Monthly Archives: November 2014

River Otter: Lontra canadensis on the Metchosin Coastline

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When she was an ecoguardian at Race Rocks in 2010, Raisa Mirza took this excellent photo of a river otter, just out of the water, eating a female kelp greenling .

River otters are fairly common along our shores.  Thus an entry for our species posts. In four stretches of shoreline in particular, we can expect to find them, where they have dens and produce offspring yearly.

1.  At Race Rocks
2. In Pedder Bay
3  At the entrance to Gooch Creek
4.  Along the Taylor Beach blufffs.

 

The Pearson College Marine Science reference has several references and images available on river otters.   riverotters atpc
Domain:  Eukarya
Kingdom:  Animalia
Phylum:  Chordata
Class:  Mammalia
Order:  Carnivora
Family:  Mustelidae
Subfamily:  Lutrinae
Genus:  Lontra
Species:  canadensis pacifica (Schreber, 1977)
Common Name: River Otter

One should be cautioned when walking dogs on Taylor Beach to restrain them if otters are in the area. Otters have been known to attack even large dogs that have pursued them into the ocean.

The problem with plastic rope

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This image was taken after two walks on half of Taylor beach after a set of swells from the East in the past week. G. Fletcher photo.

It may not be obvious to the casual beach stroller, but the bits and pieces of plastic rope one sees occasionally can be a real hazard in the ocean. When the plastic breaks down ( It never really breaks down, it just turns into smaller pieces) it can be taken up into the gills of fish and invertebrates, where it can eventually become lethal.

Rather sad when you know that all these pieces of rope could have been disposed of properly instead of just being thrown carelessly into the ocean.

Solution: require all  plastic rope used in the marine environment to be completely biodegradable after a certain length of time in the water or on a beach.

An additional insideous problem here is the small ring band of white plastic strapping on the right . This kind of band used in bundling fishing nets is what we see impaled on the necks of sealions.

Check out images of the results on the Race Rocks website .

Also see Entanglement

Interesting Reference: http://5gyres.org/ on Plastic Pollution Accumulating in Oceanic Gyres.

Coastal erosion as a sediment source – implications for shoreline management

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Puget Sound Feeder Bluffs: Coastal erosion as a sediment source and its implications for shoreline management Shipman et al 2014 .
See the PDF: pugetsoundhardening1406016

feederbluffreport

This report examines the role of eroding bluffs as a source of sediment for Puget Sound beaches and includes a review of related geology and coastal processes. It summarizes recent mapping of feeder bluffs and examines ways in which this information can be used to improve shoreline management.

This report is one part of a larger project on Puget Sound feeder bluffs that also includes maps and a series of web pages that cover much of the material in this report. The project was funded by EPA and the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife. Hugh Shipman and colleagues  published this  important report on feeder bluffs processes and management. Coastal Watershed Index of Port Angeles has been working on the complex and critical topic of feeder bluff management for over a decade. One of their biggest challenges is imparting the critical and unique elements of feeder bluff function and management (including the reality that there are no ‘soft armoring’ techniques appropriate for this land form ). This report provides scientific and management focus specifically to feeder bluffs of the Salish Sea- it’s long overdue.

 

feederbluffmaps

 

Part 2 is of the maps of feeder bluffs of Puget sound:

 

 

 

Accessed Nov 4, 2014 at :
https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages
Maps: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1406016part2.pdf/1406016.html.

See More on Feeder Bluff mapping:

 

 

 

 

 

Publication: Protecting Your Communities Coastal Assets

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Local Leadership in marine planning: Local governments on B.C.’s Coast have the power to protect the ecosystems we depend on.

