In the zones

  

This morning (24 April 2023) we were finishing some surveys at a site with lots of wave splash.  In this case that means the intertidal zonation is clearly demarcated and the zones extend very high on the rocks.  

For example, on the left, the brownish coloration is made up of seaweeds (primarily Pyropia and Pelvetiopsis), the dark blue areas are California Mussels (Mytilus californianus), and below that is a band of surfgrass (Phyllospadix scouleri) and coralline algae (some of it is bleached, likely by warm or desiccating conditions, so it's paler than usual).

In this view there was also a nice flock of Surfbirds (Calidris virgata) foraging in the zone above the mussels.

In the morning sun

 

Pyropia gardneri, a pretty little red seaweed that grows on the blades of kelps.  In our area, it's often found on Laminaria setchellii (see the brown blade at the bottom of the photo).  It's fun that the two seaweeds involved are named after important phycologists — William Albert Setchell and Nathaniel Lyon Gardner — who made significant contributions to our knowledge and appreciation of West Coast seaweeds and were instrumental in establishing and curating the University Herbarium.  (Both were professors at UC Berkeley in the early 1900s.)