beach, in the distance, the surf zone and beyond. Mostly cloudy sky.
California sea lion carcass
A small drift log on wet sand, surrounded by lots of gull tracks
Gulls check out every new piece of driftwood
A seascape featuring a mostly buried stump. in the midground, beach with a broad band of sea wrack. Beyond that, the surf zone. A distant headland off to the right.
Ancient stump, mostly buried | Sea wrack in the distance
***

September 29, 2022

A tangle of drift Phyllospadix cast up on wet beach sand
Phyllospadix
A water jelly Aequorea on wet beach sand
Aequorea
Exterior surface of a drifted green false-jingle Pododesmus macroschisma shell on wet sand.
Pododesmus
A beach cast mix including fragments of two species of jellyfishes, a Dungeness crab carapace, surfgrass, eelgrass, a common green seaweed, and sea foam.
Potpourri
At the bottom of the scene, a closeup of the holdfast of a drifted Postelsia in the swash. The holdfast has some small red seaweeds attached. Three stipes and their blades are also visible.
Postelsia
Closeup on a drifted feather (a flight feather) decked out with an accumulation of pelagic barnacles (some kind of Lepas, I imagine). The background is damp beach sand.
Hitchhikers on a feather
In the foreground some driftwood seats around a cobble campfire ring and beyond that, a teepee-like driftwood structure. In the left-hand distance, forested cliffs. To the right, the beach and way back, the surf zone.
Cobbles and driftwood have their uses on the beach
Mytilus californianus showing off its radial ribs
Mytilus californianus showing off its radial ribs
A lone gull stands in its mirror image in the swash. In the background the surf zone and beyond. Mostly cloudy sky.
Standing in the swash
Drifted Fucus fragment on swash-cleaned sand. It's kind of a still life.
Fucus
A drifted moon jelly Aurelia fragment with sea foam on sand.
Aurelia fragment
A fresh tangle of drift Fucus with lots of expanded branch tips
Fucus with reproductive structures
Remains of a sea nettle jellyfish (Chrysaora) on moist sand.
Trace of a wanderer (Chrysaora)
a few branches of drifted sargassum laid out on moist sand
Sargassum with receptacles
A log with lots of hitchhiking Lepas barnacles attaches ends its drift in the swash zone.
End of the ride
A fresh tangle of drift Fucus rests on the sand
Fucus‘s forked blades are lovely
A drifted Postelsia, holdfast and all, lays out on moist sand. Dry sand, the product of beach hopper workings outline the blades.
Beach hopper workings outline Postelsia baldes
View of a drifted bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) float (blades missing) and on down the stipe. Laid out on moist beach sand.
Also known as bullwhip kelp
A large drift mass of many stipes. In the background, beach an the surf zone. Partly cloudy sky.
A tangle of drift bull kelp
Closeup on a decaying bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) float. Sand with beach hopper workings. A tanglle of bull kelp stipes in the background.
Something intimate about decay
In the foreground, a lone drifted Postelsia, holdfast and all, on a deserted beach. In the left-hand distance, forested cliffs. In the right-hand distance, the swash and surf zones. Mostly cloudy sky.
I’m grateful for the view
An upside down crab carcass on sand with emphasis on the big pinching claws.
Those claws | Dungeness crab
Two gulls on the top of a castle tower-like sandstone rock. glee
On castle spires
Still life of Lessoniopsis littoralis fragments on swash-cleaned sand.
Lessoniopsis littoralis remains
A small drift log balancing on a hump of beach sand. In the distance (view is to the north), cliffs on the right-hand side; a tall sandstone rock on the left-hand side. The sandy path forward runs in between the two.
Balancing act
A short section of a long dead drifted tree, sawn on both ends to make it short, with an old cable attached. The cable may have girdled and killed the tree. The view is landward. The short section of log is on sand. Cliffs in the background
Tell me the story
In the foreground, a section of pressure treated 6x6 and some drifted logs. Behind, the beach and surf zone. Out to sea, partly cloudy skies.
Treated timber and the regular kind
Closeup of a dead spot fin surfperch Hyperprosopon anale, cast up on the beach a little more than 100 miles north of its northernmost known occurence. A hole just below the dorsal fin was made by a beach hoppers, who found the carcass before I did.
Pretty far north for a spotfin surfperch
***

