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Wednesday, August 10, 2022

A chance meeting

  

Eric spotted this Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) holdfast washed up on the beach recently.  The holdfast was still attached to a sizable piece of rock.  And it was interesting to see both Giant Barnacles (Balanus nubilus) the large white barnacles in the center of the image and pelagic gooseneck barnacles (Lepas sp.) the small grayish clusters of barnacles along the left edge of the image.  

Giant Barnacles can be found in the low intertidal zone and subtidally, but pelagic barnacles are generally found offshore in the open ocean.  I'm not sure how often these two species of barnacles are found growing in the same place.  And seeing Lepas on this holdfast means the kelp and the rock it was attached to have been floating around offshore for a while before washing ashore.

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