Within 10 Feet

Today I decided to try and find as many species of all types that I could within 10 feet in any direction of the houseboat. I surveyed the area about once an hour between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM, took some photos, discovered you can use binoculars quite well to look at deeper intertidal life, and spent some time with a stack of field guides. In total, I came up with about 40 species - here's how they broke down:

Birds

Glaucous-winged gull

Belted kingfisher

Rock pigeon

Pine siskin

Dark-eyed junco

Rock pigeon

Flowering plants

Licorice fern

Two unidentified tiny, weedy species

Licorice fern

Seaweeds

Bull kelp

Rockweed

Eelgrass

Sea cabbage

Seersucker kelp

At least one other type of kelp-like seaweed

At least one type of sea lettuce (Ulva spp.)

At least one type of brown tuft seaweed 

At least one type of filamentous red seaweed (of which there are about 60 local species that can only be distinguished microscopically)

Amazingly this shot shows almost all the different types of seaweed at once

Mosses 

Five species, including probably:

Juniper moss

Red bryum

Moss species

Lichens

At least four species, including potentially:

Xantharia sp.

Hypogymnia sp.

Lichen species

Arachnids

One type of orb spider

Invertebrates

Blue mussel

Acorn barnacle

California sea cucumber

Orange sea cucumber

Giant plumose anemone

Giant green anemone

Red-trumpet calcareous tubeworm

Ochre star

Monterey sea lemon (a type of nudibranch)

Graceful decorator crab

Kelp crab - perhaps Pugettia gracilis

Giant rock scallop

One shrimp species

One unknown crab-like species (see photo)

Giant plumose anemone

California sea cucumber

Two kelp crabs, possibly graceful kelp crabs (Pugettia gracilis)

The coolest find of the day, a small species with a big name that I hadn't noticed before - red-trumpet calcareous tubeworm

Another red-trumpet calcareous tubeworm - they ranged in color from all white to all red or any level of mixed banding between the two colors

The unknown crab-like species, about the size of a thumb nail. Any ideas??

And a last minute addition!

Mammals
Mink

Enteromorpha intestinalis

Along many of the rocky intertidal zones in the San Juan Islands you can see a bright green algae close to the high tide line. The lighting wasn't great for the photo above, but it really is a striking color, sometimes looking almost neon green. I knew that this species especially thrives in places where there are freshwater seepages (like the crevice in the rock in the photo above), but I never knew the exact species of seaweed it was....until now, thanks to my friend and colleague Captain Pete who shared the intriguing scientific name with me the other day: Enteromorpha intestinalis.

Also known as gutweed or grass kelp, E. intestinalis is a species found worldwide. In actuality, there are several Enteromorpha speices that are difficult to tell apart, especially since the morphology of the plant changes in response to environmental factors. Since E. intestinalis depends on freshwater to stay moist during low tide, sailors used to look for it as an indicator of terrestrial freshwater sources.

The genus Enteromorpha is part of the sea lettuce family, which includes many edibile species that are eaten not only by creatures like manatees but humans as well. Many sea lettuces are listed as being in the genus Ulva, which confused me at first, but apparently the Ulva and Enteromorpha genera were merged. I think I'll keep using the Enteromorpha name because it sounds so much cooler.