Just out of reach

I'm fascinated by the pool under the erratic boulder; I went back again today, and discovered new and amazing things again. More photos to be processed!

So far, I've not found the area dry, so all the photos (and what I saw) are warped under a hand's length of wind-blown water. Some look like abstract paintings:

A cozy home to assorted chitons, various anemones, starfish, encrusting pink algae, barnacles, whelks, and many hermits in smashed shells.

5 or more chitons here. Look for the reddish girdle, with a paler central oval. 

A sample red-girdled chiton, very tiny, found on a rock. 8 pale shell segments and a red-brown girdle.

Another of the black leather chitons. Several species live under this rock.

The view from the access point. The second erratic, where the pool is, is on the far, far right.

Today I walked around the point to a third, slightly smaller erratic, but couldn't quite reach it because the tide was too high, and I was keeping my so-called "waterproof" shoes dry. They can handle an inch of water, but no more, and it's a long walk back with squelchy socks.

Another day, another low tide. At least the weather is finally cooperating.

I brought home another Giant Pacific chiton, very dead; it's soaking now in hydrogen peroxide. If all works out, I'll eventually have photos of the internal shells.

Next: surprising anemones.

Katy in black leather

The afternoon was sunny and warm, although the previous afternoon's snow still had not melted. Favouring my gimpy leg, I chose a beach for walking that is flat, flat, flat. Mostly hard sandstone, covered with rockweed; not too slippery, easy going.

I followed the tide out. At the base of an erratic, I found a community of whelks and chitons.

The erratic as first seen, about 3/4 tide.

Now, half an hour later, the water barely reaches the base. I could walk there.

I am always intrigued by these erratics, left behind by the glaciers eons ago. It's as if they levelled the ground, rolling it like a lawn, leaving only faint scratch marks, and then, on a whim, dropping a great chunk of rock in the middle. This one is about 4 metres tall (13 feet), judging by my height; I could not quite reach the green/yellow mark where the usual high tide covers the stone and barnacles.

At the base of the stone, on the seaward side, several chitons rested in a shallow pool.

I think this is the black leather (Black Katy) chiton, Katharina tunicata.

These grow to about 6 inches long; the ones I saw were around 3 inches. I touched a couple; they are hard and leathery, and were firmly attached to the rock.

Another, almost a blue-black. To get these photos, I had to balance on three points, feet on wobbly stones, leaning a shoulder against the rock on the far side of the pool, hoping not to fall in, trying to keep the camera dry. I'll try again another day, after the tide has fallen more.

Several chitons here, in a deeper spot in the pool. Two black Katies, and two much smaller, nicely patterned chitons, possibly lined chitons, Tonicella lineata. The star is a leather star, Dermasterias limbricata.

More on this beach's residents, tomorrow.