December 4, 2017
Long wait for high tide
Drift line, raindrops
Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister
Big dead conifer slid down from the forest above
Pyrosome, surfgrass
Crate, partial
Material from several ecosystems in the drift line
Harbor seal, Phoca vitulina | gull tracks
December 3, 2017
Anticipation
Segura Viudas
Old cable snag
Lost line, pyrosomes
Drift bull kelp
Razor clam, Siliqua patula
Pointing the way down the beach
In the mirror, sanderlings
Sea foam in the swash
Good-sized pyrosome
Sea foam left behind by the falling tide
November 4, 2017
Drift Postelsia palmaeformis
Eastern softshell, Mya arenaria, left valve with distinctive chondrophore
Jelly fragment, probably sea nettle, Chrysaora fuscescens
Nuttall’s cockle, Clinocardium nuttallii
Purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata
Monkey puzzle, there is one not too far upriver
Drift line loaded with Emerita molts, feathers, surfgrass, worm casings, conifer needles, cedar chips, and even a baby Macrocystis
I’ve seen millipedes in fresh drift line materials a few times
Holdfasts are a reliable source of new material on the beach; here other macroalgae and a good-sized barnacle
Would be interesting to trace this can’s travels
The swash zone
Up on the foredune, beachgrass, Ammophila
Fat gaper, Tresus capax
Drift feather boa, Egregia menziesii
Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula
Drift Macrocystis pyrifera
Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
In the Pacific Northwest a well developed backshore means lots of big wood
Hardly qualifies as driftwood
Jelly, probably Chrysaora
A long-time drift line landmark
Beachgrass, Ammophila, on the backshore
Dungeness leg; good eating for somebody
It’s going to take a high tide and big swell to move this one
Sea rocket, Cakile, toughing out fall on the exposed coast
September 10, 2017
Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Drift line detail
Drift sea gooseberries, Pleurobrachia bachei; ‘course they’re always adrift
Crystal jelly, Aequorea
Beach hoppers love a drift feather boa
A fresh Postelsia holdfast full of mussels; the gulls will feast
Fresh feather boa, Egregia menziesii
Morning stroll in the swash
Drift Fucus with sides of surfgrass and eelgrass
I’m not going to argue
Look up, from the tide pools to the forest above
Beach hopper
Periwinkles, Littorina, out and about
July 24, 2017
Drift line dominated by Sitka spruce needles
Kid’s-size PFD
Survived the swash of last night’s high tide
A spade without its child
Dungeness, Metacarcinus magister, pinching claw
Lonely pallet
Drift Fucus
Beach architecture
Drift line detail
If material is available, people will build
Submarine
Common murre
Drift Fucus
Show, razor clam, Siliqua patula
July 23, 2017
Lost buoy #353
Delicate red epiphyte on a bull kelp stipe
Drift line dominated by Emerita and barnacle remains
Purple olive, Olivella biplicata
Metacarcinus magister, always feisty
Laminaria sinclairii; red epiphytes on the tips
Pugettia producta, out of place
Dungeness carapace
Common murre
Cormorant
Beached drifters
July 22, 2017
Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Drift Macrocystis
Inscrutable Olivella biplicata
Hemigrapsus nudus, wandering out on the sand
Gulls usually find these before I do
Drift surfgrass, Phyllospadix
May 28, 2017
Whitewater helmet
Drift line dominated by spruce needles
Caught in the act
Surfgrass, Phyllospadix
New arrival
Juvenile Emerita workings
Nautical mat
Spot-bellied rock crab, Romaleon antennarium
Ever seen a sand dollar show?
May 1, 2017
Drift line loaded with Velella
Macrocystis pyrifera, some Velella too
Bouquet remnant
Want a fork for that Velella salad?
Sturdy cairn, nine cobbles high, what’s your best?
Departing with a Dungeness scrap
Low tide landmark
Tumbled from the forest above
Feather boa kelp, Egregia menziesii
Sargassum, Sargassum muticum
Delicate epiphytes on a bull kelp stipe
Rough keyhole limpet, Diodora aspera
Fish tub
Terrestrial beetles sometimes end up in the drift line (Dictyoptera?)
April 30, 2017
A Velella and Emerita drift line
Bladder chain, Stephanocystis osmundacea, a little north of its Oregon strongholds
Velella garden
Newly beached Velella velella
Stephanocystis osmundacea, a little worse for wear
Velella, stranded
Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Feather boa kelp, Egregia menziesii
March 18, 2017
Drift line detail
Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister carapace
Red rock crab, Cancer productus, nice shell barnacle too
Pinching claw, Dungeness crab
Buoy tag
California mussel, Mytilus californianus
Drift bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Encrusted with pelagic barnacles
Detail, pelagic goose barnacles, Lepas anatifera, on a drift log
Shell, rough keyhole limpet, Diodora aspera
How did this made it onto the beach?
Inside surface, razor clam, Siliqua patula
Inside surface, fat gaper, Tresus capax
Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea – outer surface
Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea – inner surface
Consensus chum parr, tossed ashore in the surf
Pyrosome
February 20, 2017
Purple-striped jelly, Chrysaora colorata; uncommon on northern Oregon beaches
Good sized ling cod egg mass, pretty sure
The wad
Pesky headland
Sea oats, probably, Nucella lamellosa eggs
Pyrosome, worse for wear
Plastic in the drift line
In the swash
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
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
Crab buoys
Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Lots of plastic and terrestrial material in the drift line
I don’t need to tell you who’s tracks these are…Emerita analoga
Patterns in the sand
Pyrosome, lots of baby Velella velella
lost gear
The lead line
Glow stick, offshore fishing gear
Rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, a view of the underside
Probably from a squid boat
The wad, shotgun shell
Rough keyhole limpet Diodora aspera
Spin-N-Glow, winged drift bobber
February 10, 2017
Sea foam, a product of phytoplankton breakdown
Freshwater bobber
Plastic lighter
The wad, shotgun shell component
Large buoy at the base of the foredune
Lone elk tracks
Symmety
There will be no simple walk on the beach today
Tide line mostly terrestrial material and cellophane tube worm, Spichaetopterus costarum, casings
Wrack line loaded up with big wood
High tides and big surf mobilize drift logs
Beach grass, Ammophila on the foredune
Crab buoy #47823
Hagfish trap funnel
Bait jar lid – hey, that’s a full can of beer!
This fort’s glory days are in the past
