Calm seas and rolling fins

I went for a short walk at the end of the day.  The Pacific Ocean off Bodega Head hardly ever looks like this, especially in winter.  Calm seas and hardly any wind:

 

I watched for whales, without any luck.  But I noticed some small, dark shapes appearing every now and then and with my binoculars confirmed they were Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena).

The porpoises were pretty far out — I'd guess ~3/4 mile off the coast — but close enough to see well with binoculars.  I did my best to capture a few photos for the record.  

Often you'd just catch a glimpse of one individual — a small back, with a short, triangular dorsal fin breaking the surface and then rolling forward:

 

 

There were some small groups of at least 3-4 individuals.  Here are two together:

 

Some of the birds were attracted to the porpoise activity.  Here's one porpoise with a gull and several cormorants:

 

How many porpoise can you see in the next photo?  [Click on it for a larger version.]

 

 

(There are three porpoises, one on the far left and another two just right of center.)

I think I probably observed at least 15 porpoises over ~45 minutes.  Because of their small size and short fins, it's usually hard to spot porpoises among larger waves or windy seas.  But it's worth looking for them on days like this!

 

Goodbye, Rubra Tuesday

A couple of months ago, Eric noticed this interesting sea cucumber in the rocky intertidal zone.  Its coloration caught his eye.  We've encountered quite a few small white sea cucumbers in this area, but this one had orange at both ends.  (Note, the cucumber was ~16 mm long.  The dark areas are bits of woody debris.)

 

Eric has been trying to document the local sea cucumbers.  Over the years, we've realized there are several species of little white cucumbers that can appear very similar to each other.  So far we've found Eupentacta quinquesemita, Pentamera pediparva, and Pseudocnus lubricus.  When we looked closely, this individual didn't look quite right for any of the aforementioned species.  

Here are a few close-ups taken under a microscope.  Note that the tubefeet are scattered across the body — i.e., they aren't arranged in regular rows.

 

 

Also, this sea cucumber's ossicles (tiny calcified plates embedded in the skin) are dense!

 

We couldn't find this sea cucumber in Phil Lambert's Sea Cucumbers of British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, and Puget Sound (1997).  We also had trouble locating it in the Light and Smith Manual (2007).  We kept trying to identify it via the key.  Most of the characters seemed right for Pachythyone rubra, but the key said this species was red or reddish- orange.  So we decided to look at the ossicles.

Here are a few pictures of the ossicles that Eric photographed under a high-powered microscope:

 

The Light and Smith Manual didn't include an illustration of Pachythyone rubra's ossicles.  But we found a diagram in another publication and it was a perfect match!

 

Ossicles from body wall, including (A) 4-holed buttons; (B) reticulated plates; and (C) supporting tables from tube feet.  Modified from Bergen. M.  1996.  Class Holothuroidea.  In J.A. Blake, P.H. Scott, and A. Lissner (eds). Taxonomic Atlas of the Benthic Fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and the Western Santa Barbara Channel (Vol. 14, Miscellaneous Taxa, pp. 195-250).  Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

The ossicles confirm that this species is Pachythyone rubra.  Although the Light and Smith Manual described the adults as red/reddish-orange, perhaps the coloration can vary, especially in juveniles and small individuals?  

This more southern species of sea cucumber primarily occurs from Monterey and south.  It has been found one other time in Bodega Bay (in 1976).  As far as we can tell, Bodega Bay is the northern range limit for Pachythyone rubra.  If you find one north of Bodega Bay, we'd love to hear about it!

P.S.  An interesting side note: Pachythyone rubra is a brooder.  Females brood the embryos within the body cavity and release juveniles when they're ~1-5 mm long.

P.P.S.  If felt good to finally hang a name on this cucumber!

Showers and light

 

Part of a rainbow in Bodega Bay on 1 March 2018

 

Hail 2 March

We were driving to work this morning when it started to hail.  I haven't seen hail very often in Bodega Bay, so I was pretty excited.  I asked Eric to pull over so I could take a few pictures.  I tried recording a short video (see below).  And then, since the hail wasn't melting very fast, I went down to the beach to photograph the hail on the sand for the record.  [If you can't see the video below, click on the title of this post to go to the website.]

Hail 2 March 2018 from Jackie Sones on Vimeo.

I think I've only seen this once or twice in the last 10 years or so — hailstones being pushed up into a drift line by the waves:

 

Most of the hailstones were ~4 mm across:

 

Next, here's a series of photos with marine flora and fauna for context.

With coralline algae (bleached by the sun):

 

With snail egg capules:  

 

With a small sea urchin spine:

 

With a springtail (collembolid) on a hailstone (upper left corner)!

 

The little adventurer

I was working in the dunes today, when a small movement caught my eye:

 

A small newt (Taricha sp.) was walking across the sand!

I kneeled down to get a closer look:

 

I tried to get a close-up of the eye, because I know the coloration of the eyelid can be helpful when trying to identify local newts:

 

 

I was thinking this might be a Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), but I'm not sure, and I don't have much experience identifying different species of Taricha.  So if you've looked at a lot of newts, and can identify which species this is, please let me know.  (And if you confirm that it's Taricha granulosa, I'll be able to say, "I knew't!")  

Here's the newt walking quickly into some nearby shrubs...continuing its after-rain adventure!

 

Winter berries

A couple of days ago, a large flock of robins and waxwings found a tree full of berries in our yard: 

 

Male American Robin (Turdus migratorius) — note the dark feathers on the head, and compare them to the female's paler head feathers (below):

 

 

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) — I liked how the yellow band at the tip of the tail blended in with the leaves. 

The activity also attracted another visitor that was interested in the berries:

 

Female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) — females lack a red stripe on the face (while males have a red stripe).

Under the umbrella

Perhaps it's because there's rain in the forecast (finally!) — recently I was thinking about Umbrella Crabs (Cryptolithodes sitchensis).

 

This is an unusual crab.  The edges of the carapace are expanded outward (like a shield).  So although the legs are visible in the picture above, when they're pulled in the legs are completely concealed (when the crab is viewed from above).

Here's a look at the crab's underside.  Note how all of the legs fit entirely inside the edges of the carapace (including the first pair with claws, even though one is flexed in the photo).

 

Also note that the abdomen (triangular piece between the legs) has an interesting pattern, somewhat similar to scutes on a turtle shell.  [This species is also known as a Turtle Crab, probably because of the way the shell covers all of the body parts.  But I also wondered if that name could have been derived (in part) from the abdominal pattern?]

Umbrella Crabs are highly variable in color.  Here's another example (below).  [And for a wonderful overview of the many color patterns in this species, check out these photos on iNaturalist.]

 

The genus, Cryptolithodes, means "hidden like a rock."  When the crab is viewed from above with its legs tucked underneath, it can look very much like the surrounding rock!  (I hear they're eaten by fish and octopus, so perhaps there's an advantage to being well camouflaged.)

These crabs are usually whitish underneath; pictured below is the same individual as shown above.  (Can you find the short, red-and-white striped antennae?)

 

I haven't observed it myself, but I read that Umbrella Crabs eat coralline algae (!).

One more view — a close-up of the eyes peaking out from the sides of the shelf-like rostrum:

 

Let's hope that thinking about Umbrella Crabs leads to a need to carry an umbrella!