At the foot of Temescal Canyon, within earshot of the roaring traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway, a littoral ecosystem emerges with the twice daily tides. In the intertidal zone, on a boulder-strewn jetty constructed perpendicular to the shore to slow the beach erosion, limpets are busy growing alongside two species of barnacles and mussels.Continue reading “Littoral Learning”
Category Archives: Sea Shore Species
Western Snowy Plover
Malibu Lagoon is the only place in the Santa Monica Mountains where freshwater drains to the Pacific. Malibu Creek’s watershed is a valuable source of water for much wildlife and feeds the lagoon. The estuary’s water level fluctuates, depending on rainfall and the tides’ impact on Surfrider Beach. Water morphs from freshwater at the Creek,Continue reading “Western Snowy Plover”
By-the-Wind Sailor
One delight of walking the shore is seeing what treasures have washed up with the tide. Yesterday morning, we spotted several blue-gray colored oval shapes in the wrack. At first glance, I thought that a trove of rare blue beach glass was underfoot. On closer examination, I realized the sapphire blue-rimmed discs had translucent triangular sailsContinue reading “By-the-Wind Sailor”
Salps
The sea salps are back! No, that’s not a typo. Salps are small, shiny, prismatic and easy to overlook on a casual beach stroll. Referred to by some scientists as “vacuum cleaners of the ocean”, they appeared on Zuma Beach this week. We first noticed them last winter. After a few weeks, they disappeared. Shaped as orbs orContinue reading “Salps”
Mashabu 