August 11, 2022

From beach level, the view extends out across the cobbles, big driftwood, beach with a bunch of gulls loafing,the surf zone, and the sea beyond/
Ready to cross the threshold?
Cobbles, a feather, and a piece of paper debris. 15 cm rule for scale.
Sparse wrack line
A labeled beachscape indicting a zone of big wood (highest, way up in the cobbles), a bare zone (dry cobbles), the wrack line (in a narrow band of wet cobbles), and the surf zone (the lowest zone, here wet sand).
Zones to know
A complete freshly molted Dungeness crab exoskeleton on wet sand.
What’s more satisfying than a perfect molt?
One large highly eroded California mussel shell on a mix of sand and cobble.
California mussel Mytilus californianus
Short piece of washed up driftwood with a few pelagic barnacles. The look like Lepas pacifica.
End of the ride for the hitchikers
Closeup on a whole bleached sand dollar test (skeleton) on wet sand.
Whole test! | Dendraster excentricus
Closeup on five barnacles living on the inside of a washed up California mussel shell.
Balanus crenatus (I think) on the inside of a washed up mussel shell
Three sea gooseberries line up naturally from close to distant in the swash.
Sea gooseberries rolled in on the swash
Closeup on aa single sea gooseberry on wet sand picking up a little morning sunlight and slightly magnifying sand grains.
The jelly makes a credible lens that picks up light and magnifies
Closeup on drift Dodecaceria workings resting on a mix of damp sand and cobbles.
Probably a remnant construction of Dodecaceria (sometimes called false brain coral)
Closeup on sandy tubes, apparently empty, washed up in a shallow sand-filled pool.
Sand-laden casings, but what kind?
***

July 14, 2022

From trail's end the view, framed by shrubs on each side, extends out across the cobbles,big driftwood, beach, surf zone, and the sea beyond.
Step right up
A labeled beachscape indicting a zone of big wood (highest, way up in the cobbles), a bare zone (dry cobbles), the wrack line (at the top edge of the wet cobbles), and the surf zone (the lowest zone, here wet cobbles and wet sand).
Zones to know
Cobbles and a good sized piece of driftwood. 15 cm rule for scale.
A bit of driftwood in the wrack line
A tangle of drift surfgrass on drying cobbles
Drift Phyllospadix
Cobbles with one of them painted "Life Eternal Jn 3:16"
Strong stuff
A small drift Pryropia on sand with some pattern left from earlier swash.
Pyropia
A porcelain crab alone and seemingly out of place on sand.
Must’ve fallen off its perch on a nearby rock
A bleached tellin (one valve) on sand which has a pattern from earlier shwash.
An always lovely tellin
A decent-sized cabezon mostly resting out of the water at the edge of a sand-filled tidepool.
Jumped right out of the tidepool chasing a smaller fish (That’s focus!)
***

July 13, 2022

The beach from above, looking to the southwest. Forested cliffs on the left, offshore rocks a the center scene, and the surf zone and sea beyond on the right. Cloud early morning sky.
Anticipation
In the fore- and midground, big drifted logs on the cobbles. Forested cliffs at the center and right. wet sand , the surf zone, and beyond on the left. Cloudy early morning sky.
Zone of big wood way up in the cobbles
Closeup on the cobbles. 15 cm rule in the lower left-hand corner for scale.
Sparse wrack line
Looking southward down the beach at the boundary between sand and cobbles. Cliffs, rocks, and the surf zone in the not too far distance. Cloudy early moring sky.
A narrow band of sea wrack at the upper edge of the wet cobbles
One valve of a long, narrow bleached shell rounded on one end, kind of pointed on the other end. Laid out on beach sand with the exterior surface exposed.
I’ve always called shells like this tellins
One valve of a long, narrow bleached shell rounded on one end, kind of pointed on the other end. Laid out on beach sand with the interior surface exposed.
Same shell turned over
***

June 16, 2022

A seascape featuring clouds and a band of approaching rain in the distance
Expecting a damp morning on the wrack line
Seawatch, just coming into bloom in the foreground; cobbles, sand, and the surf zone in in the background. Cloudy skies.
Seawatch doing its job
Seascape with Indian paintbrush in the foreground.
Paintbrush presiding
A whole sand dollar shell washed on on beach sand dimpled by raindrops.
Dendraster
Mysterious drifted red blades on moist beach sand
That’s what I’m talking about
***

