December 13, 2016
Pyrosomes are pelagic colonial tunicates | December
A startling pyrosome beach cast
That’s a lot of pyrosomes
Each pyrosome is a colony of zooids
Drift feather boa
Drift bull kelp | December
High tides and swells have pushed this drift bull kelp up onto the backshore shelf
Almost high tide | December
A drift line littered with pyrosomes | December
November 14, 2016
California gull; ravens and other beach scavengers go for the breast meat first
Lost red phalarope, working the drift line
Can you identify these tracks?
Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula
Sea foam, a product of phytoplankton breakdown
Steel belted | November
Mirror in the morning
Fat gaper, Tresus capax
Macoma sp. | November
Surfgrass, Phyllospadix
Probably dog winkle, Nucella lamellosa, eggs; sea oats | November
Red Phalarope; the fall storms are tough on them | November
Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Western gull a pretty safe guess
Blue buoy fragment | November
Floats identify lost crab gear
Startled me
Glow sticks, offshore fishing gear | November
Drift sea palm, Postelsia palmaeformis
Big wood littering the backshore | November
Sea rocket, Cakile edentula, perched on the backshore shelf | November
What stories, what travels?
Wad from a shotgun shell
Eelgrass, Zostera and cellophane tube worm, Spiochaetopterus costarum, casings
October 30, 2016
Morning coyote tracks
Drift line mostly marine origin
Cellophane tube worm, Spiochaetopterus costarum, casings
Fall tides supply new materials | October
October
Dunegrass, Elymus mollis
Beachgrass, Ammophila arenaria; an Ammophila monoculture in the background | October
Float
Fish tub
Locals only | October
Sea nettle, Chrysaora, fragment | October
Dungeness carapace
Fat gaper condrophore | October
September 24, 2016
Drift Postelsia
A gull’s interest in drift Postelsia is solely on the holdfast | September
Drift feather boa
This drift bull kelp almost forms a treble clef | September
Gulls loafing at the creek mouth
A little blowhole
Sea foam, spume, is the product of phytoplankton breakdown
Rumex
A pioneering dandelion | September
A pioneering Mimulus
Moss carpet on the supralittoral fringe
Beach hopper workings
Fat gaper
Mole crab, Emerita analoga, workings in the swash zone
September 23, 2016
Orange finger sponge, Isodictya rigida?
Cabezon skull?
Old growth kelp, Pterygophora californica
Lobed compound tunicate, Cystodytes lobatus | September
Winged kelp, Alaria marginata
Strap kelp, Lessoniopsis littoralis
Red sea leaf, Erythrophyllum delesserioides
Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Bunch of holdfasts on a bull kelp stipe. I’m not familiar with this smooth blistered blade
Feather boa, Egregia menziesii
Sea cabbage, Saccharina sessilis
A delicate red, something approximating Neoptilota, but that’s a low confidence guess
Surfgrass, Phyllospadix
A hydroid?
Don’t know what this translucent disc is…any ideas?
A rose-red beauty | September
Hydroid on Laminaria setchellii stipe
A fan-shaped lettuce-like red, complete with holdfast
Sprophylls, Pterygophora californica | September
A rosy dichotomously branching red
Feather boa holdfast with a good grip dragged this rock ashore
Large purple blade
Rose-purple frills | September
Feather boa, Egregia menziesii
Would love to know the history here
If this isn’t winged rib, Delesseria decipiens, it should be
Fan-shaped blades and a blue-violet iridescence; must be Gloiocladia laciniata | September
Distinctive blades should make identifying this red easy
Stalked tunicate, Styela montereyensis; macroalgae quiz in the background
Stalked tunicate, Styela montereyensis
Diversity
Desmarestia
September 18, 2016
Drift eelgrass, Zostera, and Dungeness crab carapace with pinching claws
Moon jelly, Aurelia | September
Moon jelly, Aurelia
Drift surfgrass, Phyllospadix
Fishermen gotta have their coffee
Drift Macrocystis
Pinching claw, red rock crab, Cancer productus
Drift Fucus | September
Favorite landmark | September
Big drift log, big float, lost gear | September
Drift eelgrass, Zostera, one blade with red fringe, Smithora naiadum | September
Traces of a curious coyote | September
Shy Alloniscus
Beach hoppers, Megalorchestia, feasting on the carcass of a smooth bay shrimp, Lissocrangon stylirostris
A millipede under fresh drift eelgrass and Fucus
Pelagic cormorant
Bleached root wad, taller than me | September
July 23, 2016
Drift line
People love a fort
A pioneering dunegrass, Elymus | July
Burrow, Megalorchestia californiana
Vast Emerita analoga workings
Drift coralline
Trail, Olivella biplicata
The Dungeness molt is on | July
Dungeness carapace, nice shell barnacle too
Wrack line | July
Pictured rove, Thinipinus pictus | July
Crab buoy
Drifted ashore on a lost buoy line; the gulls couldn’t be happier | July
Big or small, crustaceans molt
Abundant juvenile Emerita exoskeletons in the drift
California beach hopper, Megalorchestia californiana
June 7, 2016
Looking down on the wrack line | June
Drift line
Lost line | June
Sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus, seeking shelter
Lost crab buoy | June
Olivella, on the move
Olivella biplicata trail | June
Beach strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis, a pioneer
Willow dock, Rumex, pioneering onto the beach
June 6, 2016
A view from the wrack line
Drift line
Periwinkles on the move, across sand!
