Wrack Line 2024

This page is a chronological curation of sea wrack, seashells, and other drifted material, along with tentative identifications, intimations of beach processes and cycles, and musings on mysteries of the Northern Oregon drift. Under each date, I present galleries with beach scenes and closeups arranged in the order they were encountered (I take liberties to aid the presentation, sometimes). Thus, each entry is kind of like a walk along the shore; I guess some entries will feel more like that than others, but providing a beach walk feel is my aspiration.


October 18, 2024

Moments like this

Kind of a seascape, looking seaward from the top of the foredune. The foredune with patches of beachgrass in the foreground. In the distance, beach, the surf zone and beyond. The sky is clear, with a mood.
Anticipation


Drift bull kelp never disappoints.

A nearly bladeless bull kelp (Nereocystis) bulb rests on the sand.
Closeup of a bull kelp (Nereocystis) bulb and blades resting on the sand.
Closeup of a bull kelp (Nereocystis) bulb, blades, and portions of the stipe resting on the sand. Barnacles cover the lower reaches of the stipe.


At rest on the sand, a drifted stipe conveys the form of a bullwhip in motion.

A bull kelp (Nereocystis) stipe, bulb, blades laying out on the sand.


The arrow points out a remnant sorus on a tattered blade.

Closeup of a bull kelp (Nereocystis) bulb and tattered blades resting on the sand. One of the blades still hosts a remnant sorus.


Bull kelp is a famously generous host, but all good things end or change. Here, the end of the drift means the host and its guests will play new roles, nutrifying the beach and its sister ecosystems.

Closeup of a growth of epiphytic Ulva, or something like that, on a drift bull kelp (Nereocystis) bulb resting on the sand.
Closeup of a drift bull kelp (Nereocystis) stipe covered with growths of Ulva, hydroids and a bryozoan.
Closeup of a drift bull kelp (Nereocystis) stipe heavily occupied by pelagic barnacles.


Beach hoppers are beneficiaries of drift bull kelp’s seasonal arrival on the beaches.

Closeup of a drift bull kelp (Nereocystis) stipe and beach hopper working in the sand along the stipe.
Beach hopper workings along a drift bull kelp stipe


A tangled twosome

An intimate closeup of a tangled mass of drift Macrocystis and Egregia.
Closeup of a few drift Macrocystis blades.
Macrocystis
Closeup of two drift Egregia fronds and a portion of a third. A portion of a Macrocystis blade also appears in the scene.
Egregia


Egregia menziesii comes honestly by its common name.

Closeup of an Egregia menziesii feather boa frond resting on the sand.
As common names go, feather boa is pretty good


Macrocystis, drifted and dying on the shore, evokes a range of emotions, intimacy among them.

Macrocystis, drifted and dying on the sand. Holdfast, stipe, floats and blades are all present.


Driftwood with personality

A drifted log's base faces the sea, made with a somewhat defiant look.


Beautiful beached jellies

Lion's mane Cyanea ferruginea fragment resting on the sand.
Lion’s mane fragment
Closeup of a moon jelly Aurelia resting on the sand.
Moon


Chela

Closeup of a Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister pinching claw resting on the sand.
Dungeness crab pincer


Seaweed selections

Closeup of drift Codium fragile resting on the sand.
Codium fragile
Drift Codium fragile, cleaned up and laid out on the sand.
Same specimen cleaned up
Closeup of a couple sacs of drifted Halosaccion resting on the sand among other sea wrack.
Halosaccion
Drifted Halosaccion resting on the sand at the top of the swash.
Sometimes called sea sacs
Closeup of a drift mass of Fucus resting on the sand.
Fucus


A beautiful little barnacle on a bryozoan-encrusted Macrocystis blade

Closeup of three small pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas (Lepas) pacifica on a drift Macrocystis blade. A thin lacy bryozoan covers the visible portion of the Macrocystis blade.
The barnacle is a pelagic number, probably Lepas (Lepas) pacifica


The molluscs are represented by remnant shells from two of the most frequently found shells on this stretch of shore.

