Journal Entry 16

Location: Southern Beach in Edmonds. Along the coast and also around the jetties and grassy fields surrounding the beach.

Weather: They weather was sunny and warm with only about 10% cloud cover, however, by the beach it was cooler and fairly windy as expected around beaches.

Immediately I thought that plants near or on the beach must be able to survive storm surges and harsh winds in order to continue to survive. As I walked up to the beach, I recognized the scotch broom right away that was in various cluster of a few other plants near the grass fields by the beach. It was not directly on the beach. A few other plants I found however, that were more directly located on the beach were the Beach pea, and dunegrass. The dunegrass was found around the numerous logs on the beach. Sand does not provide a lot of nutrients, at least not that I’ve ever known or heard, so these must be fairly sturdy plants to grow here.

The sea plants and marine life are also important to the natural history of the Puget Sound and I thought it would be different to look at some of those species and what I could find. I did not know what the species were but now know that I found rock weed, red spaghetti, and bull kelp. The red Spaghetti was the most interesting as it was thin and long. I also found thatched barnacles and white I think were green anemones, but because I found them hanging out in the tide pools, were more clear colored. They were all small, ranging from the size of a dime to the size of a silver dollar. When I moved rocks around or touched them many closed up, which was entertaining to watch. By moving rocks around I found many shore crabs (only one of which let me get a picture of it), and zebra mussels. After researching more on the mussels, I found that zebra mussels are actually invasive.

The fun thing, and interesting about marine and sea life is that it all looks like it’s from a completely different world, and there is a lot we still do not know about the underwater world. I wonder if anyone has started a naturalist journal or species log for all the aquatic species that exist. Do people go diving and when they return to land and record species they saw? Also, when looking around the beach and across the water to other islands, it is interesting to think about the large glacier that once covered the area giving it it’s shape. So much has developed since then that now so many species thrive of this area. Food for thought.

Some animals (besides the mussels, crabs, and sea anemone were found as well including the western gull, the rock pigeon, and the Canadian goose! They must all hang around the beach for picnic left over’s, or shellfish and fish to snack on. However, while I was there, most seemed content to float or walk around on the beach. The geese may have been around waiting for nestlings or taking a break on a migratory path.

Posted on June 5, 2012 07:08 AM by lmiyamoto