I saw these barnacles at South Beach on San Juan Island. They are pretty large (about 1.5 in. diameter) and are found on most large rocks and the balsaltic rock formations, especially near the water and tide pools. Barnacles are sessile and attach themselves permanently to hard substrate. They use feather-like appendages to draw in plankton.

This is Mona the camel. She lives at the farm down the road. I know this isn't a wild species, but it is pretty unique to see a camel in the PNW! She has one hump, shaggy fur, and if you get to close she will mistake your hair for food and try to eat it.

Finally, a seaweed that I recognize! Bullwhip kelp has a green, long (many feet) tail that ends in a round, hollow (sometimes whitish) bulb. Attached to the bulb is a cluster of long ribbon-like seaweed. This kelp is edible and I actually ate it in a chutney last week during a lesson about foraging.

This seaweed is found all over San Juan Island. It has semi-transparent ribbon-like pieces attached to 2 lobed pouched filled with air. I imagine these make the seaweed somewhat buoyant, assisting it in some way. I wish I knew of a better resource for identifying seaweed!

This little crab was dead when I found it on the beach. It is very small (2 in) and the coloration is white and orange, although I don't know if the colors faded after it died. These small crabs are commonly found under rocks on the beach, especially when the tide is out at the bay.

This picture is a little blurry because the chinese hats are underwater in the tide pool. They are too difficult to remove because they suction to the rock. I have always called these organisms chinese hats, as that was what I was taught when I was young. Their shell is shaped, predictably, like a chinese hat!

From the shell, this little guy looks exactly like a hermit crab except smaller. However, rather than a crab body, a little snail lives inside! I found this one in a tide pool in the balsaltic rock formations.

I saw this plant while walking from the road down to the beach at Deadman Cove. I identified it as thimbleberry because of the white flowers with 5 petals and golden center and the light green leaves with 5 points and serrated edges.

The Pelagic Cormorant are commonly seen roosting on the pilings at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal. I identified the species by the body shape, iridescent black feathers, and the white patches and crests (breeding plumage). I observed them nesting inside the pilings and on top, some of them outstretching their wings to dry their feathers (cormorant plumage is not waterproof).

The dandelion is sometimes bright yellow (as pictured) and is sometimes a seed head. This plant is a pervasive weed found all over North America and Eurasia. It is edible (although I did not find that it tastes very nice) and can be used to make other products such as dandelion wine. The seed head acts as an extremely effective method of seed dispersal (relies on wind).

These gulls were