Andrew
@noiselessowl.bsky.social
A marine biologist in Central California.
Went into the coastal pines and found some mushrooms.
February 16, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Went into the coastal pines and found some mushrooms.
Tidepool tentacles.
February 15, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Tidepool tentacles.
The painted anemone (Urticina grebelnyi) is a gorgeous anemone of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
February 5, 2025 at 5:36 AM
The painted anemone (Urticina grebelnyi) is a gorgeous anemone of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Not much is more scenic than some rockfish cruising in a giant kelp forest.
#giantkelp
#Sebastes
#rockfish
#mpa
#giantkelp
#Sebastes
#rockfish
#mpa
February 3, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Not much is more scenic than some rockfish cruising in a giant kelp forest.
#giantkelp
#Sebastes
#rockfish
#mpa
#giantkelp
#Sebastes
#rockfish
#mpa
The feeding strategy of the spiny mole crab (Blepharipoda occidentalis). They use their appendages to rake plankton from the water as they are safely buried. Sea otters will dig up and eat these crabs, so they aren’t that safe. Also, they are Anomurans, so not true crabs. They are definitely spiny.
February 3, 2025 at 6:51 AM
The feeding strategy of the spiny mole crab (Blepharipoda occidentalis). They use their appendages to rake plankton from the water as they are safely buried. Sea otters will dig up and eat these crabs, so they aren’t that safe. Also, they are Anomurans, so not true crabs. They are definitely spiny.
February 3, 2025 at 6:40 AM
An unusual spot for an unusually named clam. I found this northwest ugly clam (Entodesma navicula) up on a rock pinnacle lightly buried in a bit of rubble.
#Entodesma_navicula #clam #uglyclam
#Entodesma_navicula #clam #uglyclam
January 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM
An unusual spot for an unusually named clam. I found this northwest ugly clam (Entodesma navicula) up on a rock pinnacle lightly buried in a bit of rubble.
#Entodesma_navicula #clam #uglyclam
#Entodesma_navicula #clam #uglyclam
A few years back the canary rockfish numbers were low enough for a fishery closure. They have made a decent comeback and it was reopened just a few years after the closure. This is a less than one year old fish. #Sebastespinniger #yoy #mpa #canaryrockfish
January 30, 2025 at 6:15 AM
A few years back the canary rockfish numbers were low enough for a fishery closure. They have made a decent comeback and it was reopened just a few years after the closure. This is a less than one year old fish. #Sebastespinniger #yoy #mpa #canaryrockfish
Octopus are great at hiding. They change their color and texture to match their background, or they just cram themselves in a small hole in a rock.
January 29, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Octopus are great at hiding. They change their color and texture to match their background, or they just cram themselves in a small hole in a rock.
Mollusks can be some of the flashier critters we count.
January 29, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Mollusks can be some of the flashier critters we count.
Counting fish on the transect line. This site is heavy with painted greenlings and various sculpins. Not too many years ago this site was home to a dense kelp bed of Macrocystis and Nereocysis with a Laminaria and Pterygophora understory. Now the fish grub a living off this urchin wasteland.
January 29, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Counting fish on the transect line. This site is heavy with painted greenlings and various sculpins. Not too many years ago this site was home to a dense kelp bed of Macrocystis and Nereocysis with a Laminaria and Pterygophora understory. Now the fish grub a living off this urchin wasteland.
January can be a productive month with some clear water. Some of my best visibility days have been in January. #marinescience #mpa
January 28, 2025 at 4:15 AM
January can be a productive month with some clear water. Some of my best visibility days have been in January. #marinescience #mpa
This one is sitting in a small island of vegetation surrounded by urchin barrens on all sides…its prospects look bleak.
January 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This one is sitting in a small island of vegetation surrounded by urchin barrens on all sides…its prospects look bleak.
It’s a lovely pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) in 12 feet of water off the central coast of California. Many areas of the coast have been ravaged by an over abundance of purple urchins that have wiped out much of the algae that animals like abalone depend on for survival….
January 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
It’s a lovely pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) in 12 feet of water off the central coast of California. Many areas of the coast have been ravaged by an over abundance of purple urchins that have wiped out much of the algae that animals like abalone depend on for survival….
YOY-young of year is the term for new fish recruits from their planktonic larval stage and in this case blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus). So the question is can a “YOY” in January still be YOY when it clearly recruited in the previous year?
January 25, 2025 at 7:25 PM
YOY-young of year is the term for new fish recruits from their planktonic larval stage and in this case blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus). So the question is can a “YOY” in January still be YOY when it clearly recruited in the previous year?
Went up the coast to look at some new to me reef structure. It looked pretty good. Lots of life and lots of diversity.
January 25, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Went up the coast to look at some new to me reef structure. It looked pretty good. Lots of life and lots of diversity.
One of the fish transect lines goes by this cave that always has this huge monkeyface prickleback in it. Today he had some company over.
January 24, 2025 at 6:25 AM
One of the fish transect lines goes by this cave that always has this huge monkeyface prickleback in it. Today he had some company over.
Cabezon are quite variable in color. The red ones are best.
January 24, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Cabezon are quite variable in color. The red ones are best.
Heard about a gray whale that had washed up in a remote part of Oceano. Took the boys to bask in some stench. Here are the spoils of adventure.
January 23, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Heard about a gray whale that had washed up in a remote part of Oceano. Took the boys to bask in some stench. Here are the spoils of adventure.