Saturday, April 25, 2009

Low tide visit to Discovery Park south beach

A flock of brant nibbled on eelgrass until an eagle buzzed them, and they flew away. These geese are on their way to their breeding grounds on the coast of the Arctic Ocean.



Moon snails had left numerous sand collars, a strange stiff construction of their eggs, sand and mucus. In the rocks, these channelled dogwinkle were laying eggs. (They're the grain-like things in front of the gray one in the middle.)

Nearby, this polychaete worm was wriggling into a vacant barnacle shell.

And while most anemones were non-descript blobs in the sand, this burrowing anemone spread its tentacles in a pool.

The green comes from single-celled algae that live in the anemone's cells. They have a symbiotic relationship: the algae get a safe place in the sun, and the anemone gets extra oxygen and sugar.

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