Topping the foreduneLost Dungeness trap buoyRubber balloon fragments aren’t too common in the drift lineShotgun wads are common in the winter drift lineClinocardium nuttalliiTennessee WhiskeyPlastic debris is a big component of the winter driftSoftballCutting board | lot of stuff falls or is thrown overboard from fishing boatsA lost buoy’s colors obscured by a hairy coating of algaeSea foam up in the big woodA Halloween remnantSea foam and drift bull kelp bring nutrition to the shoreSuntory | a little nectar inside A tangle of lost gear, big wood, and drift bull kelp on the backshoreUh ohFloatColor among the big wood in a dreary wrack lineLost lubricantWill ever remain a mysteryDrift line studyHigh tide and surf mobilizes big woodSpin-N-Glo | Recreational steelhead or salmon gearSea foam on the backshore***
September 28, 2018
Sunrise lights up the foreduneNot much evidence of drifted material on the beachJelly fragment- I wonder what it isPacific razor clam, Siliqua patulaSea gooseberry, Pleurobrachia bacheiDrifted surfgrass, PhyllospadixBeachgrass, Ammophila, on the backshoreSea rocket, CakileTrails of Alloniscus perconvexus on the backshore***
September 24, 2018
The Lion at sunrise | What surprises does the drift line hold? Driftline lite | feathers, eelgrass remnants, beach hoppers and their workings Gull tracks around a Dungeness crab carcassDrifted California mussel, Mytilus californianus, and haystack barnacles, Semibalanus cariosusCormorantDrifted surfgrass, PhyllospadixDrifted kelp and beach hopper workings Easy to see why they’re called haystack barnaclesDrifted eelgrass, ZosteraUpside-down Dungeness carapaceLooking like a discarded plastic bag, a salp | perhaps Thetys?Trace of a lone mole crab, Emerita analogaMoon jelly remnant?The Lion | South faceEccentric sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus | FragmentA surf zone sea stackCommon murreMoon jelly | beach hopper workings around the margin High tide isolates this sea stackRough keyhole limpet shell and drying eelgrass | Neither live on the sandy beaches, but here they areI’ve always assumed this is the shell of the spiny pink scallop, Chlamys hastataRumex, pioneering onto intertidal sand | Probably Rumex maritimus
, golden dock, seaside dock Salal will creep all the way down to the beach if Sitka spruce forest presides behind it. Northern fulmar***
August 11, 2018(Orcas Island)
Purple varnish clams, Nuttallia obscurata dominating the drift line | Orcas Island, WashingtonLow tide in Eastsound | Orcas Island, WashingtonA dab of drifted Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii | Orcas Island, WashingtonDock or coonstripe shrimp, Pandalus danae | Orcas Island, WashingtonKelp crab, Pugettia, probably P. producta | Orcas Island, WashingtonThe object of interest here are the barnacles, Balanus crenatus | Orcas Island, WashingtonSea rocket, Cakile maritima making a go of it in the wrack | Orcas Island, Washington***
August 10, 2018 (Orcas Island)
Empty limpet shell, Lottia, resting in the crook between Pisaster rays | Orcas Island, WAMorning sunlight on Chondracanthus | Orcas Island, WAI’ll share the wrack line with a great blue heron any day | Orcas Island, WAHelmet crab, Telmessus cheiragonus, met its match | Orcas Island, WA***
August 9, 2018(Orcas Island)
Low tide exposes Saccharina (some drifted, some attached) and Ulva | Orcas Island, WAA drifted Saccharina blade on a bed of Ulva | Orcas Island, WAA drifted Chondracanthus blade, Ulva, and Fucus | Orcas Island, WASaccharina latissima, I presume | Orcas Island, WAThis scene caught my eye | Orcas Island, WALow tide exposes Chondracanthus | Orcas Island, WALow tide on Orcas Island | View west, across East SoundSaccharina latissima, sugar wrack | Orcas Island, WAPinching claw, Cancer productus | Orcas Island, WA***
July 14, 2018
What will the wrack line hold?I have it on good authority…it might be a pleuronectidae, the right-eyed blokesLow tide from Preacher’s CaveDrift sea palm, Postelsia palmaeformisCallianax biplicata, snowplowingGull footprintsDrift UlvaGulls can’t wait for low tide to peck at exposed barnacle bedsPacific sardine, Sardinops sagaxA sandy beach between headlandsSquid egg capsuleOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAEpiphytes on drifted black pine | the yellow balls might be SorantheraOtter tracks, heading off toward the reef at the top of the image | river ottersIt’s taken a bit of rolling to round off the edgesMorning stroll coming to a close ***