This report describes easily accessible resources local governments can use to maintain aquatic Ecosystem Value and Productivity, including maps and tools to guide decisions and bylaws regarding management of activities on land , and in intertidal and sub-tidal zones.

protectingassetsicon

 

Download .pdf from this website

or

Originally available here:
powerinhands

Red-breasted merganser : Mergus serrator

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Red-breasted merganser female (Mergus serrator)

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Female red-breasted merganser popping up to the surface after a dive . G. Fletcher photos

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Merginae
Genus: Mergus
Species: M. serrator
Common name : Red-breasted Merganser

Mergansers nest in the fresh-water lakes of the north and then migrate to the Pacific Coastal waters where they feed on small forage fish in the winter. In the past  few weeks a large flock of female red-breasted and possibly mixed common mergansers has been working the waters off Taylor Beach.

They may be joined by males in the spring.

Taylor Beach and November sun.

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The skies are clear this week with out-flow winds from the northeast clearing the view of Mount Baker and the Olympic Mountains. With this comes colder temperatures and a few degrees of frost at night. Rains are expected to return next week.

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View North to Victoria, with Mount Baker (in Northern Washington State)  in the distance .

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Mid-afternoon view south to William Head and the Olympic Mts. in the background.

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View East over Taylor Beach where the tanker and container ship traffic looms precariously.

 

Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) on Taylor Beach

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The remains of an Octopus on Taylor Beach

Not a great picture but the remains of evidence that offshore of Taylor Beach, the giant pacific octopus goes through its life cycle, which is very short.. just a few years.

rmoctopus3See the entry on the Race Rocks website for the octopus

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Suborder: Incirrata
Family: Octopodidae
Genus: Enteroctopus
Species: dofleini (Hochberg, 1998)
Common Name Giant Pacific Octopus

Liparidae ( snail fish) today on Taylor Beach

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My dog led me to this very unusual fish washed up on the shore today, Nov. 12 -2014.  There was a brisk cold wind blowing from the North east, with a two-foot chop.

I am posting it here to try to get it identified.
Possibilities here on Fishbase

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Note sucker on ventral side

blackfishfrontallm

very small eyes indicating it may be an abyssal species.

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lateral view of unidentified fish species G. Fletcher photos

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Length 24 cm.

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Family Liparidae

 

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Liparidae ventral view

A good suggestion has been made by Rick Harbo that it is a snail fish (Liparidae)
From Fishbase:

Deep fin  Classification :Osteichthyes | Actinopterygii | Actinopteri | Neopterygii | Teleostei | Osteoglossocephalai | Clupeocephala | Euteleosteomorpha | Neoteleostei | Eurypterygia | Ctenosquamata | Acanthomorphata | Euacanthomorphacea | Percomorphaceae | Percomorpharia | Perciformes | Cottoidei | Liparidae

Also From Fishbase:
“Liparidae – (Snailfishes) Distribution: Arctic to Antarctic, Atlantic, and Pacific. Body elongate, scaleless (small prickles in some) and skin jellylike; dorsal fin (28-82 soft rays) and anal fin (24-76 soft rays) long, confluent, or nearly so with caudal fin; pelvic fin (disc) absent in species of Paraliparis and in the monotypic Nectoliparis; nostrils single or paired (usually in Liparis); vertebrae 38-86. Maximum length about 50 cm. Occur from tidepools to depths of over 7,000 m.”

Below: I took this image in late November of a red-breasted merganser female eating what may be one of these fish. I am not sure if she actually got it down whole!

mergandfish

The Hooded nudibranch: Melibe leonina

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Laura Verhegge has posted this note about Melibe leonina, seen today in Pedder Bay  on the Pearson College Marine Science website

A multitude of Melibe drift to the Pearson College dock

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Melibe the hooded nudibranch photo by Laura Verhegge

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Melibe leonina photos on Race Rocks Taxonomy by Ryan Murphy

 

(see other images and a video of the movement on her website)

 

 

 

 

Ryan Murphy got these images for the  Race Rocks Taxonomy.

 

 

 

 

 

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Opisthobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Superfamily: Tritoniodea
Family: Tethydidae
Genus: Melibe
Species: leonina Gould, 1852
Common Name: Hooded Nudibranch