One of the important distinctions that my marine biology students learn about is the difference between organisms that are benthic and those that are pelagic. Organisms described as benthic live attached to or associated with a surface, often but not always the sea floor. In addition to the stationary sea floor itself, benthic organisms can…
Marine biology
Six months, and a big return
Next week I will be six months beyond a total replacement of my right knee. The rehab has been long and tough, and I’m nowhere near the end yet. I’ve been told by my surgeon to expect a 12- to 18-month recovery to get back to whatever my new normal will be. By that estimate…
Collateral damage
My home town of Santa Cruz made national news the other day, 23 December 2024, when a series of massive swells caused part of the Municipal Wharf to collapse into the ocean. People in the restaurants and other businesses had to evacuate immediately, and three people were dropped into the water of Monterey Bay (they…
I saw the light!
Last month I spent four days in the town of Egmont, BC. My husband and I had joined a friend on his annual excursion to the stomping grounds of his youth. We trailered the friend’s boat, Scherzo, up through Oregon and Washington and into British Columbia. We took a ferry and then ditched the car…
The Flyer comes home
Last weekend the fabled Western Flyer came home to Monterey for a brief visit. For anyone who doesn’t recognize the name, the Western Flyer is the boat that Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck took to the Sea of Cortez in 1940. At the time of the trip she was just another purse seiner in Monterey,…
A celebration of worms
Yesterday, 30 June 2023, was deemed by the National Museum of Natural History to be International Polychaete Day, and the Smithsonian had an entire day of talks and activities for visitors to learn about the marine segmented worms. And you know me: I’m in favor of any event that draws attention to the animals that…
Exception to the rule
Ask any marine biology student to list some interesting factoids about barnacles, and one of them should be “Barnacles are benthic and sessile” by which they mean that barnacles live their entire lives glued to a single spot. This definitely describes what it means to be benthic. Barnacles are indeed stuck, for better or worse,…
Rock stars
Some organisms, like some people, have a charisma that just can’t be explained. For me, the sea palm (Postelsia palmiformis) has always been one such organism. Maybe part of its charm is the fact that it’s not very common; it lives on rocky outcrops on exposed outer coasts, which aren’t the easiest places to get…
Earthwatch 2: Project ASCO
One of the reasons I selected this particular Earthwatch expedition was that it involved studies of both forest and ocean, which are my two favorite ecosystems here at home. I wanted to compare what I’m familiar with to similar habitats on the opposite coast. Regarding the rocky intertidal, I had been warned not to expect…
A most unusual sort of snail
One of the many delightful animals in the rocky intertidal is the vermetid snail, Thylacodes squamigerus. Unlike their more typical gastropod relations, the vermetids don’t live in a shell, per se. Instead, they live in a calcareous tube, which forms a loose coil draped over the surface of a rock. The tubes can be up…