Wrack Line 2017

December 4, 2017

Early morning seascape

Long wait for high tide

Raindrops and drift fragments on wet sand

Drift line, raindrops

dead crab in the drift line, on wet sand and cobbles

Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister

Big dead conifer slid down from the forest above

Big dead conifer slid down from the forest above

Detail on beach sand

Pyrosome, surfgrass

fragment of a red fish crate

Crate, partial

material from pelagic, rocky intertidal, subtidal, and terrestrial ecosystems, and plastic too

Material from several ecosystems in the drift line

Dead, on sand

Harbor seal, Phoca vitulina | gull tracks

December 3, 2017

Trail to the beach

Anticipation

Sparking wine cork

Segura Viudas

metal cable snags line and surfgrass

Old cable snag

Lost line, pyrosomes

Lost line, pyrosomes

Drift bull kelp

Drift bull kelp

Razor clam shell on beach sand

Razor clam, Siliqua patula

Drift log in the swash zone

Pointing the way down the beach

flock of sanderlings at the swash line

In the mirror, sanderlings

Sea foam in the swash

Sea foam in the swash

Over 15 cm

Good-sized pyrosome

Sea foam left behind by the falling tide

Sea foam left behind by the falling tide

November 4, 2017

Drift sea palm on a sandy beach

Drift Postelsia palmaeformis

Bleached white shell on wet beach sand

Eastern softshell, Mya arenaria, left valve with distinctive chondrophore

drifted fragment on wet beach sand

Jelly fragment, probably sea nettle, Chrysaora fuscescens

drifted shell on wet sand

Nuttall’s cockle, Clinocardium nuttallii

Fresh drifted shell on wet beach sand

Purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata

A drifted branch in the sand, surf in the background

Monkey puzzle, there is one not too far upriver

Bunch of drift line material on beach sand

Drift line loaded with Emerita molts, feathers, surfgrass, worm casings, conifer needles, cedar chips, and even a baby Macrocystis

Millipede on moist sand; wish I knew which species.

I’ve seen millipedes in fresh drift line materials a few times

Drift Postelsia holdfast on most sand

Holdfasts are a reliable source of new material on the beach; here other macroalgae and a good-sized barnacle

Rain-X can

Would be interesting to trace this can’s travels

Down in the mirror

The swash zone

View seaward

Up on the foredune, beachgrass, Ammophila

Bleached shell on wet sand

Fat gaper, Tresus capax

Drift clump, some surfgrass too, plastic bottle

Drift feather boa, Egregia menziesii

Shell on moist sand

Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula

intimate view, on sand

Drift Macrocystis pyrifera

Intimate view, blades

Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Up on the backshore, foredune and surf zone in the background

In the Pacific Northwest a well developed backshore means lots of big wood

A small branch on sand

Hardly qualifies as driftwood

Beached jelly

Jelly, probably Chrysaora

Old growth stump projecting from the sand

A long-time drift line landmark

Backshore scenery, foredune in the background

Beachgrass, Ammophila, on the backshore

Crab leg on big driftwood

Dungeness leg; good eating for somebody

Big drift log just above the surf

It’s going to take a high tide and big swell to move this one

small clump on the backshore

Sea rocket, Cakile, toughing out fall on the exposed coast

September 10, 2017

float and blades on sand

Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Jelly fragments (sea nettle), feathers, surfgrass, Focus, Ulva, mole crab molts

Drift line detail

on sand, along with some feathers, a piece of green algae, and a mole crab molt

Drift sea gooseberries, Pleurobrachia bachei; ‘course they’re always adrift

It's a complete bell I think but folded upon itself, on the sand

Crystal jelly, Aequorea

lots of workings in the sand all around the outlines of a drifted frond of feather boa

Beach hoppers love a drift feather boa

on sand; the gulls haven't found it yet

A fresh Postelsia holdfast full of mussels; the gulls will feast

on sand

Fresh feather boa, Egregia menziesii

just a seascape with blue sky, some mist, mountains reflected in the mirror, and swash