Single razor clam valve, periostracum eroded away, rests on the sand.
Siliqua patula
Closeup of gaper clam chondrophore, and some remnant eroded shell resting on the sand. This fragment is probably from the fat gaper Tresus capax.
Gaper chondrophore, probably Tresus capax


From the flowering plant side of the wrack line equation

Just three of so surfgrass Phyllospadix blades resting on the sand.
Graceful curves of drift Phyllospadix blades
A drift mass of eelgrass Zostera rests on the sand.
Drift Zostera


With the turn of the tide, glances to the landward and seaward

A beachscape featuring a clean, smooth and empty beach, back shore, and foredune.
Foredune stretching off like a southbound freight
Seascape: empty sand in the foreground; gulls loafing in the mirror in the mid ground; beyond that, the surf zone and beyond.
In the mirror


Back on the beach, a disappearing act

A concentration of beach hopper burrow openings in the sand. A shred of eelgrass.
Traces of an overnight beach hopper work party


Wrack line still life

A drifted clump of Fucus rests on the sand next to a jellyfish fragment.
Arrangement courtesy of the swash
***


August 20, 2024

Stepping across the threshold to encounter driftwood shelters and plastic toys is the order of things.

At the end of a muddy trail you must cross a driftwood threshold framed by willows. Beach in the distance. Cloudy sky.
Driftwood shelter on the highest level on the beach. Surf zone and rocks in the distance. Cloudy sky.
Toy plastic boat rests on the sand next to a feather.


Limitless raw material for shelters rests in the zone of big wood up against the cliff at the top of the cobbles.

Driftwood shelter built where the sand meets the cobbles. A zone of driftwood rests against the base of a cliff at the top of the cobbles.
Driftwood shelter built where the sand meets the cobbles. A zone of driftwood rests against the base of a cliff at the top of the cobbles.


Early morning selections, all arrived here—each in their own way–from other ecosystems.

A kid's lost sock rests on the sand.
Inside out
A small drift mass of Phyllospadix surfgrass rests on the sand.
Phyllospadix
Both valves of a Mytilus californianus California mussel shell rest, open, on the sand.
Mytilus
A large dark flight feather rests on the sand.
Primary
A Cyanea capillata lion's mane jelly fragment rests on the sand.
Cyanea (lion’s mane) fragment


It’s wise, on the shore, to look up once in a while, because there is wonder everywhere, in the seascapes and, in this case, on the intertidal rocks, home to all kinds of life. So, as a change of pace from staring down at the drift, the image below shows an intertidal favorite, the giant barnacle. Take a look at the organisms living on the shell! The density and diversity of life on the rocks clashes with the peaceful simplicity of isolated items washed up on the beach’s undemanding sands, and that’s good. We’ll return to that seemingly simpler world with a fresh perspective.

A giant barnacle shell embedded in a rich low intertidal setting. Living on the shell are tufts of Corallina and Bossiella, and two species of anemones, Anthopleura xanthogrammica and A. elegantissima.


Remains

A Romaleon antennarium spot-bellied crab pinching claw rests on the sand.
Romaleon antennarium pinching claw
A Romaleon antennarium spot-bellied crab carapace fragment rests upside down on the sand, showing off ventral spots.
Hinting at why they sometimes go by spot-bellied
An empty Mytilus californianus shell (both valves) adorned with byssal threads and a few empty barnacle shells rests on the sand.
Mytilus californianus shell with byssal threads


Beachcombing took me across a stretch of dimpled sand illustrated below; not drifted remains at all, these vaulted shows are an indicator of the purple olive Callianax biplicata.

A small patch of sand (less than a square meter) with over 50 purple olive Callianax biplicata shows.
Vaulted shows of the purple olive Callianax biplicata

To see some photos of the snail itself and other traces they leave in exposed beach sands, head over to my Snails page and scroll down to the entry on Callianax biplicata.