July 13, 2018
The beauty of low tide at dawnA drift line dominated by spruce needles and mole crab moltsSea foam, at times, is a major wrack component on the reefs. Seaside plantain, Plantago maritima, pioneering onto a wrack line rubble of cobbles and sea shellsStriped shore crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes | they love crevices in big high intertidal rocks***
June 15, 2018
Ever lovely MacrocystisDrift bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, and a side of MacrocystisA good-sized beached jelly, over 30 cm across | has fried egg characteristics, so Phacellophora camtschatica?From the swash zone to the spruce forest, drift Fucus, in the mirrorSand-dwelling tube worms, but what?A nod to terrestrial connectionsDesmarestiaGulls loafing, bellies full of crabs and barnaclesSignature workings, guess who | Callianax biplicataI know some beach hoppers that are going to be overjoyed once this bull kelp find a resting place higher on the beach***
June 14, 2018
Mostly dried surfgrass in the drift line, a little Zostera, a bleached Velella, and welk eggsEpiphytic Ulva on a bull kelp stipe | note beach hopper workings in the sandDrift feather boa picked up some hitchhikersMacrocystis pyriferaEccentric sand dollar shell SargassumSurfgrass, PhyllospadixGull pellet | contents: gooseneck barnacles Sea palm, Postelsia palmaeformisTrace of Callianax biplicata plowing through beach sandCallianax popped out of its burrow and started racing for…somewhereGull pellet | contents: rock crabGull pellet | contents: acorn barnaclesDrift feather boaA drift line trifecta: bull kelp, feather boa, MacrocystisDrift line quiz: how many species do you see?Drift Fucus and beach hopper workings***
May 18, 2018
Beach to myself, except a gull eyeing meWhere’s this drift log from? The cliffs above?“Congratulations” balloon, older drift VelellaGood-sized drift woodDrift line mostly older bleached Velella velellaUnfortunate mole crab, , Emerita analoga | note the bright, freshly-yolked eggsDungeness carapaceWhimbrels all over the beach, hunting EmeritaWhimbrels eat so many Emerita eggs it turns their poop orange***
May 17, 2018
Blue buoys, Dosima fascicularis, on a spent by-the-wind sailor Lone by-the-wind sailorToo much of thisMix of fresh and bleached Velella velellaFreshly arrived carboy inhabited by lots of distressed LepasCalifornia mussel, Mytilus californianusDrifted FucusI’ve always called these tellins, but I’m not positiveThere’s a seascape out thereDungeness pinching claw***
April 20, 2018
Bull-kelp nori, Pyropia, on a drifted bull-kelp stipe Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeanaDrift line dominated by the partially bleached remains of drifted Velella velellaLugged floatNorthern fulmarDrifted bull-kelp, Nereocystis luetkeanaDelicate red epiphyte on bull-kelp stipesAlmost washed away in the swashRegugitated capitulum, Pollicipes polymerus | Gulls eat these and barf up the shellsThis trap won’t fishRough keyhole limpet, Diodora aspera | just the shell, now go find a live one on the rocks!What’s out of place here?Purple olive’s a show off***
April 19, 2018
Carpet of drifted Velella velellaEnds a long float up in the cobbles on a bed of VelellaShearwater?Remains from a regurgitated gull pellet: plates from the capitulum, Pollicipes polymerus, goose-neck barnacle More common in the drift line than you might thinkGot the hitchhikers to prove it’s been afloat awhile***
February 10, 2018
High tide’s all about the cobbles and an early morning glowBait jarStrap kelp, Lessoniopsis littoralis, some people call it tree kelp Fresh morning dog tracksAny guesses?Feather boa, Egregia menziesiiWhen life gives you cobbles…Sunset brings a falling tide and a glowWaiting for a green flashA sunset low tide reveals a sandy beach***
January 3, 2018
AnticipationSea oats, Nucella eggs, Emerita fragment (lower right)Couple conifersThree ecosystems represented: forest (Sitka spruce), estuary (eelgrass), open ocean (pyrosome)Meant to be firewood; what now?Probably Corbicula fluminea, a freshwater or brackish clam | a drifted shell from a nearby river?Fat gaper, Tresus capaxRazor clam, Siliqua patulaThe swash rushes outDungeness, Metacarcinus magisterDrifted bamboo DrifterDelicate blades of a red epiphyte on a bull kelp stipe | Perhaps Pyropia nereocystis?Your guess is as good as mine***
theoutershores 