Today’s photos come from UC Davis math professor Abigail Thompson, a recognized “Hero of Intellectual Freedom” (see here). Her captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.
I included a couple pictures of the pools themselves this time, with lots of anemones, Anthopleura xanthogrammica (giant green anemone) and Anthopleura elegantissima (aggregating anemone) and ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus), ostrich plume hydroids and sponges (the bright orange/red stuff):
Family Sabellidae (Feather duster worm). Marine worms are fantastic creatures, but narrowing it down even to the genus can be tricky. The body of the worm is in the cylindrical tube that ends in sand grains. The feathery orange tentacles bring food into the worm’s mouth. The pink is a bit of anemone in the foreground:
Triopha catalinae (clown dorid). One of the most spectacular nudibranchs in California:
Triopha maculata (spotted dorid):
Halosydna johnsoni (maybe….) (scale worm):
Granulina margaritula (pear marginella). This tiny snail (about the size of a sesame seed) brings its flamboyant mantle (the beautiful speckly brown stuff around the edge) up over its shell:
Anthopleura artemisia (moonglow anemone). This type of anemone has very variable coloring- the next picture is the same species:
Anthopleura artemisia (moonglow anemone) #2:
Aeolidia loui (warty shag-rug nudibranch). A good argument for using scientific rather than common names; this nudibranch is quite lovely:
Camera info: Olympus TG-7, mostly in microscope mode, with pictures being taken from above the water.
Otherworldly but not – it’s Nature!
In the movie Avatar director James Cameron based the planet Pandoras’ animal life on our own.For instance there were feather duster worms in it, but in the movie they lived on land (if I remember right).
This is the best wildlife photo entry in a long time.
Gorgeous photos! Where are these?
The California coast.
Yes, but where exactly? It’s a long coast.
They’re all from Dillon Beach- a stretch of rocky coast north of the main beach.
😻😻
… & they were Bobbing in the water!
😉
Nice pictures !
Nice photos!
Wow. Even the math dept gets outdoors at UCDavis. Very nice photos….and observed from above the surface! Thank you, Abigail.
Very lovely. Many thanks.
Yes a very colourful selection. Beauty the size of sesame seed was a winner.
Tide pools are an endless source of fascination and marvel. You caught some really nice critters. I used to do a lot of tide pool exploring around Fort Bragg. Even found a wee octopus once.
These are utterly fantastic! Sorry for not getting this comment in sooner.
Very beautiful. Love tide pools. Used to spend days (!) exploring them along the rocky outposts of Point Lobos, Carmel, Monterey (Asilomar), etc as a kid. Amazing little ecosystems.