plant/animal reference) to get a bigger picture
All three teams at work |
Rosario Beach team photo 2010 |
Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Team 3 |
Urticina crassicornis |
Dwarf chiton |
It was a bundled up crew that turned out to monitor Rosario Beach on July 12th. A cold wind stirred up whitecaps and chilled the bones so coats, hats, and even mittens were the order of the day. Those conditions made it hard to believe it was mid-July! Because this beach is bedrock, there is no profile line; instead, 17 quadrats are laid out. Seaweed and animal life within each quadrat’s area are identified and quantified. The eight monitors were divided into three teams, each of which tackled their assigned quadrats. Among the finds were 5 species of barnacles and 4 species of limpets. They counted hundreds of periwinkles and saw Onchidella borealis, a tiny pulmonate sea slug commonly called a leather limpet. In addition they identified Gould’s baby chiton (Lepidochitona sp.) and a dwarf chiton (Leptochiton rugatus). The dwarf chiton was quite an unusual find. Its common name is a good one as their maximum length is only about half an inch. This species is typically whitish in color and found in the very low intertidal zone.
Endocladia muricata |
Leathesia |
The team also found a diversity of seaweed including rockweed (Fucus sp.), sea moss (Endocladia muricata), and sea cauliflower (Leathesia). Sammye Kempbell is team captain at Rosario.