TIDEPOOLING & MARIN COUNTY
I did some tidepooling on my trip.
Like other anemones, the Giant Green Anemone can use stinging cells located in the tentacles as protection from predators and a mechanism to capture prey.
By-the-wind-sailors are iridescent, bright blue and jellylike, with stinging tentacles that dangle from their flat, oval-shaped bodies. Just three to four inches long, these alien-looking creatures use a short, clear "sail" of skin to catch the wind, propelling them through the ocean.
Ochre Sea Stars are relatively large sea stars, with five arms and a rough surface, with the short spines on the upper surface arranged in wavy patterns.
As a scavenger, the Bat Star plays an important role in the ecosystem, helping clean dead animals and algae from the seafloor. It occurs in a variety of colors, but I've never seen one this bright before.
The Woolly Sculpin can change the color of its markings to match its environment.
A Clingfish can cling so tightly that the rock it's stuck on may be pulled away by strong currents with the fish still attached.
What marine fish survives out of water for over 30 hours, grows up to 2-1/2 feet long and weighs up to 6 pounds? The Monkeyface Prickleback of course!
Red Rock Crabs are one of my most frequent tidepool finds.
Herp Habitat in Marin County.
Just like snakes, Alligator Lizards shed their skin in a single intact piece by essentially turning it inside out as they crawl out of it.
The Aquatic Intergrade Garter Snake occurs in an area where all three subspecies of aquatic Garter Snakes (Santa Cruz, Oregon and Diablo Range Garter Snake) naturally interbreed.
The Common Desert Centipede is indigenous to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It inhabits dry grasslands, forest, and desert; in these habitats, the centipedes generally take up residence under rocks, though they have been observed creating burrows in suitable environments and inside rotting logs.
Herp Habitat in Marin County.
Aquatic Intergrade Garter Snakes can have a range of different "looks."
One of several Common Mergansers seen hanging out at a waterway.
A Sonoma County California Red-sided Garter Snake found in a parking lot.
