Sea Critter Observation

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At eight in the morning, my classmates and I boarded the bus which would take us to Homer and to an exciting adventure down by the beach, Bishop’s Beach to be exact. An adventure to the beach was a wonderful idea , we were all excited about it. After an hour drive from Nikolaevsk School we , the students along with Mr. Klaich, Mrs. Pancratz and Mr. Sellers were greeted by two scientists. Once we were in our gear, (boots, hats, and warm coats) the scientists began their explanation on beach etiquette and the rules. Once everything had been explained, we all set out on our half a mile trek down the beach to the tide-pool area.

At the tide pools, the scientists reiterated "beach etiquette" then we divided into groups, and made everyone within the groups paired up with a partner. Each pair was then given a study sheet with different critters, and then the groups were free to explore the tide pools. Among the many critters observed including sea cucumber, jellyfish, clam worms, etc. the most interest/fascinating for me was the nudibranch and the shield limpet.

My sister, the scientists and I spotted this little critter called a nudibranch in a tide pool.The nudibranch was fairly small, one to two inches long. Its coloring was much like that of a tigers, orange tentacles with black stripes.

Afterwards, we headed back to the rendezvous point for lunch. After lunch, we proceeded to the Island and Oceans Center to learn more about the minus four tides, which are extremely rare for this time of year. Curious about the nudibranch and the shield limpet that I saw in the tide-pools at the beach, I wanted to learn more about these critters so I began researching and discovered the following:

Nudibranchs scientific name i...

... middle of paper ...

...m/Animals/L/Lottia_pelta/. (BayScience Foundation)

Cowles , D ((2008): ). Aeolidia papillosa (Linnaeus, 1761) . Retrieved August 26, 2009, from Aeolidia papillosa Web site: http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Opisthobranchia/Nudibranchia/Aeolidacea/Aeolidia_papillosa.html, (Cowles, 2008)

Lunsford , Ryan (2002). Lottia pelta. Retrieved September 3, 2009, from Lottia pelta, shield limpet Web site: http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Patellogastropoda/Family_Lottiidae/Lottia_pelta.html

(Lunsford, 2002)

Phipps, M (2006). Intertidal Marine Invertebrates of the South Puget Sound. Retrieved August 26, 2009, from Aeolidia papillosa The Sea Mouse Web site: http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/a_papillosa.html, (Phipps,Telnack, 2006)

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