Well, the weather turned out deceptive, as usual. By the time I got ready to go out in the sunshine, looking for lichen, it was snowing hard. I drove down the waterfront instead, and found a narrow patch of shore between the high tide and the logs.
Winter storms are hard on offshore communities; at the high tide line, gulls were sorting through mounds of shredded seaweeds, in small pieces, mixed with chips of wood, wind-blown alder leaves, chunks of giant kelp stipes, and a few unfortunate animals.
I found, in a very short walk, 15 sea cucumbers, mostly well rotted. This one was still alive, barely.
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| Giant sea cucumber, Stichopus californicus. |
When I poked at it with a twig, it twitched, but feebly, so I didn't turn it over. I'm curious about those thin segmented tubes: there were many, all white and empty-looking.
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| With my boot for a measuring stick. The sole is 10 inches long. |
A bit further on, I came across a smallish gumboot chiton, still fresh.
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| Aka the giant Pacific chiton, Cryptochiton stelleri. With a fly and one of those tubes. |
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| This one I rolled over. The back is red, but friction rubs off the top coating. |
It snowed until I got back home, then stopped. Normal Vancouver Island weather!
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Pues el clima me engañó, como de costumbre. Ya para cuando estuve lista para salir a buscar líquenes, en ese dia asoleado, estaba nevando. Grandes flocones de nieve, cayendo rápidamente. Opté por seguir la costa, viendo caer la nieve, y encontré un listóncito de playita entre la marea y los troncones que bordean el camino.
Las tormentas de invierno traen destrucción a las comunidades intra- y sub-mareales. En este pedacito de playa, gaviotas estaban buscando entre los montones de fragmentos de algas y hierbas marinas, pedacitos de madera, hojas de aliso rojo, trozos de estipe de quelpo y algunos animales desafortunados.
Fotos:
- Un pepino de mar, "gigante", Stichopus californicus . Encontré 15, por la mayor parte bien muertos. Este vivía todavía, pero apenas.
- El pepino con mi bota, que mide 10 pulgadas.
- Un poliplacóforo, o sea, un quitón o una cochinilla de mar, Cryptochiton stelleri, recién muerto.
- Y volteado, boca abajo. La "piel" es roja, pero la fricción la borra.
Seguía nevando hasta que llegué a casa, y paró. ¡Clima normal para la isla de Vancouver!
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