#Northern Kelp Crab

[unofficial-sean]

Northern kelp crab

#northern kelp crab #mast center aquarium

[emilybeemartin]

Inktober Days 19-21

Day 19: "Plump"

Fat! Bear! Week! It’s perhaps the most beloved modern tradition to come out of a national park, when enthusiasts around the globe tune in to the Katmai webcams to see the results of a summer of brown bears gorging on salmon. We root them on, following their progress as they go from springtime skin and bones to mega-autumn chonk in just a few months. Watching these immense bears prowling Brooks Falls for leaping fish is so captivating that at some parks, during slow moments in the visitor centers, we would switch on the webcam feeds at the information desk. Rangers come from all different backgrounds, with all different affiliations and alma maters, but few things bring us all together like cheering on a wild bear eating wild salmon.

Day 20: "Frost"

One of the privileges of working in northern mountain parks is the early coming of cool weather. Born and raised in South Carolina, few things make me feel more alive than a brush of autumn in August. I remember that first welcome moment in Glacier, when I climbed out of the government truck at Logan Pass for my shift in the high country. There was frost on the mountain slopes and a snap in the air. My breath fogged in front of my face, and the wind whipped through my park green sweater and jacket. Back at home, it was ninety-five degrees and humid, but on that morning, I swapped my flat hat for my fleece cap and spent the day bundled up on the Highline Trail, noting the huckleberries taking on their first tinge of crimson. I remember coming back to the tiny ranger station to find the woodburning stove crackling away, and I thought this must be what paradise was like.

Day 21: "Chains"

My first thought for this prompt was a chain of islands, but as I brushed up on Channel Islands, I realized it fits even better thanks to the chain of life that stretches from sea to land to air. Underwater terrain creates huge upwellings of nutrients that form the base of a food chain in the kelp forests, where vivid orange garibaldi and massive seabass swim among the waving fronds. Seals and sea lions spin and dive before hauling out onto beaches in noisy rookeries. Above them on the headlands, rare island foxes—only found on six of these islands and nowhere else in the world—scamper after mice and insects, occasionally coming to the shoreline for crabs. And in the skies, bald eagles, storm-petrels, and cormorants swoop down to pluck fish and other meals from the sea. And so life goes around and around on this scrappy cluster of islands.

Like these? Want extra illustrations and national park travel tips straight from the ranger's mouth? You can preorder Thirty-One Days of Inktober: The Artbook! It's a limited run--- snag yours now before they're gone!

Incidentally, I'm trying to keep international shipping down by eating a bit of the cost myself, so I hope folks outside the US don't feel left out!

#31 days of national parks #national parks #katmai #glacier #channel islands

[willtheweaver]

A writer’s guide to forests: from the poles to the tropics, part 3

And now for something completely different:

Kelp forest

Forests are a fixture of the land, but there is one type that can be found below the waves.

Location- Shallow coastal waters in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Climate- Temperate to subpolar. Currents mean that the seas will be cooler than the land. Kelp does not like warm waters, and die-offs can occur if the waters are abnormally warm.

Plant life- Not a true plant, kelp fill the same niche. Giant kelp are the most common, but in areas of the NW America, currents and tidal movements mean that bull kelp grow in abundance. Kelp forests are seasonal, and many varieties die back in late autumn.

Animal life- Various fish dart in and out of the kelp fronds, including several species of sharks and rays. Bryozoans, anemones, and soft corals cling to rocks, and some even to kelp fronds. Mobile invertebrates include sea urchins, starfish, crabs,and octopus. Seals and sea lions are among the top predators. Otters inhabit the northern and southern reaches of the Americas. While many pelagic species shun the kelp forest, some will venture close, or be blown in by storms.

How the forest affects the story- Being underwater presents challenges to characters that are not found on land. Unless aided by some form of magic, fire is one thing a society will have to go without. This has great implications, as there are many things that cannot be done without fire (such as cooking and metal working). A body will lose heat faster in water than in the air, so how do your characters stay warm? Are they fully aquatic, or can they venture onto land? Think about how characters communicate; water is a great medium for sound to travel through. Do they use bioluminescence at night? Hunting would be the default choice for a society, but it would also be fun to imagine some kind of aquaculture. One more thing to think about would be outside forces. Fishing and kelp harvesting would definitely present a challenge, and force characters to confront humans, or their story equivalent. Warm waters weaken kelp, and encourage the growth of many invertebrates. Imagine your characters having to deal with a kelp forest being devoured and turning into an urchin barren. This is not even getting into the fact that storm surges can uproot vast swaths of kelp. Such disasters would be the equivalent of a major forest fire or deforestation. Would your character be able to cope with such an event?

