Nice!!! That's a great find to come across right off the bat! So cool!!! Is it a Octopus bimaculoides??? ...which are my favorite cephalopod found in that area!
I can't believe it's over already! Everybody who participated in our study abroad program made this an unforgettable experience. On Friday, May 16th, we began our day at a beach where Least Terns were known to nest in the sand and lay their eggs. This imposed many threats since the eggs were a similar shade to the sand and was difficult to spot out. Because of this, the locals have helped by spreading the word about their whereabouts and explaining that they warn people when they are approaching the eggs by flying around them and screeching at them repeatedly. We were also told that if we step too close to the eggs, they will fly overhead and poop on us. Due to these limitations, we formed 4 lines and moved in a specific direction across the sand fields synchronously and we all looked for the eggs and nests in the sand. We also found a few sea urchin tests along the shoreline. Attached is a picture of some of the eggs we found along with the test. ...
Yesterday we all headed down to the rocky intertidal shore at Vina Del Mar to go tide pooling. The rocks were massive and considerably difficult to traverse. I think everybody fell at least once. No major injuries though! We worked our way to the rocks just in front of the water first, in order to get a chance of seeing that area before the tide started to come in and cover it up. We found a wide array of organisms, including swimming crabs, porcelain crabs, hermit crabs, turban snails, blennies, brittle stars, sunstars, sea urchins, two-spotted octopus, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, anemones, isopods, chiton, etc. My personal favorites were the brittle stars and the marine isopod. Brittle stars are in the Phylum Echinodermata, which also includes sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sand dollars. Some characteristics of Echinoderms are their radial symmetry (except in larval stages), water vascular system, and calcium carbonate endoskeleton. This brittle star in particular was a s...
Nice!!! That's a great find to come across right off the bat! So cool!!!
ReplyDeleteIs it a Octopus bimaculoides??? ...which are my favorite cephalopod found in that area!
Yes! All two-spotted octopus so far. Hopefully we will see some other octopus species tomorrow.
DeleteI am guessing Whitney's cephalopod seeking super powers are in action!
ReplyDeleteI’ve found four so far, and most of them have greeted me with ink!
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