Long in the tooth

Okay, remember the mystery photo from last night?

 

Here's another view from the tail end.  Note that the dorsal fin (on the left side) is relatively small and falcate (curved backward):

This is a Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps).  It washed up on Salmon Creek Beach on 7 August 2018.  The entire animal was ~11 feet long.

The next photo shows a close-up of the head and flippers.  Note several features: the squarish, blunt head (the species name "breviceps" means "short head"; a very small underslung jaw; and short rounded flippers set relatively close to the head.

 

Because the lower jaw is so unusual, here's a closer view (below).  Birds had been pecking at the whale, which created a very bloody image.  So I changed this photo to grayscale so the blood wouldn't be too distracting:

 

Also unusual are the very sharp, fang-like teeth (only in the lower jaw).  They can make this whale look somewhat shark-like:

 

 

Pygmy Sperm Whales are rarely seen at sea.  They're generally found in deeper waters offshore (outer continental shelf and beyond) in warm temperate and tropical zones.  From studies of stomach contents of stranded animals, it appears that they primarily eat deep-water cephalopods (squid and octopus) using suction-feeding:

 

Figure modified from Bloodworth and Marshall. 2010.  Feeding kinematics of Kogia and Tursiops (Odontoceti: Cetacea): characterization of suction and ram feeding.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology 208: 3721-3730.

The Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences will be doing a necropsy to determine the cause of death.  Because Pygmy Sperm Whale specimens are rare, the skeleton will be preserved at the California Academy of Sciences. 

Many thanks to Connor for letting me know about this whale.  And to Sue Pemberton for confirming the identification and providing the information about its final disposition.

Mystery on the beach

Whew, it's been busy lately.  So, here's a mystery photo for you (below).  Note that this photo is a bit graphic — it's a dead animal that's bloody because birds have been pecking at it.  If you're not interested in seeing something like that, don't continue reading this post.  

This animal washed up near Salmon Creek on 7 August 2018.  

It's rare to see one, so I thought it would be helpful to document it for the record.  I'll reveal more about its identity tomorrow night.

 

 

8 on the 8th

For everyone with an 8/8 birthday!

Close-up of an octopus eye:

 

And below is a short video clip that Eric took of the same octopus.  Watch for the following: a close-up of the octopus; then the octopus cleans its siphon with a tentacle (the siphon is a muscular tube that draws water into the mantle cavity for breathing); after that the octopus notices a crab nearby and then it jets across the tank and quickly envelops the crab with its eight tentacles and the webbing between the tentacles.  Throughout the video, watch for the flashing chromatophores (pigment cells) and striking color changes of this octopus!

Bodega Bay Octopus from Jackie Sones on Vimeo.

Note: We're not totally sure about the identity of this octopus.  We think it might be a juvenile Pacific Giant Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini).

 

Growing up

I've been working on a few projects recently, so I ran out of time tonight, but here's a nice sea star photo from last month:

 

Juvenile Ochre Sea Stars (Pisaster ochraceus) on 13 July 2018

 

Places to rest

A couple of days ago I had another really lucky encounter with River Otters (Lontra canadensis).  Fortunately, I had a large zoom lens on my camera and I was pretty far away in a position where the otters couldn't see me.  These are my favorite situations, when you can observe animals' natural behavior without disturbing them.  

I cropped the photos afterwards and put together a short series of highlights.  The entire observation period was ~50 minutes total.  I'm very grateful for this special glimpse into the life of River Otters.  I hope you enjoy learning about them, too!

A mother and two pups rolling in the gritty sand along the edge of a coastal bluff (perhaps to help dry off?):

 

Taking a nap together in the sun: 

 

Waking up and preparing for another adventure: 

 

Waiting for mom to scope out the scene:

 

Following the rocks down to the water: 

 

Going for a swim:

 

 

Not a bad way to spend part of an afternoon!  These observations made me think more about how River Otters might use coastal bluffs and protected channels and pools and made me feel happy that they can find quiet places to rest.

Fish, fish, fish!

Yesterday's feeding frenzy was impressive.  I took a lot of pictures to document the event.  I sorted through more of them tonight, but I had trouble choosing which ones to show.  Here's a selection so you can get a feel for the scene.

The fish were in very dense concentrations close to shore, turning the water very dark.  With a polarized filter, the fish really stood out, looking dark gray against the paler blue water.  In all of the photos below, the darker areas are dense concentrations of small fish.

 

 

As you saw in last night's photos, the sea lions were very active in their pursuit of the schooling fish.   

 

 

 

The fish would separate when the sea lions dove through:

 

The agility and gracefulness of the sea lions was on full display:

 

This is one of my favorite pictures, with the sea lions, gulls, and cormorants all focused on the fish below:

 

Sometimes you could make out individual fish:

 

 

 

I searched my photos for closer views of the fish.  Here's one in a Harbor Seal's mouth:

 

And one that was caught by a California Gull:

 

Because I'm interested in feedback about the identification of these fish, here are two more of the fish in the breaking waves:

 

 

From a distance and based on their schooling behavior, we thought they might be anchovies.  However, Joe caught a few Night Smelt (Spirinchus starksi) near shore today, so now we're wondering about the identity of the fish in the large schools yesterday.  If you have thoughts about it, please let me know!

 

Getting into a good school?

Well, it's getting late, so I don't have much time, but I can't resist sharing a few photos.  Remember last night when I wondered if there was some bait fish around?  Sure enough, some impressive schools of anchovies were clustered near shore today.  (Thanks to Joe for pointing them out!)  Feeding frenzies involving birds and marine mammals made it easy to locate the schools of fish.

I was a little surprised that a few of my photos caught some of the anchovies in the breaking waves:

 

A California Sea Lion swimming by (you can click on the image for a larger version):

 

A California Sea Lion diving after anchovies (its head is down to the left where you can see the fish):

 

A Harbor Seal surrounded by anchovies:

 

And one more for tonight — It was so cool to watch the sea lions chasing the anchovies through the waves!  (The dark patch below and to the right of the sea lion is a very dense school of anchovies.)

 

ADDENDUM (3 August 2018): Although we initially thought these might be anchovies, it's possible they were Night Smelt — see the post from 2 August 2018 for an update.