Low in the west

  

Waxing crescent moon photographed from Cotati on 30 August 2022.

Gray on gray

 

 

I'm still sorting through photos from the boat trip on 21 August 2022, but here's a Buller's Shearwater (Puffinus bulleri).  They were quite common throughout most of the day.

Lions, porpoises, and a mystery

  

Several Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) swimming by while we were offshore on 21 August 2022.  

And although we saw several small groups of porpoises, here's the only photo that came out of a Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli).  They're incredibly fast:

 

 

P.S.  In part I thought I'd show these marine mammals tonight because I also had an interesting observation from shore today.  Around midday it's possible I saw a group of Risso's Dolphins (Grampus griseus) swimming south past Bodega Head towards Point Reyes.  I'm not 100% certain, but I feel that it's likely, so if you're near the coast, keep your eyes open for tall, curved fins.

P.P.S.  And I'll add a few more photos to this post.  This is just for fun, and also in case anyone can help provide input re: an identification.  During the boat trip I turned to see an animal at the surface that I couldn't identify.  I thought I saw a somewhat bumpy back and then a gap and a bulbous head.  At sea I thought through the mammals it could possibly be, even something like a Pygmy Sperm Whale.  I snapped a few quick photos in the area, and I did capture something, but it was just a glimpse (a "Loch Ness" view?).  I won't bias you, but I'll tell you what I'm thinking below the photos.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

This is the same photo as the last one, but showing a wider view:

 

 

Although I don't think the photos are good enough (at least for me), my best guess right now is a Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).  In the first mystery photo, it's possible that's one or two of the bumpy ridges along a Leatherback's shell.  And in the third mystery photo, perhaps that's part of the head and maybe the top edge of a flipper?  I'm not at all sure, so if you have more experience with Leatherbacks or small cetaceans, let me know what you think!  (And for better photos of a local Leatherback Turtle, you can review Doug Wilgis's photos from 2015.)

Offshore Brown Booby

  

Well, these photos didn't come out very well, but I think they're still the best photos I have of a Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) in this area.  These were taken during an offshore pelagic boat trip on 21 August 2022.  (I think we were in Marin County when we encountered this bird.)  Brown Boobies are rare in Marin and Sonoma counties (they generally have a more tropical distribution), so I'm sharing a couple of pictures for the record, although I'm sure other folks on the boat trip ended up with better photos!

 

 

Fins and flukes

  

I don't have much time tonight, but here are a few Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) photos from the offshore boat trip on 21 August 2022.

This is the same whale showing its flukes:

 

 

 

 

Golden tufts

  

Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), offshore, 21 August 2022

 And here's a fun view of those golden tufts from behind:

 

 

Summer treats

  

A Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) approaching a large piece of squid just below the surface.

Then a second individual expressed interest, too:

 

 

When a third came along, things started to get a little fussy:

 

 

 

P.S.  And because we're thinking about albatross and food, here's a fun picture of the pie that was waiting for me when I returned home from the boat trip.  Hard to beat a blackberry-peach pie with an albatross design!  Nicely done, Eric!  :)

 

 

Overhead

  

Well, I'm a little disappointed to report that I had some issues with my camera settings on the boat trip.  I'll still have some photos to share for the record, but the quality is a bit off.  Lesson learned!  Maybe this jaeger was trying to tell me something...

More photos to come!

Greyhounds of the sea

  

Okay, here you go, more Fin Whale photos!  The first two pictures (above and below) show their long backs.  The raised area surrounding the blowholes is also visible.

 

 

The next series highlights their dorsal fins.  It was hard to tell how many whales there were while they were surfacing in different areas, but it appears there were at least 5 different individual Fin Whales based on the different shapes of the dorsal fins.

 

Individual #1:

 

 

Individual #2:

 

  

 

Individual #3. Two photos, to document that this individual has a hole in its fin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Individual #4 (with a cutout at the trailing edge of its fin):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Individual #5.  Two photos -- I don't know if the second photo is the same individual as the first, but the fin shape looked similar enough that I couldn't rule it out.  (P.S.  The first photo is the same whale that showed its flukes in last night's post.)

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this visit with the "greyhounds of the sea"!

Going, going, gone!

  

I joined an offshore boat trip today (21 August 2022) on the New Sea Angler.  We made it ~30 miles off shore and visited Cordell Bank and Bodega Canyon.

One of the highlights was a small group of Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus).  I'll show more pictures later (of Fin Whales and other species), but for now I thought I'd share these fluke shots.  

I haven't seen Fin Whales very often in this area (but see the previous sighting in the post on 31 July 2016).  And it's rare for them to show their flukes, so here you go!

 

 

 

 

More soon...