Seaweed selections

A wrinkled Ulva blade rests on the sand.
Ulva
A wrinkled Pyropia blade rests on the sand.
Pyropia
A folded and tangled Alaria blade rests on the sand.
Alaria
An unidentified red blade rests on the sand.
An inscrutable red
A red blade rests on the sand. It's venation and layout resembles that of Polyneura.
Polyneura?
A folded and tangled Desmarestia blade rests on the sand.
Desmarestia


Scene of the crime

Surrounded by bird tracks, an upside down Pisaster ochraceus rests on the sand.


California mussels are generous when it comes to hosting barnacles and when one has the misfortune to lose its perch, its barnacles meet a sad end too. (How many different kinds of barnacles do you see on this mussel’s shell?)

A lone detached California müssel Mytilus californianus hosting a few different kinds of barnacles rests on the sand.


Not washed ashore, but worthy of mention, because they’re pretty common in and around the swash zone, and not everybody knows what they are, are occasional little masses of regurgitated remains, frequently consisting, as in the example below, of undigested and indigestible barnacle remains. Here, the pellet consists of Pollicipes remains, a mix of capitula and other undigested material, some free scuta and terga, and other shell plates.

A regurgitated gull pellet with Pollicipes plates, peduncles, and whole capitula lying on the sand.


And just like that, the tide had turned. So long from the shore.

A seascape featuring an amphitheater of rocks and cliffs surrounding a small sandy cove. Surf zone and beyond in the mid-ground. Cloudy sky.
***


July 22, 2024

Just above the zone of big wood, sea-watch lives up to the eponym underneath a lightening sky.

Sea-watch Angelica presides over the zone of big wood. Colored morning sky, mostly cloud free.


Setup for a wrack line reveal

Dawn moonset on a beach with rocks on and offshore. Mostly cloudless sky.


From gracefully laid blades to tumbled masses, drift surfgrass Phyllospadix, as a matter of practice, makes a showing.

Two or three blades of drift surfgrass Phyllospadix laid out gracefully on the sand.
A clump of fresh drift surfgrass Phyllospadix on wet beach sand. The sky is mirrored in the sheen.
A tumbled mass of drift surfgrass Phyllospadix, mussels, barnacles, and Macrocystis on wet beach sand.


A survey of the human-made side of the wrack line ledger reveals traces of fundamental human wonts.

A shotgun shell wad rests next to a rounded piece of conifer bark.
A short piece of nylon line rests on the sand.
A disposable lighter rests on the sand.


A few friends from the seaweeds side

Weathered drift Egregia feather boa rested on the sand.
Egregia feather boa
A fresh clump of drift Fucus with expanded branch tips rests on the sand.
Fucus
A weathered Macrocystis fragment rests on the sand.
Macrocystis
Upper portion of a fresh stipe, bulb. and blades of fresh drifted Nereocystis bull kelp rest on the sand.
Nereocystis bull kelp
A blade of fresh drift Pyropia rests on the sand.
Pyropia
A few fresh drifted Fucus blades rest on wet beach sand.
Fucus


If it’s July on this shore, the Dungeness molt is on.

A Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) pinching claw rests on wet beach sand.
A Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) molt rests alone on the sand.


Echinoderm representation provided by the eccentric sand dollar.

Bleached Dendraster excentricus shell resting on the sand.
Dendraster excentricus
***


July 21, 2024

Pausing just for a moment to take in the view before dropping down into that world.

Seascape featuring a beach and some offshore rocks on the horizon. Maritime forest on the left. Cloudy sky.


First thing the wrack line yielded was a seaweed I don’t often see.

A messy tangle of drifted Costaria and Alaria rests on the sand.
A messy tangle of drifted Costaria and Alaria rests on the sand.
A tangle of drift Costaria and other seaweeds


A  sample of other seaweeds from the drift.

Red blades with lovely venation.
Lovely venation
A tuft of Mastocarpus attached to a California mussel shell rests on the sand. The sand is dimpled by raindrops.
Looks like Mastocarpus
A drifted wrinkle of Pyropia rests on the sand.
Probably Pyropia
Drifted clump of sea sacs, Halosaccion, rests on the sand. A few pelagic gooseneck barnacles have hitched a ride.
Halosaccion
Drifted sea lettuce, Ulva (probably), rests on the sand.
Brings Ulva to mind
Drifted red blades, a little surfgrass, and a white feather rest on the sand.
Inscrutable red blades


It’s worth it, every so often, to lift your face from the sand and take a look around.

