Tag Archives: barnacle

Gentle Winds and Plentiful Wildlife

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Wind 5-10 knots N
  • Sea state: Calm

Visitors/Boats:

  • Yesterday Laura and Greg came at low tide to deliver fuel and for Laura to teach her online class.
  • Greg came this morning to deliver a load of fresh water which we pumped into our storage tank with the fire pump and hoses.
  • Today we saw a dive vessel in the reserve but no divers. They were fairly close to the wildlife but the sea lions did not seem particularly bothered.
  • One small pleasure craft hovered just outside of the reserve for the majority of the day. They were too far away to see what they were doing, but usually boats like this are fishing.

Ecological:

  • The small seal pup is still here, but she has become more adventurous over the past week. We have seen her napping on the east side of the island, and beside the decommissioned diesel tank on the west side.
  • The sea lion population continues to grow, and so does the smell! We will need to set up more fencing soon before they begin to take over the island completely.
  • The pair of crows that we have been seeing returned today and spent most of their day at Race Rocks.
  • We have continued to observe bald eagles in the reserve. We enjoy watching them swoop overhead and cause a stir amongst the seagulls.
  • One of the seals that we have been joined by over the past weeks was also spotted here in December (juvenile female V173). We are still waiting to hear from the researchers who tagged her to see if there is anything interesting to learn.
  • The elephant seals activity has been uneventful as they continue to moult. They spend their days napping and lounging on our “lawn” or wiggling down to the jetty to soak in the shallow water (and perhaps relieve the itchiness of all that peeling fur!).
  • At low tide yesterday we spotted many neat creatures in the exposed pool on the east side of Great Race Rock: urchins, anemones, crabs, fishes, chitons, barnacles, and tubeworms!

 

Bluebird Days

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Wind: yesterday 8-22 knots from E to N, today 4-17 knots from N in am and E to S in pm
Sea State: yesterday up to 1 m chop, today rippled
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 4-8 °C, today 5-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.53 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The past two days have been clear. That’s four bluebird days in a row. The sunrises and sunsets have cast everything in a golden light. The views have been incredible of the snowy mountains in Washington State.

There hasn’t been much new activity with birds or mammals. One of the male elephant seals has joined the sea lion cuddle puddle near the crane.

Yesterday evening, a pod of orcas were swimming a few kilometres to the northeast. They appeared to be heading northeast, in the direction of Victoria. It could be the same pod from the previous evening.

There were nine visitors to the island yesterday. Five Pearson faculty and staff came in the morning to tour the island and discuss learning opportunities for Pearson students on Race Rocks. Alex, Ric and his friend came to do an upgrade to the electrical system controls.

The military’s demolition training on Bentinck Island concluded this morning.

Today, three tour boats were in the ecological reserve. Yesterday, there were two tour boats and two members of the navy in a small rigid hull inflatable.

UPDATED February 26: photos have been added now that the website is fixed.

Marine Sciences Field Exam

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots West, in the evening up to 20.
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • The 15 elephant seals were slower down to the water today, perhaps due to the influx of students.
  • One California Sea Lion spent most of the exam at the end of the jetty, unfazed by all the activity going on. Quite unusual for a sea lion!
  • All manner of barnacle, shell creatures, and algae plant things were examined today by the Pearson College students.

Visitors!

  • Approximately 30 folk from Pearson College made their way out to Race Rocks today.
  • This included Laura Verhegge who was running the Marine Sciences field exam, Johanna who was observing Pearson’s instruction techniques, one 2nd year student, one alumni, Chris, and 25 or so students.
  • The first group arrived at 8:15, the final group left at about 12:15.

Maintenance/Chores

  • Weed whacking.
  • Algicide application. Photo shows before scrubbing.
  • Safety observation and hosting of students during exam.
  • Ran the desalinator.

Algae before

Boats

  • The Ocean River Kayak Discovery Shuttle and Haiaku each took two trips of students to and from Race Rocks.
  • On the return voyage the tide was very low, and the sea lions were in the way, so the shuttle boat “docked” against the rocks on the NE part of Great Race.
  • At least 4 eco-tours came by the reserve today.
  • Saw a nice red sailed sailboat to the north of the reserve.
  • One boat spent much of the day fishing on the edge of the reserve.

March 12 – Sunny Census Thursday

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Sunny
Wind: 0-13 knots SW in the morning, NE from mid morning to afternoon and SW in the evening
Air Temperature: Low 9.9°C, High 13.2°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.0°C

Three Pearson students came to Race Rocks this morning. Karen, Sunny and Hanne joined Martin, who has been here since Monday.

The students did some work this afternoon: sweeping all 99 steps of the lighthouse and continuing the process of stowing the chopped wood in all the nooks and crannies of the buildings, to be used next winter to heat the main house.

There was DND blasting happening in the morning and early afternoon on Bentinck Island, less than 1km away from the ecological reserve.

Today’s high temperature of 13.2°C, as measured at the ground weather station, was the highest recorded since 2006, when the weather station was installed. A high of 14°C was recorded by the instruments at the top of the lighthouse.

Three eco tour boats visited the reserve. One boat came very close to a group of sea lions swimming and others hauled out on the South Islands.

The low tide of 1.1m at 13:52, exposed lots of species from the low tide zone into the air. The shore and tidal pools were full of life: mussels, barnacles, limpets and lots of other flora and fauna of the sea. The oystercatchers and shore birds were having a feast.

There were no small birds perching birds seen today. There are usually a few fox, sparrows, savannah sparrows and occasionally juncos and robins zipping around the island.

