Tomales Bay reflections

 

 

White Gulch in Tomales Bay with Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) reflection, 8 August 2025. 

Lavender by the bay

 

 

Nice patch of Sea Lavender (Limonium californicum) in bloom at Point Reyes today (8 August 2024).

Blondie

  

During a field trip to Tomales Bay on 17 August 2023, Melissa spotted this small yellowish-green sea hare crawling on some eelgrass (Zostera marina).  At first I wasn't sure about the identity of this sea hare, but after looking more closely I believe it's a Hedgpeth's Sea Hare (Elysia hedgpethi).  (Those small bright blue spots helped with the i.d.)

I've mostly encountered this species on rocky shores where they are a deep green color (see "Not a flatworm!" on 25 June 2013 and "Magic cape" on 17 August 2022).  So the paler "blonde" color was confusing until I read that this species can be yellowish or brownish, too.  Is the color driven by what they are eating?  Or related to the condition of the chloroplasts they ingest?

Eric was able to get a few nice video clips, too, so check out the video below.  Watch for the rolled rhinophores, the two dark eye spots behind the rhinophores, the wide flaps held upright on either side of the body, and the scattered blue spots.  [If you can't see the video player in your e-mail, click on the title of the post above to watch the video on the NHBH website.]

Many thanks to Melissa for spotting this sea hare and to Eric for putting together the video!

Nice breeze on the bay

  

We haven't been sailing since the pandemic started last year, so it felt really good to get out on Tomales Bay today (5 July 2021) — a beautiful, breezy afternoon.  Tomales Point is in the background.

Fishing in the bay

  

 Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) in Tomales Bay, 26 November 2020

Diving in

 

We were out sailing in Tomales Bay yesterday (15 September 2019).  Nice views of a few feeding frenzies — pelicans, gulls, cormorants, terns (including a flock of 11 Elegant Terns), seals...

Along with beautiful shoreline reflections...

 

And elk bugling and fog coming in over Tomales Point:

 

Summer fog and a breeze

 

Thought it would be fun to share a few shots from a recent sail in Tomales Bay.  Above, approaching White Gulch on Tomales Point.

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadow in the foreground:

 

Tomales Point shoreline through the fog:

 

The final run before we headed back to Nick's Cove:

 

Water views

A few photos from a quick sail in Tomales Bay on 8 September 2018:

Approaching Hog Island:

 

Enjoying White Gulch:

 

And a closer view of those smooth gray cliffs:

 

It was a beautiful morning on the water!

 

A rare "op-portunid-y"

Yesterday Jason mentioned he had found something exciting.  He gave me a chance to guess what it was, but I struck out.  He and Ted had been trapping crabs in Tomales Bay for a research project, and discovered an unexpected species.

 

If you're familiar with local crabs, you'll probably recognize that this is not a species that we usually find in the Bodega Bay/Tomales Bay area. 

Keep in mind that this summer follows two warm-water years ("The Blob" in 2014-2015 and El Niño in 2015-2016).

Did you notice the rounded, flattened, paddle-like legs in the photo above?  The paddles are used for both swimming and burying in the sand (and are a characteristic of the swimming crabs, Family Portunidae).

 

Here's another photo of this striking crab, this time from below:

 

This image emphasizes the impressive length of the claws.  And isn't that purple color amazing?!

From the front you can see the spines on the claws and on the carapace.  (For those of you who have spent time on the East Coast, you might have noticed a similarity to a blue crab.)

 

Meet Xantus' Swimming Crab (Portunus xantusii)!  This species has a more southern distribution, with most records occurring south of Morro Bay.  They were recorded in Monterey Bay in June 2016 (see story here), and there are a few iNaturalist records from San Francisco Bay in March 2016 and June 2016.

Since these crabs have planktonic larvae, it's likely that larvae reached this area in either 2014 or 2015 (based on their relatively large size, I'm leaning towards 2014).  The crabs survived and are now being discovered in sandy/muddy habitats far to the north of their normal range.

Jason and Ted found four Xantus' Swimming Crabs near Sacramento Landing in Tomales Bay.  It would be great to hear about any other sightings, so if you see one of these crabs, take pictures, measure the width of the carapace, and let us know.  This is a rare opportunity to document Xantus' Swimming Crab in northern California.

Here's one more picture — Jason smiling about his exciting discovery!

 

A record from the buoy

 

Check it out!  A Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) was spotted in Tomales Bay during an Audubon Canyon Ranch waterbird survey on 6 February 2016.  

Although quite a few Brown Boobies have been reported from the Farallon Islands during the last couple of years (up to 30 individuals in one day!), this is the first record of a Brown Booby in Tomales Bay.

Some of you probably noticed that this bird is sitting on an oceanographic buoy.  The buoy is maintained by UC Davis' Bodega Marine Laboratory.  Although sensors on the buoy are probably recording water conditions associated with El Niño, I'm guessing no one thought it would provide a biological record like this!

Although data collected at the buoy are not available right now, you can read more about the buoy here, and older data are available here.

Many thanks to Roger Harshaw for allowing me to share his wonderful photos.

Winter waterbirds

Thanks to Audubon Canyon Ranch, I spent some time helping with a winter waterbird survey in Tomales Bay this morning.  Although we were very busy counting for most of the trip, I snapped a few photos to document the day.  

Green water along the shoreline of Point Reyes:

 

Low clouds among the trees:

 

A Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) — just one of many:

 

It was fun to see a nice variety and good numbers of waterbirds out there.  If you'd like to learn more about these long-term waterbird surveys (conducted since 1989!), check out ACR's web page here. 

Fluid and evanescent

Two of the items on my birthday wish list included a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to see the John Singer Sargent Watercolors exhibit and a walk to look for a Snowy Owl.  Today we accomplished the first and tomorrow we'll attempt the second!

I've always been awestruck by Sargent's ability to depict reflections on water.  And seeing his paintings in person just increased my wonder and appreciation for his skill.  You can understand why the Wall Street Journal used words like fluid and evanescent when describing his work.

I didn't take any pictures today, but here's an image of reflections on water from Tomales Bay in August 2012.  It's very abstract, but it's the first picture that came to mind when I thought about the Sargent paintings.

 

If you happen to be in the Boston area and can make it to the Sargent exhibit, I highly recommend it!  And around the corner in a smaller gallery room, don't miss Audubon's Birds, Audubon's Words.  The extra large John James Audubon prints include American White Pelican, Great Auk, and Ivory-billed Woodpecker among others. 

http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/john-singer-sargent-watercolors

http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/audubons-birds-audubons-words

Shakedown cruise

Eric just finished teaching his summer classes, so today we went out for a "shakedown cruise" on Tomales Bay — our first sail of the summer.  We launched from Nick's Cove, sailed up towards Walker Creek, and then crossed over to White Gulch.  Below are some pictorial highlights from the afternoon:

 

Elegant Terns resting on oyster floats.

 

Harbor Seal cruising by our bow.

 

The always attractive Point Reyes shoreline.  Here's one more:

 

 

Adult Black-crowned Night-Heron perched among lichen-draped branches. 

 

Osprey, perhaps wondering if it's going to be able to finish such a large fish!