Beachscape with beach in the foreground. Intertidal rocks in the mid ground, and maritime forest in the distance. Moody sky.
In that world


From the animal side of the drift equation.

A dislodged cluster of Mytilus californianus and Pollicipes polymerus rests on the sand.
Mytilus and Pollicipes
Pelagic gooseneck barnacles (Lepas) attached to driftwood rest on the sand.
End of the line for these drifters
A lone starfish Pisaster ochraceus rests on the sand.
There’s a story here
A dusting of sand grains gives a nereid worm out on the sand a mussy look.
A mussy nereid
An empty thatched barnacle Semibalanus cariosus shell rests on the sand.
Semibalanus cariosus


Selections from the human contribution.

A lost plastic tube (contents unknown) rests on the sand.
Gone overboard
Part of a dock (probably) rests on the sand at the lower edge of the cobble zone.
From upriver
My pack resting on the sand. (It's been my beach companion since at least April, 2009.)
We’ve been together for years
A child's plastic beach pail, lost of left behind, dominates the foreground in a beach scene. Rocky shore to the right; surf zone and beyond to the left. Cloudy sky.
The eternal lost pail
A driftwood fort built on the sand just below the cobble zone. (Will it withstand the night's hight tide?). Seascape in the distance. Cloudy sky.
May it live to see another day
***


May 8, 2024

Coming to you from the zone of big wood.


A sample of drifted finds.

A bleached sand dollar shell (whole) rested on wet sand.
Dendraster excentricus
Closeup of a small clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Fucus
Lost commercial fishing or crabbing line partially buried in wet sand. Clouds and sky reflected in the sheen.
Lost line
A somewhat intact drifted Macrocystis (holdfast, stipe, floats, and tattered blades) rests on wet sand.
The nearest Macrocystis beds are fairly distant
A tuft of drifted surfgrass rests on wet sand.
Phyllospadix


The volcano-shaped mound in the sand is a razor clam show. I love the clouds reflected in the reflective sheen we call the mirror. (You can also see it in Lost line and Macrocystis, above.)

Razor clam show in wet sand with reflected clouds.
Razor clam Siliqua patula show with reflected clouds


Speaking of the mirror, it was working overtime.

***


March 14, 2024

From above, lines of beached Velella set the mood.

Morning seascape with a tuft of grass in the foreground, beach with stranded Velella velella, a detached outcrop called The Lion, a headland on the right, and the surf zone and open ocean beyond. Clear sky.
The Lion knows that’s a lot of stranded Velella velella
Beachscape view to the north to two distant stacks. Headland on the right. In the foreground, a beach with lines of stranded Velella velella. Clear sky.
Miles and miles of Velella
A little less than a meter's worth of fairly densely-packed stranded Velella velella on damp beach sand.
15 cm rule for scale
Closeup of a single Velella sail and float on damp beach sand.
Sail and gas-filled float minus the soft tissue


By way of encrusting flora and fauna, this particular float was lacking. It’s not too uncommon to find lost Sanshin floats of various shapes and sizes.

Kind of a seascape with a couple distant stacks, but in the foreground a two-lug round float rests on the beach. Mostly clear sky.
37 cm diameter float courtesy of Sanshin-Kako Co. Ltd.


A few pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas rode in on their bucket.

Kind of a seascape with a couple distant stacks, but in the foreground an empty bucket rests upside-down on the beach. Mostly clear sky.
Arrow points out barnacles attached to the rim of a bucket
Closeup on two pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas attached to the rim of an upside-down bucket.
Doomed drifters


Arrived on the Midnight Special

One way to find barnacles on exposed beaches is to look for them on drifted logs or pilings.

