Heavy overcast and rain through much of the day. Temperatures in the 40s.
I was up before 7am and shortly after stopped by to get Paul and Matt. We were heading to Magic Island for low tide.
No one was at the beach when we arrived.
It soon became apparent that herring egg remains were still present along parts of the shoreline. Some weeks after the spawn, they were slimy and rotting in place. It may have been the spawn was thick enough that inner layer suffocated, or perhaps it was what remained of the eggs after hatching?
The rain and herring egg remains demotivated me to do as much looking and observing as I might otherwise have done.
We still had some nice finds, however.
We were part way around Magic Island when we started running into students from the UAS aquaculture class. They were out collecting seaweed to press.
With the tide coming up, we skipped the north end of Magic Island and went over to the sandy area.
Several cockles at the surface seemed very unhappy. I’ve heard a theory in the past that heavy herring egg spawn may locally deplete oxygen levels, and cause some creatures that normally live below the surface to come up in an attempt to avoid suffocation.
Before leaving, we stopped to say hello to Sandra Lindstrom. She had come out with the class and pointed out some species, and told us their names. Seaweeds are challenging enough, that any opportunity to get identifications in the field is very helpful.
Before going home, I checked the channel for birds. A few gulls were on the ramp, as were some Dunlin.
Later in the morning, I recorded a conversation with Matt for a future radio show.
This afternoon, I went to UAS to share details of the feather boa kelp collection. It was convenient that Sandra was in town, as she was able to press the kelp and planned to take it with her to put into an herbarium. She wanted to get details from me about the location it was found. She did confirm it was the furthest north the species has been documented to this point.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