Here are the results from today’s Megafauna Census:
Elephant Seal: 1
Steller Sea Lion: 54
California Sea Lion: 43
Harbour Seal: 52
Bald Eagle: 9
Great Blue Heron: 1
Crow: 1
Oystercatcher: 4
Double Crested Cormorant: 12
Brandt’s Cormorant: 21
Gull: 247
Canada Goose: 14
Pigeon Guillemot: 9
Harlequin Duck: 13
Surfbird: 3
Black Turnstone: 10
Rock Sandpiper: 2

End of Shift

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The wind blew from the northeast at 13-26 knots.  A small swell with whitecaps blew in from the northeast.  The barometer dropped from 1024 hPa to 1015 hPa.  The temperature reached a high of 5oC at 15:00.

There were no boats seen within the reserve today.

Everyday there appears to be fewer gulls and sea lions in the reserve.  An official count will happen on Thursday with the census.  There are still a lot of cormorants congregating on the shores of Great Race, as well as Turbine Rock and North Rocks.  The harbour seals are hauling out at low tides on various rocky ledges close to the shoreline.

Today was filled with cleaning and wrapping up some tasks that I’ve been doing while here for the past five weeks: construction in the basement of the Marine Science Centre, sorting out photos, and cutting up firewood that was collected at the shore and piled up by the tank house to get the salt rinsed off by the rain. Tomorrow is a shift change that will see Alex arrive for the winter shift.  I’ve had a great time as the Ecoguardian, learning lots from the species and history of this beautiful piece of land and sea.

Chthamalus dalli: small Northern barnacle– The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Chthamalus dalli in the Intertidal zone at Race Rocks

Physical description:
-Size: Reaches a diameter of only 8 mm (0.3 inches)
Colour: Gray, brown
Shape: It looks like a big brown barnacle but the main the difference is the size – it is much smaller
Texture: They do not have ridges
Geographical range: Alaska to San Diego
Habitat: Intertidal and splash zones but also it can occasionally be seen at lower levels
Feeding: Filter feeders on microplankton
Predators: Predatory snails including Nucella ostrina and sea stars such as Leptasterias. If predators are prevalent, Chthamalus dalli will sometimes grow a slight curve on its shell to protect itself.
Reproduction: They are hermaphroditic and produce sperm and eggs simultaneously. They do not self-fertilize, instead they use their long penis (4.5 cm from the shell) to fertilize another barnacle. Life span: About 3 years
Behaviour: It may spend more than half of its life out of the water because it can live in high intertidal levels
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Cirripedia
Order Thoracica
Family Chthamalidae
Genus Chthamalus
Species dalli
Common Name: small northern barnacle

References:
http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/B/Balanus_glandula/
http://beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/Chthamalus.htm

Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Alessandra Bustamante Concha-Fernández, Peru ( PC yr 37)

Cryptolepas rachianecti : Gray whale barnacles-The Race Rocks taxonomy

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These barnacles were removed from the skin of the Gray Whale which was prepared for a skeleton mount at Lester Pearson College

Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Maxillopoda
Infraclass: Cirripedia
Order: Sessilia
Suborder: Balanomorpha
Superfamily: Coronuloidea
Family: Coronulidae
Leach, 1817
Subfamily:

Genus :

 Coronulinae
Leach, 1817

  • Cryptolepas Dall, 1872

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. March 152006- Garry Fletcher

Substrate with Invertebrates at the Tidal Energy Site

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Chris Blondeau and Juan Carlos do another video of the substrate at the site of the piling installation prior to the pile drilling operation for the Tidal Current Energy Project. They document some of the species of hydroid, colonial ascidian and sponges which grow on the giant barnacles in the area. March 29, 2006.

Note: The video pauses on each clump in order to have a better view.

 

Invertebrate Scenes from the video:

Semibalanus carriosus: Thatched barnacle–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Screen Shot 2015-01-08 at 6.51.40 PM

Student pointing to thatched barnacles . Note goose- neck barnacles on the rock above.

Student pointing to thatched barnacles . Note goose- neck barnacles on the rock above.

Thatched barnacles are at a relatively low level in the intertidal zone as can be sen in this photo of their habitat.

 

 

 

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family

Genus Semibalanus
Species carriosus
Common Name: Thatched barnacle

0407whiteblackbarnaclel copy
Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 

Balanus nubilus:Giant barnacle–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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The video  is of a juvenile barnacle feeding. It was taken by Sylvia Roach through a microscope camera in the marine lab at Pearson College. The size of the barnacle can be estimated by the small skeleton shrimp which is active in the background. That amphipod is less than 1 cm in length.
Research on the associations of hydroids that live on them has been done at Race Rocks by Dr. Anita Brinckmann-Voss. In her publication on the new species Rhysia fletcheri she has included a photograph of hydroids on the valves of this animal.

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class:Crustacea
Subclass: Cirripedia
Order: Thoracica
Suborder: Balanomorpha
Superfamily: Balanoidea
Family: Balanidae
Genus: Balanus
Species nubilus

Common Name: Giant Barnacle

Giant barnacles are commonly found on rocks, pier pilings, and hard-shelled animals in low tidal zones to 90 meters depth.

They are up to 110 mm in diameter and are not easily confused with any other species. A feature unique to the giant barnacle is the lack of longitudinal striation on the scuta. They also contain the largest individual muscle fibres known to science.

 There has also been an extended essay done on this association by a student from the college. They are often encrusted with the holdfasts of kelp. Occasionally a storm tearing at the kelp will uproot a mass of barnacles and they may end up on a beach in the masses of tangled kelp. One of the reasons we have a ban on anchoring in the reserve is that these barnacles are easily broken away from their locations on rock outcrops by a dragging anchor.

Barnacles are not usually parasites, but the weight of this one could eventually impact negatively on the mussel.

Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 March October 2003- Aven Crawshay (PC)