Magic cape

  

I love seeing this sea hare, especially up close, when you can see the bright blue-green spots (and tiny orange dots, too, if you look carefully).  Meet Hedgpeth's Sea Hare (Elysia hedgpethi)!  [I posted about this species a few years ago — see "Not a flatworm!" on 26 June 2013.]

Last week, my first view of this individual was very different.  Under water, they are transformed into the beautiful sea hare in the first photo. But out of water, they look like a flattened green/black blob on the rock:

 

 

I was curious about finding the sea hare on the rock wall.  In the past I've found them near their food, e.g., a green seaweed called Bryopsis corticulans.  So I started scanning and soon located a clump of Bryopsis:

 

 

 

I kept searching and eventually found even more Bryopsis (below).  And this time there were a couple of patches that looked suspicious.  Can you spot the sea hares in the photo below?

 

 

 

Yes!  There's a large individual on the lower left side, and a smaller individual on the lower right side.  They look so much like the Bryopsis! But you can see that they're a little smoother and shinier.  Here's a closer view of the larger individual:

 

 

Their wonderful green lateral flaps with scattered spots always makes me think of a magic cape!

 

 

 

Photographed in Monterey County on 13 August 2022.

Little lizard

  

When we got home from work tonight, this tiny lizard ran across our path.  It was only ~6 cm (~2.5 inches) long, including the tail.  I think it's a juvenile Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), but let me know if you have a different opinion.

Eating peanuts

  

Here's a fun story.  In Monterey County, I came across an Ida's Mitra snail (Atrimitra idae, formerly Mitra idae).  Although we see their shells occasionally in Bodega Bay, I haven't seen a live snail in the field, so I was excited to find one.

I have read that Ida's Mitra specializes on eating an unusual prey item —  peanut worms (sipunculans).  I've always been curious about how that works, since peanut worms often live deep within rock crevices.  

After photographing this individual, I looked up to see a second Ida's Mitra not too far away.  I took a quick photo and noticed something brown that I wasn't sure about.  I was under the impression that Ida's Mitra's body was primarily white, so I wasn't sure what the brown part might be.  Here's the next photo and then a second even closer image from a slightly different angle:

 

 

 

 

Ahh!  This snail was eating a peanut worm!  That brown object is the posterior end of Phascolosoma agassizii, a common peanut worm in rocky shore areas.

I waited a while to see what would happen and took a couple more photos for the record:

 

 

 

 

I didn't see the position of the peanut worm change very much.  Later I read about two possible feeding strategies in this family of snails — (1) the snail could rasp a hole in the peanut worm's skin and then extend its proboscis into the peanut worm to access the inner tissues, or (2) the snail could swallow the peanut worm whole and digest it once it reached the stomach.  I can't say for sure which was happening here, but my instinct was that the snail was swallowing this peanut worm.

Later I found a different individual under water with its siphon fully extended, apparently searching for prey (it's likely they can detect the scent of a peanut worm in the water).  The siphon is the tubular structure above the head:

 

 

And I also encountered a very pretty juvenile snail:

 

 

 

Although I'm a big fan of peanut worms (see below), it was amazing to see this feeding behavior in the field.

 

 

 

Visiting the cleaners

  

Looking around in the low intertidal zone in Monterey County this week, I peeked over a rock to see these striking striped shrimp.  Beautiful!

I kept scanning and found a handful of these shrimp in a tidepool.  This was my first view (below).  [Don't miss the smaller individual at the bottom.]

 

 

I'm not as familiar with many invertebrates that are more common in Southern California, but Eric helped me identify these as Red Rock Shrimp (Lysmata californica).  Typically they are found south of Point Conception, but there are recent records of them from San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Pillar Point (between 2015-2021).  And there is an older record from Coos Bay, OR, from 1983 after a significant El Niño event.

These are fairly large shrimp — the largest individual I saw was ~7 cm (~3 inches) long.  They have a grayish translucent background color and bold red striping.  Another notable feature is the extremely long antennae.

 

 

An intriguing aspect of Red Rock Shrimp — they're cleaner shrimp!  Which means that they are often found in large aggregations and are known to have a mutualistic relationship with various fish and invertebrates that involves "cleaning" — the shrimp remove parasites and other material from their "clients" including moray eels, Garibaldi, and spiny lobster.

 

 

 

Most of the other species in this genus of cleaner shrimp (Lysmata spp.) are tropical.  I'm not sure how common Red Rock Shrimp are north of Point Conception right now, but if you happen to see one north of Santa Barbara it would be worth reporting your observation.  

Two more images for the record:

 

 

 

 

 

I felt fortunate to catch a glimpse of these beautiful shrimp and couldn't help wondering which animals might be stopping by next to visit the cleaners.