#writing #creative writing #writing guide #writing inspiration #writing prompts #writer on tumblr #writeblr

[tomfrommanagment]

Look at these wet assholes. (Blood Star, White-Lined Dirona, Northern Kelp Crab, Smol White-Lined Dirona, decorator crab, giant green anemone)

#marine animals #marine science #marine life #ocean #sea star #theyre not called starfish you fucking Neanderthal #do you see any fins on thsi bitch? #nudibranch #sea slug #crab #kelp crab #gay

[officialhexrpg]

Magical Arts: March's Writing Challenge Winner!

For March, we want you to write a report about a real life keystone species. You must include details such as the name of the species, location information, characteristics of the species, food chain information, and why it's considered a keystone species. This is not a creative writing based task, but rather a communication and information based task.

3rd Place: jfs12

The Sea Otter

Characteristics

Sea otters are efficiently aerodynamic marine mammals, with dense, soft, brown fur that protects and insulates them against the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean. Their fur pelts make them extremely valued in the fur trade, and almost forced them to extinction in the 18th and 19th centuries. Their high metabolism and their warm coats help keep the species warm. They have a body weight of 46-62 pounds, a length between 21.5 - 51 inches, and a tail that measures between 5 - 13 inches. With four legs to move easily on land and a long tail to swim through the water, they are able to swim, walk, and manipulate prey. Sea otters are social animals, and sleep in groups, holding hands to keep from drifting apart.

Location

In North America, the northern sea otters can be found in the shallow coastal waters of the Aleutian Islands, South Central and Southeast Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. The southern sea otter or California sea otter can be found in waters along the California coastline, from San Mateo County in the north to Santa Barbara County in the south. All otters prefer clean waterways, abundant stocks of prey, and banks with lush vegetation. Dawn is the best time to see otters, but patience will be needed. Look for signs that an otter is in the area- webbed footprints and small bones from their feeding.

Food Chain

Sea otters play an important role as a secondary consumer and keystone species. The northern and southern otters have a different diet because of their location. The northern sea otter preys upon sea urchins, crabs, clams, mussels, octopus, fish, and other marine invertebrates. The teeth of otters are structured to crush these hard-shelled invertebrates. Southern sea otters consume many types of prey as its northern cousin. These include sea urchins, snails, clams, abalone, mussels, crabs, scallops, fish, barnacles, octopus, worms, and squid. Both species capture their prey with their clawed paws and not their jaws. As predators, they help control the populations of food species, which affect the ecosystem as a whole. Their presence is a sign that the ecosystem is healthy.

Great white sharks are the primary predator of sea otters in California. Alaskan studies show that killer whales or orcas and sharks are eating more and more sea otters in that area, since their usual prey is seals and sea lions that are in decline. The Alaskan species have predators on land as well as the sea. Coyotes and brown bears prey on otters, and bald eagles have been seen swooping down and catching sea otter pups.

Keystone Information

Sea otters are a keystone species. As top predators, their role in their environment has a greater effect than many other species. Otters help maintain the balance of near-to-shore ecosystems, such as kelp forests, recesses in coastlines, and estuaries. They help control the sea urchin population that can devour the kelp forests that provide protection and food for other marine animals. By keeping healthy kelp forests, sea otters also help lessen levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, as kelp absorbs and separate carbon.

#hexrpg.com #hexrpg #d: March 2022 #sea otters #harry potter forum #w: writing challenge #kestone species #d: August 2022

[subiysu-chan]

Continuing to worldbuild Penbre, and the North-West, and North-East regions

So, it has a hyperoceanic climate where it rains constantly, with long nights in the winter.

The North-West region is composed of the regions of Penbre, the smallest province but also the one containing the capital city, Aulbec directly south of it, and Layne stretching North, all the way to the sea. Yaune is directly to the East and Lennes is the Eastern Limit of the North-West Region.

The North-East region also feature a cold climate, but it is slightly more continental, with colder summers and warmer winters. It's composed of flat, swampy land, with to it's extreme South-East the beginnings of a mountenous region.