A barnacle encrusted drift log rests on the sand. Sea stack and surf zone in the background. Sky is aglare.
Presumably from an estuary, a drifted log encrusted with barnacle shells
Closeup on a few empty barnacle shells on a drift log.
Only empty remnants remain

Before I leave the barnacles behind, if you’re interested in barnacles, you might enjoy visiting my Barnacles page for photos and a few words about some of the common intertidal barnacles on the northern Oregon shore.


Beyond barnacles

Rock garden below a stack partially illuminated by morning sunlight. Surf zone in the distance. Clear sky.
The light’s about to come on in the rock garden
Backwash rushes over rocks and sand while a stack looms in the distance. Surf zone and a far off headland beyond. Clear sky.
Singing backwash


Limpets and such

Closeup on an empty rough keyhole limpet shell partially buried in wet sand.
Diodora
Closeup on an empty Puncturella shell resting on wet sand.
Puncturella (note: I picked up and cleaned off the shell before photographing it)

For a few more examples and my take on some of the common limpets and limpet-like molluscs, head over to my Limpets and Such page.

***


March 13, 2024

Even in dim early morning light, and at quite a distance, you can pick out lines of beached by-the-wind sailors Velella velella. Arrows point to strand lines in the cobbles; the receding tide left more Velella lines on the sand below. Read on for a closer look and to find out if there is anything besides blue bands in the drift. (Spoiler Alert: Turns out, among the cobbles and Velella, lots of pelagic barnacles had reached the end of their drift, arriving on buoys, bottles, styrofoam and driftwood.)

Early morning seascape. The view is across the cobbles and beach, the surf zone and beyond. Arrows indicate Velella strand lines
Successive Velella strand lines in the cobbles


As expected, plenty of by-the-wind sailors. Even in scenes of beachcast death Velella is lovely and enchanting.

Semi-closeup of a few Velella velella in the cobbles.
Twenty to 30 Velella velella in the cobbles. A spruce branchlet tip photobombs.
Semi-closeup on a single upright Velella velella perched on a small piece of driftwood in the cobbles. Other Velella in the background.

I made a couple short videos to help give a feeling of the extent of this beachcast event (on this morning on this beach). Click here to see the scene up in the cobbles. Click here for a scan of the beach loaded with by-the-wind sailors.

This event brought in a range of size classes. The biggest Velella I saw were about 5 cm in length, which is pretty common. They can grow a little bigger.

Velella velella in a variety of sizes beached on wet sand. 15 cm ruler for scale.


Not long after they die, all that remains are cellophane-like skeletons. It’s common to see a mix of fresh and bleached individuals, as in the top two panels, below.

Scads of Velella velella where the cobbles meet the sand. A sprinkling of cellophane-like skeletons look white against the fresher dark blue carcasses.
A mix of freshly beached by-the-wind sailors Velella velella and older bleached cellophane-like skeletons resting on the sand.A mix of freshly beached by-the-wind sailors Velella velella and older, bleached cellophane-like skeletons rest on the sand
Closeup on a cellophane-like Velella velella skeleton resting on the sand.
Cellophane-like remains


The morning wasn’t all about beachcast Velella velella. Fishing floats, bottles, a rubber boot, and driftwood were present in the wrack line and most of them hosted pelagic barnacles. Below, I show a few sets of images that highlight the barnacles and their floats.


Barnacles and their buoys

This set of five shots is from a commercial buoy that hosted a few oyster shells, some nylon net, and a ton of barnacles.

A two-lugged commercial fishing buoy rests on the cobbles. Beach a headland in the distance. Cloudy sky.
Commercial buoy hosts oyster shell fragments, green mono netting, and lots of Lepas.
Commercial buoy hosts oyster shell fragments, green mono netting, and lots of Lepas.
Lots of goose barnacles Lepas encrust the surface of a commercial buoy.
Pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas attached to green mono netting resting in the cobbles.

This buoy, found nearby, also hosted a trove of pelagic barnacles. (The untold stories of beached buoys fuel my wrack line imagination.)