June 15, 2022

The view south show the band of wet cobbles from the previous high tide. Farther landward, a band of dry cobbles; seaward, a band of wet sand. Maritime forest in the background and cloudy skies.
A midnight high tide wetted the cobbles
Just the hind portion of a dead pelagic cormorant on cobbles. More or less a focus on the feet.
Pelagic cormorant
A piece of a plastic character resting on cobbles
Lost plastic piece
A previously round styrofoam float with a hole through the middle. Wear and tear has taken away some of the roundness. It's resting, along with some surfgrass, on the cobbles.
Worn styrofoam float
Pelagic gooseneck barnacles (large and a small size classes) attached to a squashed clear plastic bottle of jug, the whole thing resting on cobbles.
Pelagic barnacles washed ashore on a plastic raft
The underside of a female Dungeness crab abdomen resting on cobbles.
Dungeness crab abdomen (female)
Looks like about mussels shells, valves still attached but open, laying face up (bluish insides showing), on cobbles. One shell has a large thatched barnacle attached.
Drifted California mussels
What looks like a single step detached from a staircase washed up on the cobbles.
Step right up
A mass of surfgrass (Phyllospadix) washed up on the cobbles
Mostly Phyllospadix
Probably a bait jar lid
Wads from shotgun shells are one of the most common man-made items in the wrack line.
The wad
A single tellin (clam) valve on wet beach sand. The shell has lovely concentric rings.
Always lovely tellin
Complete shell (test) of an eccentric sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus) on wet sand.
A prized whole sand dollar
***

May 18, 2022 (Central Oregon Coast)

Seascape ranging from grass in the foreground through cobbles, sand, rocks, and reefs to the surf zone and beyond. Hazy sky.
Tide’s low and getting lower
Empty snail shell (Nassarius fossatus) on wet gravel, next to a small piece of driftwood
Empty Nassa
A commercial Dungeness crab trap wedged in the rocks. The tap is framed by large mussels. Maritime forest in the background.
Lost crab trap
Just a few capsules, a little worse for wear on wet beach sand.
Squid egg capsules
***

May 17, 2022 (Central Oregon Coast)

A dawn full moon reflected on the ocean, surf zone, and the mirror (reflective surface of the wet beach) .
Early morning moonglade
Drift logs in the cobble zone, bare cobbles and beach in the mid ground, and a massive sea stack in the distance. Just a few clouds break uo the early morning blue sky.
Big wood up in the cobbles
A fresh feather boa stipe with gull tracks and signs its been moved (also by the gulls), on moist sand.
Fresh drift feather boa just might generate some interest from the gulls
Great blue heron tracks in intertidal sands. This heron was a messy walker, leaving Lots of little balls of sand strewn about.
Great blue heron tracks | Messy walker
***

May 16, 2022 (Central Oregon Coast)

Early morning seascape. Line of rocks and a massive stack in the mid ground. Cloudy skies.
Interesting sea wrack finds await!
Pyropia
Fresh tracks in moist sand in the zone of sea wrack
River otter tracks
Empty egg cases of the channeled basket snail among a mass of drifted green seaweed, some kelp remnants, and a singe Nucella lamellosa egg case (also empty).
Empty Nassarius egg cases
Mystery red blades in most beach sand. Also appearing, Plocamium and a couple kinds of kelp stipes.
Mosty mystery
Another inscrutable red on moist sand
Neoptilota/Ptilota
Line from fishing gear tangled in a mass off drifted seaweeds
Lost line
Kind of a closeup on a single Alaria blade, probably Alaria marginata running diagonally across the image from lower-left to upper-right.
Alaria
A mostly crinkly blade of drift sea cabbage on clean most beach sand.
Hedophyllum sessile, sea cabbage
***

May 14-15, 2022 (Central Oregon Coast)

May 13, 2022 (Central Oregon Coast)

Shallow creek flowing left to right into the sea in the foreground. In the mid ground a headland just nearly impeding the southbound route along the beach. Surf zone in the background. Cloudy skies.
Expecting treasures ahead
Blue and pink soft plastic fishing lure on moist beach sand. A dark feather and a white one too, a stray whelk egg, a hard plastic fragment.and a wood chip also in the appear in the scene.
Soft plastic fishing lure
A couple varieties of white bivalve shells embedded in sediments on a beachside cliff.
Bivalve shells in ancient sediments
Bleached razor clam (both valves) on moist beach sand. A dark feather is also present.
Razor clam shell
A softball-sized cobble with numerous empty piddock burrows. A few remnant shells remain.
Piddock workings
Partially agatized (I think) fossil clam on moist beach sand.
Fossil clam
A holely calcareous cobble, with lots of empty workings running in all directions, now rounded by erosion. Close up on moist beach sand.
Probably a remnant construction of Dodecaceria (sometimes called false brain coral)
A short section of drifted eelgrass (Zostera) blade hosting the red epiphyte, Smithora.
Smithora (red) on Zostera (green)
A small detached and drifted cluster of frilled dogwinkle egg cases (approximately 20) on moist beach sand.
Sometimes called sea oats, these are the drifted egg cases Nucella lamellosa, a dogwinkle
***