Olivella biplicata shows | June
Livella biplicata, exposed, sort of
Crazy Olivella trails
May 28, 2016
Baby Emerita molts in the drift
Drift Sargassum
Leathesia marina, an epiphyte on Sargassum | May
Yellow jelly blob
May 21, 2016
messy drift line, raindrops | Coquille Point, Oregon
Beach hopper workings around drive algae | Coquille Point, Oregon
Harbor seal pup returns to sea | Coquille Point, Oregon | May
Detail, harbor seal pup tracks
Drift sea palm, Postelsia | Coquille Point, Oregon
Island in the sand | Coquille Point, Oregon | May
Low tide rest | Coquille Point, Oregon
California beach hopper, Megalorchestia californiana | May
May 20, 2016
Mostly crustacean molts inthe drift line, raindrops and footprints above the line | Coquille Point, Oregon
Clouds and rocks in the mirror | Coquille Point, Oregon | May
Bladder chain, Stephanocystis osmundacea | Coquille Point, Oregon | May
Baby bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana | Coquille Point, Oregon
May 8, 2016
A few snail eggs but an otherwise clean drift line
Styrofoam turtle
Headland, in the mirror | May
Cast up in the swash, you can’t say the outlook is promising this juvenile greenling | May
April 9, 2016
Waterfall to waves
Crazy quilt of Emerita trails | April
Drift log
Fork-tailed storm petrel | April
Hagfish trap funnel | April
The scent of decaying Velella velella is heavy on the drift line.
Dendraster excentricus test, crushed
I don’t see this slender dark brown hopper much, <emTraskorchestia?
Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister carapace
Shell barnacles, Hesperibalanus hesperiuson? on a Metacarcinus magister carapace
Sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus test
Pacific mole crab, Emerita analoga, exoskeleton
March 26, 2016
A common blue float on Oregon beaches | March
Small Velella velella dominate the drift line
A slippery mat of Velella velella coats the cobbles
Cobble-sized lugged trawl float
Net float
A common football-shaped plastic float
A common net float
Oval net float (red)
Float – Working depth 80 meters?
Bait jar
Velella and raindrops | March
Velella swash design | March
Trawl or long line float
Net float (blue)
Lugged trawl float
Float
Crab trap ring
Lugged float
Large styrofoam dock float
Blue football float
Net float
Polystyrene net float
Pink scallop, Chlamys
Receding tide leaves a Velella pattern
Lugged float
Lepas anatifera on a cracked buoy
February 27, 2016
Lots of plastic in the drift line | February
A hefty drift log
It’s taken a while to polish this root wad
One way big wood makes its way onto the beach
Lost to the swash
January 23, 2016
The wad – part of a shotgun shell and one of the most common items in the drift line
I’m curious, but probably not a good idea to taste this
Hagfish trap funnel
The case – part of a shotgun shell
Lot’s of big wood on the shelf
New lumber, treated too!
A crate for your wrack line treasures | January
Can you identify the language on this jar lid?
Drip filter
Too heavy to carry home
Lighter
Lost dock – freshly treated lumber
Styrofoam remains
Heinz Ketchup
Smelly Jelly , an attractant
Track in the wrack
World traveling poly Jerry can
World traveling liquor bottle with no message, just a head of wheat inside | January
Whole tree covered in barnacles
Lil’ Corky in Fire Tiger finish – part of the terminal tackle for steelhead
Tangle of line in a tangle of roots
Sea foam – a product of phytoplankton breakdown | January
