Tides and Trails

This is one of four alabaster nudibranchs, Dirona albolineata, I spotted today in the tidepools at Haystack. One of the luminous dragons moved across a bland kelp background, but the other three were secreted away in tidepools painted in hallucinogenic color schemes. I was struck by the sight of this specimen moving amid aggregating anemones and across pink coralline algae. A few days ago I returned from viewing orcas in Puget Sound, an awe-inspiring experience. But I was jus

This morning, after several months of searching, I finally spotted an alabaster nudibranch, Dirona albolineata. Its white lines glowed against a dark kelp background, its oral veil undulated in the current, and its translucent body seemed lit from within. It was everything I hoped it would be. Watching this sea slug transported me to another world.

Today at The Needles a Christmas anemone was present. The sight of this animal's strange coloration in the morning sun was a gift to my senses. From talking with the folks at Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP), I gather this is the first Christmas anemone, Urticina crassicornis, (aka mottled anemone or painted anemone) sighted around Haystack. At Ecola Point I've found a dozen or so Christmas anemones dangling from boulders in the low intertidal zone; this was the first s