plant/animal reference) to get a bigger picture
Team captain lays out quadrat |
Columbia Beach Team photo 2009 |
Moon snail |
Columbia Beach team at work |
Bill and Evelyn Blair had the eight member Columbia Beach team out on July 20th. Weather for the day was gorgeous and the tide fell below the -3 foot level. The team had a glorious view as Washington State Ferry boats kept their schedule between Clinton and Mukilteo and a U.S. Navy ship sailed by. Team members were astounded by the changes in this beach. A large berm consisting of sand and gravel has been building over the past year or so. For the first time ever, all three +1 foot quadrats were covered with gravel with no organisms being identified in them except for a few minute quantities of Ulva. Several moonsnails were seen as they plowed along the surface and many of their distinctive egg collars lay scattered on the beach. Jean Sommers wondered about an irregularly shaped light brown object she spotted on the sand and it turned out to be the operculum from a moonsnail. The team also found organisms common in eelgrass beds including tiny
Lacuna snails and even tinier Caprellid amphipods. As the team wound up their work, a hungry osprey arrived, hovered for a moment then swooped down to snatch a fish out of the water with its talons.