Tag Archives: kelp

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Abalones are struggling. The voracious Purple Sea Urchins are eating the Abalones' food source, which is kelp. To survive, Abalones have moved closer to shore, which brings problems for them too. But the Urchins can't survive in the wave action, so the Abalones have a measure of safety there - unless big surf knocks them up on the beach. Marilyn Green recently photographed a group of them during a recent low tide.

 

We see signs of imbalance in the ocean. And we also see signs of balance returning, like seeing more Sea Stars. We will continue to watch and learn.

Thanks to Marilyn for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Today is a rainbow day, and tomorrow brings a big storm for late in the day. As I type this, I can see a storm cloud on the ocean, dark with rain, and headed my way! Not a good time to take a walk.

 

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Laura Bridge came across this unusual sight while hiking at the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands when she came to a seasonal creek. Laura thinks someone positioned to Kelp to spout water.

A funny sighting for you. We are having another big storm today. With the ground saturated, all the rain is runoff, and there is lots of minor flooding going on here. Rick and I hiked down to look at Quinliven Creek late this morning and it was scary to behold. Muddy, fast - it would be dangerous to get too close today!

Thanks to Laura for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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Local diver, Jack Likins, recently SCUBA dove at Stillwater Cover. He's one of the volunteers with Reef Check California. These divers collect data by doing invertebrate, fish, algae and habitat transects using SCUBA tanks. Here's a photo of Jack taken by David Hills.
Jack Likins scuba diving for Reef Check California by David HillsJack reports that the conditions at Stillwater Cover are pretty dismal. He didn't see much kelp, though he did see some big fish and plenty of abalones in deeper water - over 20 feet deep. He did find the abalones there were hungry. He waved a kelp frond in front of some abs, and they would 'jump' up and grab it.
He then took some of the volunteer divers to a spot off The Sea Ranch to dive for abalone. Of course no tanks can be used for that - it's free-diving only. Here's what Jack found, "Sea Ranch was a completely different story. The bull kelp and the shorter brown kelp is making a strong recovery with some nice thick patches. The abalones looked 'meaty.' The bad news is the purple sea urchins are still pretty dense, but there seems to be enough food for everyone. We didn't see many fish, but maybe because of the wind and currents, which made it hard to free-dive. There is still a lot of sand in areas that are usually rocky this time of the year.
"The Nature Conservancy has developed a website for recreational abalone divers to submit size data for the abalones they catch. The hope is that the data will be used by the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife to help manage our abalone fishery." People can check it out and submit data at https://tncfish.typeform.com/to/CzaLS3
To learn more about Reef Check California, here is the link to their website: http://www.reefcheck.org/california/ca-overview
Here is one of my favorite photos of Jack with a ten+ inch abalone. He was photographed among Naked Ladies, a non-native flower that many of us love.
Jack Likins finds a big Abalone by Roger Rude (Large)Thanks to David and Jack for allowing me to share these photos with you here.

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Ron LeValley photographed this Harbor Seal apparently asleep in the kelp.

Sleeping Harbor Seal by Ron LeValley

A fun and unusual photo for you today! Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share it with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

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When the storms come, they rip the Bull Kelp from its holdfasts in the ocean and toss much of it on the beach. It provides food and shelter for various critters that live on the beach. Patty Stornetta Woodruff recently photographed Kelp on the beach by the Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg.

Thanks to Patty for allowing me to share her photo with you here.