Sandy Beach | 
Stuck in sand | 
BW crew and friends |
Critter searching | 
Ghost shrimp | 
Bryozoan |
The last beach of the 2008 season, Mabana Beach monitoring began at 9:30 AM with Barbara B. and Pete D. setting the lines for a long, sandy march down to the low tide expected an hour later. For those Beach Watchers who had not been to this beach previously, it offered a new experience of searching for critters in a very sandy environment. In the upper areas there were few findings at all, but as we marched seaward we soon found large areas of ghost shrimp, the usual baby crabs immersed in seaweed, a Bryozoan (new to most of us) and a Sand lance. At one point we had to admit that we might possibly be leaving our boots or shoes for next years search teams; several of us had to be pulled out of the sand. Cathy announced the final success of a handheld recorder and Pete announced the completion of another season. We also shared our findings with neighbors from this beach area who welcomed us again with their enthusiasm and from whom the pictures were taken. Thanks, Carol L.
Back at Barbara's place with Wes presiding over us all, we declared the summer a blustery one, mild in temperatures with lots of rainy days and ourselves exhausted.
Thanks to all Beach Watchers for their help for the whole season and to Pete for guiding us along.
plant/animal reference) to get a bigger picture