Oyster Blog

  • Apr 3, 2009: Not an Eel.

    But it sure looks like one! When the tide goes out, juvenile gunnels take shelter from the elements by hiding beneath oyster shells, emerging only to surprise and delight beachcombers. Pictured above is a penpoint gunnel, which can grow up...

  • Mar 26, 2009: Yellow Sea Slug

    The other day the oyster farm was crawling with Monterey dorids. Nudibranchs (pronounced nudi-branks), or sea slugs,  are gastropod molluscs and come in a crazy variety of shapes and colors. (The Monterey dorid is a rather tame looking sea slug,...

  • Mar 19, 2009: The Long Haul

    We don't know where this drill snail is headed, but we wish him happy trails.

  • Mar 6, 2009: Squidoctopus

    This little darling divided the Hama Hama crew into two camps: those who thought it was a squid, and those who thought it was a juvenile octopus. In truth, it's neither. Stubby squid aren't true squid, have a lot in...

  • Feb 5, 2009: Octopus Video!

    There are two parts to the video... first the octopus swims, and then he changes color. We're not sure, but we think this is a little red octopus. And that's not meant to be sarcastic. There are two species of...

  • Jan 29, 2009: Operculum

    Watery gastropods like moon snails can withdraw completely into their shell and slam the door shut on the outside world. They do this to prevent dessication and avoid predators. The door is called an operculum, Latin for "little lid." Moon...

  • Jan 20, 2009: Glimpse Inside a Sea Cucumber

    Interesting fact: sea cucumber guts resemble angel hair spaghetti. Sea cucumbers expel their intestines through their anus when stressed (please read our earlier post about the process here). We haven't harvested any cucumbers from our beach in decades, but gave...

  • Jan 7, 2009: Oystersnail

    Many moons ago, when this oyster was a wee little speck of zooplankton, it found a nice comfy home inside this moon snail shell.

  • Dec 31, 2008: Sailfin Sculpin

    Mystery fish identified! We sent the photos to Teri King, with the Washington Sea Grant Program, and she said that it looks like a mangled sailfin sculpin.  Apparently he didn't really like his ride on the oyster barge. We put...

  • Nov 6, 2008: Animals to Avoid

    ...include the Lion's Mane Jellyfish. We found a dead one washed up on the beach a couple of nights ago.    The Lion's Mane lives in the cold waters of the northern oceans. In the Arctic it can grow to...

  • Oct 30, 2008: Spotted Ratfish

    The ratfish is a ridiculous creature. It has the body of a shark, the tail of a rat, the eyes of a lemur, and the face of a rabbit. We found a sorry looking specimen out on the tideflats a...

  • Sep 25, 2008: Rock Crab

    The Pacific red rock crab (Cancer productus) lives in the shadow of the more popular Dungeness crab (C. magister). Really, who's ever heard of a rock crab??? Here, they confront one another. Which one is the rock? The one with...