Field pictures

I was browsing through my photos and found some cool ones I took at Soberanes Point and Bodega Marine Reserve. Enjoy these close-up views of intertidal life!

A Nucella emarginata dogwhelk drilling a Mytilus californianus mussel (center). Around it are Tetraclita barnacles (pink and volcano-shaped) and Policipes barnacles (gooseneck barnacles; white with plates). Taken at Soberanes Point in July 2015.

The unsuspecting Nucella emarginata drilling Mytilus californianus right before I pulled it off to see what damage it had done! The mussel appears to be alive  still because it is closed. Once a mussel dies, it gapes open because it only has closing muscles.  Taken at Soberanes Point in July 2015.

Nucella emarginata dogwhelk (right) and the drill hole it was making in Mytilus californianus (center).  Taken at Soberanes Point in July 2015.

A dogwhelk foot! Also shown in this picture are Mytilus californianus adults and recruits (aka babies; lower left), Policipes recruits (with white spots and also in the lower left), and some mussel byssus (the thread-like things all around but most obviously at the top).  Taken at Soberanes Point in July 2015.

A tidepool at sunset at Bodega Marine Reserve. Photo taken 11 Nov 2015 by Cornelius R. Pickering.