A two-lugged commercial fishing buoy rests among driftwood on the cobbles.
Closeup on a portion of a two-lugged commercial fishing buoy highlights CJK characters and some attached goose barnacles (Lepas).
Closeup of a cluster of pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas attached to a lug on a commercial float.


Barnacles and their bottle

The bottle is a familiar narrow mouth lab wash bottle. There’s a ridge on the backside housing the squirt. That’s where the barnacles attached themselves; and on the back of the cap (top right and bottom panel).

A narrow mouth lab wash bottle rests on the cobbles.
Pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas attached to the squirt and lid of a plastic lab wash bottle.
Closeup of several goose barnacles Lepas attached to the squirt of a plastic lab wash bottle. Beached Velella in the background.


Barnacles and their boot

If you come upon a beached blue boot, it’s probably worth a look inside.

A blue rubber boot rests against driftwood on the cobbles.
A blue rubber boot tipped up to show pelagic gooseneck barnacles Lepas inside. Driftwood and cobbles in the background.


Lepas (I’m assuming all the pelagic barnacles shown in this entry are in the genus Lepas) will hitch a ride on just about any floating debris. Besides buoys, bottles, and boots (shown above), this set features a styrofoam fragment, a piece of driftwood (small branch, really), worked lumber, and a small fishing float.

A lone, fairly large, goose barnacle Lepas attached to a styrofoam fragment resting on the cobbles.
Several small goose barnacles Lepas attached to a small beach of driftwood (looks like a branch from a forest tree.) Cobbles and Velella in the background.
Several small goose barnacles Lepas attached to a piece of worked lumber beached on the cobbles.
A few small goose barnacles Lepas attached to the holes in a styrofoam net float (I think) resting on the cobbles.


I noticed some variation in the barnacles on this piece of styrofoam, which I indicate with pink and blue arrows. There seem to be subtle differences that aren’t attributable to size, but are they meaningful? On the beach, I thought this comparative shot might help, but now I’m not so sure.

Goose barnacles Lepas on a styrofoam fragment. It's not clear if the variation indicated by arrows is meaningful.

Just a side note before I leave the barnacles behind, if you’re interested in barnacles, you might try a visit to my Barnacles page for photos and a few words about some of the common intertidal barnacles on the beaches I visit on the northern Oregon shore.

To illustrate that Velella and Lepas didn’t entirely steal the show, here are a few other things that caught my eye.

Beached bull kelp float and blades rest on the cobbles. A delicate red epiphyte is attached to the float and base of the blades.
Bull kelp is a willing host of epiphytes
Fresh Spruce branchlets from the maritime forest above rest on the cobbles.
Spruce branchlets
Two drifted clumps of Phyllospadix, including their rhizomes, rest on beach sand.
Phyllospadix, including the rhizomes
Empty plastic bottle rests on the cobbles.
Dr. Thanh’s


Before leaving the cobbles it’s a good idea to look up.

Leafless willow branches, but the catkins are popping. Cobbles, beach, and a forested headland in the distance.
March is the season for willow catkins
***


January 25, 2024

Anticipation

From the morning foredune I wonder how much beach will be available, and if it will be loaded with treasure, or swept clean?

Foredune with Ammophila hides the beach below. Surf zone and beyond in the distance. Cloudy sky.


The shore knows

Either way, there’s not much shore to explore.

A wave runs up the backshore. Plenty of sea foam and some wood in motion. Ammophila-topped dunes on the right, surf zone on the left. Cloudy sky.
View to the north
A wave runs up the backshore. Plenty of sea foam and some wood in motion. Ammophila-topped dunes on the left, surf zone on the right. Cloudy sky.
View to the south


Today it’s all about wood and sea foam, and some of it is on the move.

Backshore covered in mid-size logs and driftwood. A bit of wood out in the swash. Surf zone in the distance. Cloudy sky.
Like sea lions lounging on the backshore
A drifted log in the swash zone, awash with sea foam. Surf zone in the mid-distance. On the right, a distant headland. Cloudy sky.
Catching sea foam
Seven drift logs line up in the swash zone. To the left, more wood on the backshore and beyond that, an Ammophila-cloaked foredune. Cloudy sky.
The lineup

To see a short clip of the surf running up on this driftwood lineup, click here.
To see a short clip of the morning’s windblown sea foam, click here.

