Columbia Beach

Zostera4

Smithora

Red velvet mite

Checking along profile line

Recording data

Team captains Bill and Evelyn Blair gathered a team of nine to check out Columbia Beach on July 2nd. The tide dipped below -3.6 feet exposing a goodly expanse of beach. Bill reports that the weather was beautiful and the group had a lot of fun. A fog bank lay over the landmark they normally use to lay out the profile line so they relied on a compass bearing and because the fog also obscured the horizon line, they took profile elevation readings using a sight level. The team recorded 37 species including eelgrass (Zostera marina) adorned with the epiphytic red seaweed Smithora, pinhead sized red velvet mites (Neomolgus littoralis), barnacle eating nudibranchs (Onchidoris bilamellata) with their egg ribbons, and quite a number of great blue herons. Bill noted that the amount of eelgrass was less than had been seen last year and the number of clams also seemed to be down.