BEACH NATURALIST TRAINING DAY AT CONSTELLATION MARINE RESERVE 5-17-15

Another lovely day at the beach......lovely brownies.  One unusual find was the sea slug Dendronotus iris (2) which is normally found sub-tidally where it feeds on the burrowing anemone  Pachycerianthus fimbriatus.  A count of Pisaster o. on the south side of the breakwater just south of the park turned up 92 healthy and 1 sick star.  Most of these stars were very close in size...with a few exceptions.  This compares to a count of 38 healthy Purple Stars in the same area a month ago so there has been some in migration to the breakwater or I can't count worth a damn.  In other areas of the beach...mostly the north end, there were 4 Purple Stars with SSWD.  No count of stars in the entire park was made. Lots of Moon Snail egg cases and a few easily found Moon Snails.  Thanks to all the Beach Naturalists.  This week will see a couple more days of good minus tides.

Purple Star with SSWD North end CMR

Purple Star with SSWD North end CMR

Healthy Purple Stars Breakwater

Dendronotus iris (2 found)

Piddock Clam

South Side Breakwater 92 healthy 1 diseased Purple Star

Keyhole Limpets on Breakwater

KAYAK PROTEST - SHELL OIL POLAR PIONEER DRILL PLATFORM 5-16-15

Over 200 kayaks and other watercraft participated in a protest against Shell Oil and the locating of the drilling platform Polar Pioneer in the Port of Seattle.  While the City of Seattle refused to issue a permit for the Polar Pioneer the Port of Seattle contracted with Shell Oil to dock the oil rig at the port.  The Polar Pioneer will depart the port for the Arctic for the summer drilling season sometime soon.  The main protest goal is to stop additional drilling for oil in the Arctic.  It would not matter which oil company owned the Polar Pioneer...it's the drilling and its environmental risk for the Arctic that protesters are concerned about.  A march on the Port of Seattle by protesters is scheduled for Monday May 18th at the port.  The kayak protest was orderly and peaceful and the march May 18th is designed to be non-violent.
LARGE OIL SPILL OFF SANTA BARBARA CALIFORNIA!
MAY 18TH 2015 -  And you wonder why these people are protesting drilling in the Arctic.