A few drifted finds

From the human-made side.

A printed label rests, partially buried, on rain dimpled sand.
Label from a 10 kg bait pack (frozen rockfish, packed down in Newport)
A clear plastic Suntory water bottle rests on wet sand in the swash zone.
Too much of this
A hat, darkened in places by a few raindrops rests on the sand.
So windy my hat blew off


Drifted material from adjacent ecosystems.

One valve of an empty cockle shell rests on the sand, exterior surface visible.
Clinocardium nuttallii
Bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana

(Note: To see more Clinocardium shells and a bunch of other bivalves, click on my Bivalves page. For more scenes of drift bull kelp, including some large drift masses and fresher specimens, and a bunch of other brown seaweeds, click on my The Browns page and scroll down to bull kelp.


Closing scenes from the backshore shelf

IIn the top panel, a lovely driftwood and sand sculpture. Below, the bottom panel compares a patch of dunegrass Leymus and beachgrass Ammophila following a fairly hard freeze on the foredune. The Leymus blades are frowsy while Ammophila looks unphased. This was the first time I thought about the difference in freeze-tolerance of the blades; now I can’t quit.

A windblown tunnel under a piece of driftwood in the sand. Swash and sea foam in the background.
Above the homogenizing swash, wind can work its magic
Looking landward onto the foredune from the backshore shelf, a patch of freeze-damaged Leymus and in the background, undamaged Ammophila. Cloudy sky.
Leymus at the arrow, Ammophila across the top

(Note: To see more photos of Leymus and Ammophila, as well as other shoreside pioneers, head over to my Flowering Plants page.)

***


January 24, 2024

With a decent swell, the morning tide left little beach for exploring, but a little can be plenty. Through light rain and a pretty good south wind, I enjoyed letting my interest drift from decaying drift bull kelp to seashells, to big wood on the move, and finally, off to a distant sea stack.

Remnants of the season.

Two bull kelp holdfasts and portions of the stipes.
Holdfast still life
A tangle of bull kelp stipes resting on the sand. A lone pneumatocyst also appears.
Tangled stipes
Closeup on a fading and decaying bull kelp pneumatocyst resting on cobbles.
Peak decay in the cobbles

(Note: To see more scenes of drift bull kelp, including some large drift masses and fresher specimens, click on The Browns, my brown seaweeds page, and scroll down to bull kelp.)


Without much beach to explore, I had time to make a study of a seashell I noticed, one I might have passed by on another day. Because shape provides clues for limpet identification, I made three views of the same empty, drifted shell.

A fairly tall conical empty limpet shell rests upright on the sand.
As I found it
Looking straight down on an empty limpet shell with a round base resting on a drift log.
Cleaned up and set on a drifted log, its base is nearly round when viewed from above
Side view of an empty limpet shell resting on a drift log. Beach sand and the surf zone in the background.
A tall conical shell with the apex anterior of center | How about Acmaea mitra?

(Note: To see more examples, click on my limpets page and scroll down to Acmaea mitra.)


It takes winter’s combined surf and tides to mobilize the big wood.

A large drifted log rests on wet beach sand. Beach and surf zone in the background. Misty, gloomy sky.
Takes a lot of force to move wood like this
A chunk of driftwood resting on wet sand in the swash zone collects a bit of sea foam. Beach, surf zone, and a distant sea stack in the background. Misty, gloomy sky.
Fleeting refuge for a bit of wind-blown sea foam
Closeup on the root crown, mostly eroded away. Surf zone and a distant seas tack in the background. Gloomy sky.
There is intimacy in a confusion of roots


Dedicated to lovers of sea stacks and the noble corvid.

A misty, gloomy beach scene with two foraging crows in the swash zone. Surf zone and distant sea stacks.
Some crows are conspicuously at home in the intertidal—I wonder if they specialize
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