Harrington Lagoon

Looking through the substrate Looking through the substrate

Harrington Lagoon team photo 2010 Harrington Lagoon team photo 2010

Bivalve dig Bivalve dig

Recording the data Recording the data

Sea stars on moon snail egg cases Sea stars on moon snail egg cases

..Euspira lewisii.. Moon snail Moon snail Moon snail

A team of five hit the beach at Harrington Lagoon on June 14th under the leadership of Liz and Pete Berg. With the tide dropping to the -3.4 foot level, the profile line extended out 340 feet. The surface substrate of this east Whidbey beach is composed primarily of gravel and shell debris. The team found three live moon snails and dozens of their egg collars, some of which had mottled sea stars adhering to their surface. It is uncertain whether the sea stars were feeding on the egg collars or simply wanting something to hold onto. One of the live moon snails had an unlucky littleneck clam engulfed in its massive mantle; a close look revealed the predatory snail was in the process of drilling into the clam.

..Pectinaria sp... Ice cream cone worm Pectinaria tube Pectinaria tube

..Pectinaria sp... Ice cream cone worm Pectinaria sp. Pectinaria sp.

Another great find was that of Pectinaria, the ice cream cone worm. This small tube worm builds a unique cone shaped tube with sand grains perfectly butted up against one another. Looking in the end of the tube reveals what appear to be metallic gold eyelashes. Another polychaete, Hemipodis put on quite a show by repeatedly shooting out its large proboscis. The team found so many little Hemigrapsus shore crabs that Pete dubbed beach “crab alley”.

Harrington Lagoon-May 27, 2009

Look at this

Harrington Lagoon team photo 2009

Checking it out

Moonsnail

Bristle cone worm

Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis

The tide rolled back to -3.5 feet on May 27th giving Donna Keeler’s Harrington Lagoon team a terrific opportunity to examine their beach. Dick Dent uncovered two big moonsnails and the team encountered numerous moonsnail egg collars that lay along the low tide line. One of the moonsnails clutched a drilled and empty littleneck clamshell in its massive foot, apparently the remnants of its lunch. Wendy Moon spotted a green sea urchin and the team found more than a dozen barnacle eating nudibranchs. Pete Berg found a large "naked" hairy hermit crab revealing the soft coiled abdomen that is usually tucked up into protective snail shell attire. There were also quite a number of ice cream cone worms (Pectinaria). In addition, the team dug up bristle comb worms which Whidbey monitors have found only on this beach. Bristle comb worms belong to the polychaete family Flabelligeridae.

Harrington Lagoon

Evasterias troschelii

Pectinaria sp.

Balanus glandula

Harrington Lagoon team photo 2008

A team of five veteran monitors made observations at Harrington Lagoon on June 2nd. Overcast skies and chilly temperatures did not dampen their enthusiasm as they checked out this eastside Whidbey beach located just south of Coupeville. They noted a profusion of barnacles ( Balanus glandula and Balanus crenatus) and bay mussels (Mytilis trossulus), two species of ribbon worms, a large ice cream cone worm (Pectinaria sp.), and two mottled sea stars (Evasterias troschelii). They also encountered BW Jill Hein as she tracked a gray whale swimming just off the beach. The whale apparently submerged as it passed them as they did not get a glimpse of it. One other highlight was the sound of a pileated woodpecker rapping away on a nearby tree snag.