Surprise cephalopod

  

Yesterday (8 March 2021), Eric and I had to make a brief stop in Bodega Harbor (to look for a ribbon worm).  A family was nearby exploring the shoreline not too far away from us.  We could hear them talking about finding different animals like clams, snails, and sea squirts.  And then we heard one of them exclaim, "Octopus!"  

We paused our ribbon worm search and said a brief hello to the octopus that was walking across the mudflats and eelgrass towards the water.  We didn't expect to see an octopus that day, but were lucky when some fellow coastal adventurers spotted this wonderful cephalopod!

Shower curtains?

  

Rain showers falling to the horizon over the Pacific Ocean, 8 March 2021.

Rare reptile sighting

  

Last weekend, Jane kindly let us know that she had encountered a dead sea turtle on Salmon Creek Beach.  From the photo it appeared to be a Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta), and this identification was confirmed by staff at the California Academy of Sciences.  Sea turtles are rare this far north, so it was valuable to document the occurrence of this species in Bodega Bay.

Many thanks to Jane for the photos and to Moe at Cal Academy for the confirmation.

P.S. For more information about Loggerhead Turtles, check out this helpful web page put together by NOAA.

P.P.S.  Although sea turtle sightings in this area are rare, if you come across one you can report it to The Marine Mammal Center.

Before the rain

  

The ocean was a bit churned up today (5 March 2021) ahead of cold front that will bring some rain tonight.

Sand and surf

  

 Sanderlings (Calidris alba) over the surf zone at Salmon Creek Beach, 1 March 2021

Tiers of tentacles

And two more to wrap up this series illustrating color variation in the tentacles of the tubeworm, Spirobranchus spinosus:

 

 

 

 

Photographed in the Carmel area on 26 February 2021.

 

Golden spirals

  

Another in the tubeworm series — this one with beautiful golden stripes and blue tips!  Spirobranchus spinosus photographed in the Carmel area on 26 February 2021.

P.S.  Refer to first post called "Magic blue spiral" on 27 February 2021.