Shockingly abundant here. Couldn’t believe how many there were
This was a surprise! At first I assumed that the volcano-shaped object inside this mussel was a barnacle. Not so. There's a young piddock, a boring clam, inside the "volcano" and it's the right size to have grown in there. As a larva, it must have landed on this mussel and bored into it. The mussel built up layers of shell around it as it grew. (So obviously the mussel was alive while it happened.) I didn't know this was possible. Bob Creek Beach.
Entrance hole is visible on the outside of the mussel shell. When initiated, the hole must have been pinprick size, but the mussel has been abraded.
Maybe an albino purple?
Looks too pale for Strongylocentrotus pallidus, and I wouldn't expect a Lytechinus this far north
Rare lavender morph. Scanned from a 35 mm slide I took in May 1982 (day of month entered here is approximate).
Found washed ashore near Thiel creek. Bald eagle and raven taking turns eating it.
Also have audio of its sonar, unfortunately it passed .
Found in front of the rocky "wall" between the tidal flats and the ocean, southwest of the rocky cliff where the Spyglass restaurant is. The wall is full of holes where purple sea urchins reside at low tide.
I noticed that one sea urchin in the lower left of this picture seemed to have a round grey plastic circle attached to it. Perhaps a tracking marker of some kind?
The beach is partially accessible. You can park in the Spyglass restaurant parking lot (at risk of being towed?) and walk down a 50 foot stair case. You can also reach the same staircase from the Devil's punchbowl state parking lot. Follow B street north. B street curves west, and a trail is straight area. The trail is gravel and level. Take the trail, and turn left when you come to the paved road. Walk past the bridge and say hello to the muskovy ducks hanging out there. Walk past the Inn at Otter Crest's pool house, and look toward the left side of the parking lot for a sign for beach access. That path leads to the staircase to the beach.
The other option to access the beach from the devil's punchbowl parking lot is to follow A Street north. On the left, you'll notice a tidepool creatures sign. Take the trail that leads northwest. It is paved in sections, but erosion has caused sections of it to dip and crumble. The sections have gravel but are steep. The end of the trail is a 7' cliff. There is a dirt and rock path with wide stone foot holds, but it could be challenging for people with mobility issues.
Found in front of the rocky "wall" between the tidal flats and the ocean, southwest of the rocky cliff where the Spyglass restaurant is. The wall is full of holes where purple sea urchins reside. Red urchins are less common in this area than purple sea urchins.
The beach is partially accessible. You can park in the Spyglass restaurant parking lot (at risk of being towed?) and walk down a 50 foot stair case. You can also reach the same staircase from the Devil's punchbowl state parking lot. Follow B street north. B street curves west, and a trail is straight area. The trail is gravel and level. Take the trail, and turn left when you come to the paved road. Walk past the bridge and say hello to the muskovy ducks hanging out there. Walk past the Inn at Otter Crest's pool house, and look toward the left side of the parking lot for a sign for beach access. That path leads to the staircase to the beach.
The other option to access the beach from the devil's punchbowl parking lot is to follow A Street north. On the left, you'll notice a tidepool creatures sign. Take the trail that leads northwest. It is paved in sections, but erosion has caused sections of it to dip and crumble. The sections have gravel but are steep. The end of the trail is a 7' cliff. There is a dirt and rock path with wide stone foot holds, but it could be challenging for people with mobility issues.
Unfortunately most pools here are completely overrun with urchins
Dotted all along the beach headed south from punch bowl. Low tide 0.1
Not insects, but also not sure what other class these little things are
Small barnacle to 2 cm diam., features prominent radial ribs. Associates with the encrusting hydrocoral Stylantheca papillosa, which often overgrows the barnacle.
Sunburst Anemone (Anthopleura sola) consuming(?) a Pacific purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)
With a parental guardian not pictured
High densities of sunflower stars were observed in Indian Arm several decades ago and were common until October 2013, when Sea Star Wasting Syndrome killed virtually every one.
Sea star wasting on this sad sunflower star
Seen ~ 1800’ deep within submersible. Location and exact time is not exact.
Screengrab taken from video, Deep Ocean Engineering Phantom HD2+2 ROV (#428) on cruise PAC2011-062 on CCGS Tully. For more information contact the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Shellfish Data Unit 3190 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6N7, telephone: +1
Clarke Rock
A male wolf eel about 2 m long.
I am stumped on this one. The otter caught and is eating some kind of long, slender fish or eel. iNat wants to call it a gunnel, but as far as I can find, gunnel are much smaller. This fish, judging from the size of the otter (~1 meter), must be conservatively 60-80 centimeters long.
Dead on beach
Terrible photo, basically useless, but crushed urchin in photo, and can confirm from extensive experience, it was a wolf eel
I honestly have no clue, maybe a skate?
First wolf eel I've seen at this site but not sure if that's where it was actually picked up. The lingcod was getting hassled by kelp greenling for scraps and would move around to avoid them.
The wolf eel was still alive and totally exhausted, but it tried to reach back and strike the lingcod intermittently. I think this had been going on for quite some time. The lingcod didn't make any attempt to swallow it further during the two brief dives I had with them. A very slow way to die.
I found a head! Rose quartz-like teeth. Third photo is of the middle row of palate "molars." Last photo is not how I found it; I found it submerged in a tidepool and brought it to show everybody. Not smelly, but the flesh had a weird jello-like consistency. Full of tegulas and isopods that quickly exited the scene when we handled it. Maybe a discarded piece from someone fishing/poling at nearby Pillar Point?
4 ft long found at low tide
Washed up on beach
This Orca was seen back in May! We are just putting it in iNaturalist to let everyone know that they can be found in the area!
(Ranger Madelene)
Fish was buried in the sand in the mid intertidal of a semi exposed sandy beach. Note it’s relatively large eyes on its dorsal side and its gapping mouth with large bristly teeth.
In the apparently slow process of eating a juvenile wolf eel.