Morning stroll in the swash

on the sand

Drift Fucus with sides of surfgrass and eelgrass

I'm not going to argue

I’m not going to argue

morning sunshine streaming through the trees above

Look up, from the tide pools to the forest above

Live olive green hopper on sand

Beach hopper

bunch of periwinkles moving over moist sand

Periwinkles, Littorina, out and about

July 24, 2017

brown needles on sand

Drift line dominated by Sitka spruce needles

Youth life jacket up in the cobbles

Kid’s-size PFD

tripod-like driftwood structure

Survived the swash of last night’s high tide

Blue spade on sand

A spade without its child

Intimate view, on sand

Dungeness, Metacarcinus magister, pinching claw

half buried, foggy beach

Lonely pallet

on clean wet sand

Drift Fucus

Driftwood shelter

Beach architecture

Intimate view, feather, mole crab molts, charcoal, terrestrial plant material

Drift line detail

A-frame driftwood shelter

If material is available, people will build

Distant rock looks like a submarine

Submarine

dead on wet sand

Common murre

A clump on sand

Drift Fucus

Show in wet sand

Show, razor clam, Siliqua patula

July 23, 2017

Lost crab buoy on sand at low tide, cloudy skies

Lost buoy #353

a drift bull kelp stipe in the drift line

Delicate red epiphyte on a bull kelp stipe

Drift line dominated by Emerita and barnacle remains

Drift line dominated by Emerita and barnacle remains

Snails moving around on the sand at dawn

Purple olive, Olivella biplicata

dungeness crab exposed on the sand at low tide

Metacarcinus magister, always feisty

complete with holdfast

Laminaria sinclairii; red epiphytes on the tips

Kelp crab on sand

Pugettia producta, out of place

Dungeness carapace

Dungeness carapace

Old carcass, partially covered in sand

Common murre

Carcass

Cormorant

plastic carboy impaled on a root wad; sea stacks in the background

Beached drifters

July 22, 2017

Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Drift Macrocystis

Drift Macrocystis

Inscrutable Olivella biplicata

Inscrutable Olivella biplicata

Hemigrapsus nudus, wandering out on the sand

Hemigrapsus nudus, wandering out on the sand

Gulls usually find these before I do

Gulls usually find these before I do

Drift surfgrass, Phyllospadix

Drift surfgrass, Phyllospadix

May 28, 2017

White NRS whitewater paddling helmet in the drift line

Whitewater helmet

Sitka spruce needless in the drift line; ruler for scale

Drift line dominated by spruce needles

Sand dollar, trying to bury itself, leaving tracks in the sand

Caught in the act

couple strands of Phyllospadix in the drift line

Surfgrass, Phyllospadix

Freshly arrived drift log with big horizontal branches of the main trunk

New arrival

abundant working in the sand

Juvenile Emerita workings

Nautical mat

Nautical mat

Dead R. antennarium, upside down showing the red-spotted underside

Spot-bellied rock crab, Romaleon antennarium

Show from a buried sand dollar

Ever seen a sand dollar show?

May 1, 2017

Drift line loaded with Velella

Drift line loaded with Velella

Macrocystis pyrifera, some Velella too

Macrocystis pyrifera, some Velella too

Lost flower in the drift line

Bouquet remnant

Want a fork for that Velella salad?

Want a fork for that Velella salad?

Sturdy cairn, nine cobbles high, what's your best?

Sturdy cairn, nine cobbles high, what’s your best?

Crow flying off with a Dungeness crab leg inn it's bill

Departing with a Dungeness scrap

Long exposed rock covered with green algae

Low tide landmark

Large log fell onto the beach from the forest above

Tumbled from the forest above

Drift fragment on sand

Feather boa kelp, Egregia menziesii

drift fragment on sand

Sargassum, Sargassum muticum

Delicate epiphytes on a bull kelp stipe

Delicate epiphytes on a bull kelp stipe

shell on sand

Rough keyhole limpet, Diodora aspera

Fish tub

Fish tub

Terrestrial beetles sometimes end up in the drift line (Dictyoptera?)

Terrestrial beetles sometimes end up in the drift line (Dictyoptera?)

April 30, 2017

A squiggly drift line of Velella and Pacific mole crabs molts in the sand

A Velella and Emerita drift line

small fragment of drift bladder chain on sand

Bladder chain, Stephanocystis osmundacea; a little far from it’s Oregon strongholds, I wonder how far this tattered piece has drifted

Lot of Velella in the drift line; Lion Rock in the background

Velella garden

Newly beached Velella velella

Newly beached Velella velella

Piece of drift bladder chain on the sand, sea stack in the background

This bladder chain, Stephanocystis osmundacea, a little worse for wear, still looks good in the morning light

Velella, stranded

Velella, stranded

Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Feather boa kelp, Egregia menziesii

