The Natural History of Bodega Head

    I didn't expect to find a Purple Sea Snail ( Janthina umbilicata ) tonight (2 March 2026), but I also thought there was potential.  ...

    While in Hawai'i, we walked some east-facing beaches to look for pelagic invertebrates washed ashore. Above, a small Portuguese Man ...

    I've been surveying for Purple Sea Snails ( Janthina umbilicata ) and encountered some washed up this morning (5 March 2024).  Janth...

    Eric and I did a quick beach survey at the end of the day today as the storm was letting up.  There were thousands of By-the-wind Sailor...

    It's been a while (about 6 years!) since we've seen Purple Sea Snails ( Janthina umbilicata ) in Bodega Bay, but some have appea...

Just a quick note about a couple of recent observations:   There were thousands of By-the-wind Sailors ( Velella velella ) washed up ...

  Remember these snails?  This is a Purple Sea Snail ( Janthina umbilicata ).  I wasn't expecting to see them right now, but I foun...

Remember all of the Purple Sea Snails ( Janthina umbilicata ) we found last year?  For example, review the posts from 20 January 2016 and 6...

  Well, it finally happened — we found our first live Pelagic Red Crabs ( Pleuroncodes planipes ) in Bodega Bay! Although we have f...

For the record, this is the fifth month in which we've found Purple Sea Snails ( Janthina umbilicata ) in Bodega Bay.  Although most wer...

Remember the Purple Sea Snail ( Janthina umbilicata ) I've shown several times during the past couple of months? During certain condi...

Well, we couldn't resist...the conditions were just right for interesting things washing up on the beach — a storm during El Niño condit...

Remember the Purple Sea Snail ( Janthina umbilicata ) that I introduced in January (see post f rom 20 January 2016 ) ?  I mentioned how thi...

Remember the Purple Sea Snail (Janthina umbilicata) egg capsules ?   When I took this picture, the embryos were still developing insi...

About a week ago, I wrote about Purple Sea Snails (Janthina umbilicata) .  We found those snails on 20 January.  A few days later, on 23 Ja...