We had a small but enthusiastic group on the low tide walk at Francisco Point with Deb Cowper’s amazing observations and information. The low tide in the middle of the day was a bit more than half a metre. We walked over the cobbled shore to the tidal lagoon. Deb talked about the seaweeds we were seeing (lettuce, cauliflower, Sargasso, and bladderwrack), the trajectory of the sea star wasting disease and the creatures affected by it, the life cycle of barnacles, the way that marine organisms can draw calcification from seawater to build their shells and outer structures. Deb talked about the moulting process for red rock crabs and what often appears to be a dead crab Is just the outer shell, left behind after moulting.  Five is the magic number for the radial symmetry of echinoderms: sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sand dollars.

We gently turned over rocks to look at the critters hiding beneath while exposed from the low tide. We saw porcelain crabs, Northern kelp crab, chitons, ochre sea stars, a blood star, sea cucumber, periwinkle, barnacles, worms, tubes, snails and a few small fish. Often the things attached to rocks were very small, really a nursery. We saw sea urchins the size of a pin head. We always gently rolled the rock back returning the creatures to their protected nooks.

We want to thank Deb Cowper for coming over to Quadra to share her knowledge.

Debbie

Hiking – Francisco Point at Low Tide – 17 July 2023