PIGEON POINT 2004

I know I missed a week there. That’s what I get for moving into a new apartment with no internet. Anyway, last weekend Em and I (and one of her classmates) went to see the lighting of the Pigeon Point lighthouse. I went last year with Tree Frog Treks, but this year we didn’t feel like paying, so we just packed up some food and went. The TFT crew was there, which was cool, since we hadn’t seen them in a while, and the tide-pooling was much better with Chris and his army of children their to help. The tide conditions were perfect: -1.53 ft, at dusk, with clear and relatively warm weather. Basically, pools were exposed way out into the low intertidal zone, so you get to see deeper water things like sea urchins, the sun was setting so crepuscular and nocturnal animals were emerging to forage, and it wasn’t raining and freezing like last year.

But on to the cool stuff! Possibly most importantly, many nudibranchs were found! Yes, everyone’s favorite maritime mollusks were out in abundance. I’m glad there were experienced people there, because I actually saw lots and ignored them until they were pointed out to me. Someone found a Hermissenda crasicornis, which was a treat. Jessie found one last December when we were at Ducksbury Reef, and this one was equally glamorous. There were several others, most of which were either Sea Lemons or False Sea Lemons. They both look pretty similar, but the Sea Lemon apparently has gills (those feathery things in the back) that are white, instead of the same color as the rest of the body, so I think that’s the one I photographed.

Some other interesting mollusks were the chitons. There were some on the top side of exposed rocks that I think were Troglodyte Chitons. Looked almost like fossils embedded in the rock. Under rocks in tidepools we found Lined Chitons, which were spectacular. This picture I took is only mildly over-saturated. They really are quite colorful.

The echinoderms were not to be outdone though. Ochre sea stars abounded, in a variety of orange and rusty maroon. Bat stars were under the rocks, as were two Sunflower Sea Stars! These were totally new to me. Huge (over a foot in diameter), ~24 armed creatures with a ton of tiny little feet on the underside. They could really move, too. Well, they were fast for sea stars. Chris says they’re the dominant predators in the tide-pools, but Chris also puts them on his face and declares himself a part of the Pycnopodia Club. I should have a taken a picture. Alas. There were Purple Sea Urchins further out toward the breakers, nestled in their little rock cavities. Someone even caught a Brittlestar, which was totally neat. Long, snaky arms, drab coloration. Don’t think we ever got the species.

Saw some interesting crabs, too. Striped Shore crabs were in abundance, scuttling away over the rocks as you approached, like swarms of clacking mice or cockroaches (except prettier). There were Flat Porcelein Crabs under the rocks, and even caught a sizable Red Rock crab, which I promptly forgot to take a picture of. I did manage to picture a Northern Kelp Crab I caught, a common crab that was still new to me. It was so spidery, and the coloration was phenomenally kelp-like. The shell even seemed semi-translucent like the kelp. Cool little beast.

And of course the lighthouse was beautiful. Even more so that last year, as the stars were out. Our meal was a little laughable (fondue pots were not designed to warm soup on cold nights), but satisfying nonetheless. Definitely a good time had by all.