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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Look what the storm brought in..

Howdee all,

A few days ago it was windy and rainy all day..

The following morning we knew we had go to the beach.

Its always fun to walk the beach after a storm…

Check out the interesting things the storm brought in..

Beach Debris North beach_037

Beach Debris North beach_020

I don’t know what many of these things are…

Beach Debris North beach_005Starfish

Beach Debris North beach_006I was told the blobs we were seeing were

Sea PorkBeach Debris North beach_011

SEA PORK, Amaroucium stellatum, a large colonial ascidian found attached to rocks. Its smooth, slippery test comes in a variety of handsome colors ranging through pink, green, red and lavender. Along many parts of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, beachcombers find these rubbery chunks of protoplasm cast upon the beach. They range from a few inches to chunks weighing 10 pounds, and produce good tadpole larvae in the spring.

Beach Debris North beach_008

The tunicates. Who would believe that these large, fleshly blobs resembling a sponge for all practical appearances, are one of the most highly evolved of all marine invertebrates? In their adult form they are little more than a water pump, pumping water in through their vascular system, extracting nutrients and pumping the water out. It is in their larval stage that the tunicates display the characteristics which make them part of the same chordate phylum to which all fish, birds, reptiles and mammals belong.

Beach Debris North beach_012

Habitat:
Sea pork is subtidal, found from the low tide line to depths of approximately 30 feet.  Colonies grow on hard substrates such as mangrove roots, rock jetties, pilings and floating docks.

Beach Debris North beach_016I don’t know if this is also sea pork

Beach Debris North beach_017Sea weed of some sort

Beach Debris North beach_018There were blobs of sea pork all over the beach.

Beach Debris North beach_019Many shapes, sizes and colors

Beach Debris North beach_027

This was very interesting..and sculptural

Beach Debris North beach_031Sea cucumber

Beach Debris North beach_034Shrunk when touched..

Beach Debris North beach_035Sand Shark?

Beach Debris North beach_039Egg casing of some sort?

Beach Debris North beach_043Holy Sea Pork!

Beach Debris North beach_045A type of sea sponge?

Beach Debris North beach_047More Pork..

Beach Debris North beach_049This specimen was over a foot long..

Beach Debris North beach_050Purple Pork and weeds..

Beach Debris North beach_051We did see a few birds as well..

Beach Debris North beach_052This little peep was a real treat to see.

Beach Debris North beach_053Piping Plover

Beach Debris North beach_057

Beach Debris North beach_058

An interesting day at the beach.

…………………………………………………

We just left Huntington Beach State Park this morning..

headed to Charleston SC for a few days.

See you there!

1 comment:

  1. Julie ZickefooseMonday, 09 February, 2015

    Nice bit of sleuthing there, Dawn! We've got bryozoans in freshwater in OH and WV that are similarly inscrutable and weird. They form huge clumps on submerged branches and look like nothing you've ever seen. Did you throw the cuke back?

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ok what do you really think?????