April 20, 2022

View over big drifted logs and driftwood, across cobbles and beach sand to the surf zone and a headland in the distance.
From the zone of big wood
This image labels the surf zone (a zone of wet sand and cobbles), the wrack line (with a fair amount of driftwood), a zone of bare cobbles, and a zone of big storm-driven drift logs.
Fragment of an empty mussel shell (portion of both valves) and another white shell fragment (unidentified) on a bed of wet cobbles
Shell fragments in the cobbles
Drifted tuft of a branched coralline, maybe Bossiella, on wet cobbles.
A tuft of drift coralline
Empty green false jingle shell, topside up, on wet sand
Pododesmus macroschisma, green false jingle
Empty green false jingle shell, flipped over to expose the underside, on wet sand
Same P. macroschisma shell flipped over to show the undersurface
A piece of dark driftwood protruding from the sand. Small, unidentified green seaweed hitchhiker. View is landward over beach sand. Rocks in the distance.
Drifters, stuck in the sand
***

April 19, 2022

From above, a view out to sea, down across the cobbles, sand, sufzone, and beyond. Partly cloudy skies and a headland to the north.
Wrack line and big wood up in the cobbles
Closeup on a knot. Several lines tied together in a substantial knot, on wet cobble.
Lost knot
Soccer ball, a little worn, but still inflated, on wet cobbles
Chelsea FC
Bright orange eroded foam fragment on dry cobbles
Float fragment
Top of the upper shell of the green false-jingle, placed on a bed of acorn barnacles.
Pododesmus macrochisma placed on barnacles for a better view
Inside of the upper shell of the green false-jingle, placed on a bed of acorn barnacles.
Same P. macrochisma shell turned over to expose the inside
Three cobble cairns in the foreground, the view southwest over the cobble zone, onto sand, the out to the surf zone and beyond. A few offshore rocks in the distance and mostly cloudy skies.
Cobble cairns
***

April 9, 2022

The view is straight out to sea to a seastack silhouette. Swash zone in the foreground, surf zone, then moody skies above. Sunlight peeking through the top right of the scene.
Haystack Rock
Sunlight plays on the cape in the mid distance. Swash and surf zones in the foreground. Moody skies.
Cape Kiwanda
***

March 22, 2022

View to the north, mostly a headland in the distance and it's reflection in the reflective surface of wet sand in swash zone.
Hug Point in the mirror
Out on a misty headland, just above water level, view to the south where several headlands are shrouded in mist.
Hug Point looking south, into the mist
view north along a lonely sandy beach. Coastal mountains on the middle-left, swash zone on the lower- right. Misty, cloudy skies.
Squinting to make out the headland to the north
***

February 24, 2022

View down the beach along the meeting of the cobble zone and beach sand. Cloudy day and a dark headland in the distance.
Where cobble and sand meet
Seascape with a beached moon jelly on sand in the foreground.
Moon jelly morning
Moon jelly
***

February 23, 2022

Long stretch of sandy beach with two sea stacks in the distance. Cloudless day with some sun gleam on the wet beach sand.
Beach view to the south
An eroded free left rock scallop valve, outer surface exposed, on wet beach sand.
Crassadoma gigantea, rock scallop, as I found it
An eroded free left rock scallop valve, flipped over to exposed the inner surface, on wet beach sand.
Same shell, flipped over to expose the inside surface
***

February 1, 2022

A solo wad from a shotgun shell, the view is over the beach and out to the surf zone
The wad is ever-present
closeup on the drift line with a 15 cm rule for scale. Spruce needles, bark fragments, other terrestrial plant material, and plastic fragments.
Mostly terrestrial material and plastic fragments
Aqua-colored and white braided nylon lines wrapped around driftwood.
Lost lines
Maybe a dozen plastic foam sheets encased in a cube-shaped rusted iron frame of about 1 meter x 1 meter. It's washed way up in the cobbles, just below the big wood at the moth of a small stream.
Industrial strength float
Pink cut rose washed up in the cobbles
Cut flowers are more common than you might think
A mangled trap buoy with a bit of line still attached. The view s over the buoy, down the beach to the surf zone.
Lost float/buoy
Thin red blades of Pyropia nereocystis, on a bull bull kelp stipe. (Washed up on wet sand.)
Bull kelp nori
A drift bull kelp float and blades on wet sand and cobbles
Drift bull kelp
A cluster of about 30-40 Nucella eggs washed up onto the beach
Sea oats (Nucella eggs)
Whale jaw bone (partial). The view is up the beach to the north. Cliffs and forest to the right; surf zone on the left.
Bone from the upper jaw (young humpback)
Empty clear plastic water bottle with a red lid
Too much of this
Just the carapace on wet beach sand
Dungeness carapace
On wet beach sand. View off over the beach to the surf zone. Moody, out of focus skies.
Moon jelly remains
The exposed inside of the shell with a deep purple hinge. This is a closeup on wet sand.
Crassadoma gigantea, rock scallop