Feather boa kelp, Egregia menziesii

March 18, 2017

Big lone drift log on a deserted beach, fog in the distance

intimate view of feather, pyrosome, eel grass, dead terrestrial plant material

Drift line detail

cracked carapace on sand

Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister carapace

Carapace on sand

Red rock crab, Cancer productus, nice shell barnacle too

Intimate view of the pinching claw laying on a drift log

Pinching claw, Dungeness crab

Blue tag on drift line sand

Buoy tag

Mussel shell (outer surface) in beach sand

California mussel, Mytilus californianus

Mass of drift bull kelp on a deserted sand beach; surf and gray skies in the background

Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Rubber tire from a cart or toy tractor

root end of a large drift log on deserted beach

large drifted root wad on the beach

Encrusted with pelagic barnacles

Intimate view, dead barnacles hanging down.

Detail, pelagic goose barnacles, Lepas anatifera, on a drift log

upper surface on sand

Shell, rough keyhole limpet, Diodora aspera

rock with holes on beach sand

How did this made it onto the beach?

laying open on beach sand

Inside surface, razor clam, Siliqua patula

on beach sand, prominent chondrophore

Inside surface, fat gaper, Tresus capax

Driftwood fort, logs old tire, drift algae - foredune in the background

Drifted shell in shallow water on sand

Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea – outer surface

Drifted shell in shallow water, on sand

Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea – inner surface

large rock jutting out of the sand with sea stacks in the background

Silvery chum parr

Consensus chum parr, tossed ashore in the surf

Stranded on wet sand

Pyrosome

February 20, 2017

Remaines of purple-striped jelly washed up on the beach

Purple-striped jelly, Chrysaora colorata; uncommon on northern Oregon beaches

Good sized ling cod egg mass, pretty sure

Good sized ling cod egg mass, pretty sure

The wad

The wad

Pesky headland

Pesky headland

Sea oats, probably, Nucella lamellosa eggs

Sea oats, probably, Nucella lamellosa eggs

Pyrosome, worse for wear

Pyrosome, worse for wear

Plastic in the drift line

Plastic in the drift line

In the swash

In the swash

A rainbow of marine debris; anybody know what that red hook is?

A rainbow of marine debris; anybody know what that red hook is?

February 19, 2017 – Some days are too windy for beach combing.

February 11, 2017

Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, top view

Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, top view

A feathery red algae and pelagic goose barnacles hitch a ride on an ocean drifter

A feathery red algae and pelagic goose barnacles hitch a ride on an ocean drifter

If you know what this is, drop me a line

If you know what this is, drop me a line

Crab buoys

Crab buoys

Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana

Lots of plastic and terrestrial material in the drift line

Lots of plastic and terrestrial material in the drift line

I don't need to tell you who's tracks these are...Emerita analoga

I don’t need to tell you who’s tracks these are…Emerita analoga

Patterns in the sand

Patterns in the sand

Pyrosome, lots of baby Velella velella

Pyrosome, lots of baby Velella velella

lost gear

lost gear

The lead line

The lead line

Glow stick, offshore fishing gear

Glow stick, offshore fishing gear

Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, a view of the underside

Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, a view of the underside

Probably from a squid boat

Probably from a squid boat

The wad, shotgun shell

The wad, shotgun shell

Rough keyhole limpet Diodora aspera

Rough keyhole limpet Diodora aspera

Spin-N-Glow, winged drift bobber

Spin-N-Glow, winged drift bobber

February 10, 2017

Sea foam, a product of phytoplankton breakdown

Sea foam, a product of phytoplankton breakdown

Freshwater bobber

Freshwater bobber

Plastic lighter

Plastic lighter

The wad, shotgun shell component

The wad, shotgun shell component

Large buoy at the base of the foredune

Large buoy at the base of the foredune

Lone elk tracks

Lone elk tracks

Symmety

Symmety

There will be no simple walk on the beach today

There will be no simple walk on the beach today

Tide line mostly terrestrial material and cellophane tube worm, Spichaetopterus costarum, casings

Tide line mostly terrestrial material and cellophane tube worm, Spichaetopterus costarum, casings

Wrack line loaded up with big wood

Wrack line loaded up with big wood

High tides and big surf mobilize drift logs

High tides and big surf mobilize drift logs

Beach grass, Ammophila on the foredune

Beach grass, Ammophila on the foredune

Crab buoy #47823

Crab buoy #47823

Hagfish trap funnel

Hagfish trap funnel

Bait jar lid - hey, that's a full can of beer!

Bait jar lid – hey, that’s a full can of beer!

This fort's glory days are in the past

This fort’s glory days are in the past

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