It is still very rainy, especially in it's South-East region with it's mountains.

It contains the provinces of Chercape (Northern Limit), Fleuchère (A bit further south, Western limit), Mare (center), Epley (Further south), Aurbec (East) and Brélande (South-Eastern Limit).

Penbre recives most of it's rye from this region, which is dry enough in some parts to grow it. It's mostly fed to the capital.

It has a local diet composed of essencially of rye, oats, peas and occasionally barley. Watercress and cattails are the main vegetables with some leaks and asperagus on the side, but Brélande also produces enough rutapagas, parsnips, shallots, peas, radishes and cabbage. Because most of it is flat, swampy terrain, only lean foods are cooked whenever possible, so fat and oil cannot transport fire.

Mussles and other freshwater shellfish are the prefered source of proteine during lent. In the Northmost province of Chercape, it's coastal environment allows enough wind to the meat of large animals, and is the biggest producer and consummer of pork and beef compaired to it's most inland counterparts. Crab is consummed in rather fair quantities, and is considered "pauper's meat" because of it's scavenging habits, same for smaller species of lobster. They also consume many species of fish, mostly carp. Diary products are popular because of their ability to be prepared through fermentation as opposed to cooking. The main sources of animal fat are lard and butter. It is also highly urbanized, allowing it to have a good fungiculture. It produces also plenty of blueberries. The region has very well-reputed cheeses, and often eats dairy with seafood. Kelp is quite the part of the poor man's diet.

In the rest of the North-West region, geese and duck are the main source of animal fat.

The province of Aurbec pruduces a fair amount of apple, hence it's name, but also some birch and hazel trees.

Brélande eats the highest amount of berries both per person and per capita, something allowed by it's rockier terrain. Cranberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, blueberries, sea hawthorne, hawthorne, rosehip, rowan, virburnum and birdcherries are the commonly found fruits. Their prefered source of fat is pinenuts and hazelnuts, closely fallowed by lard and butter. It's the only province that doesn't consume large quantities of cattails. They also tend to eat more chicken than duck or geese, and prefer fattier broths and stews. Because of the cold climate, they tend to enjoy long-cooked stews.

Cranberries is the most common fruit province wise, with apple being next, regionally.

The local cuisine is mostly based on pickling, salting and lactic acid fermentation of all kind, with bread and lean stews.

[purecbdgum45]

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[stellarskull]

Giant Kelp / Northern Kelp Crab

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

#ocean #water #photography

[squiddllr]

Finally took the time to erase the pencil lines and finish this kelp crab! Love how it turned out 😍🦀

#marine biology #marine animals #oceanlover #ocean #ocean animals #sea animals #seattle #seattle artist #stippling #northern kelp crab #kelp crab #crab drawing #crab art #stippling art #ink drawing #pen art #patreon #support artists #artist of tumblr #black and white art #traditional art #women artists #intertidal animals #intertidalzone #detailed art #ocean art #salish sea #puget sound #dot drawing #ocean drawing

[terranlifeform]

#northern kelp crab #Pugettia producta #California - U.S.

[unofficial-sean]

I got two more custom patches for my shirt! Just finished sewing them on.

#spiderstitchesparlor #etsy #patches #dungeness crab #northern kelp crab

[wandering-in-the-mist]

Some very cool new friends found at low tide yesterday!!!

#Photography #Beach #Nature #Tidepool #Seaside #Nanaimo #Eelgrass Isopod #Troschel's Sea Star #aka #Mottled Star #Western Sea Slater #Crystal Jelly #Northern Kelp Crab #or #Shield-backed Kelp Crab #Nick's Pics #DSLR #Nikon D5500 #AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR #05-27-21 #Scheduled

[echinozoa-blog]

Juvenile Northern kelp crab eating, well, kelp.

#Northern kelp crab #Pugettia producta #Sugar kelp #Eating #Laminaria saccharina

[foulserpent]

a mating pair of tyviit harass a pair of bjommri, while a frandir fox picks parasitic crabs, unbothered

species info under the cut (its long lol)

these creatures are native to the ursval islands, a northern region dominated by temperate rainforest and rocky coastlines.

tyviit are part of a family of flightless sea pterosauroids that can be found almost worldwide (though are concentrated in northern latitudes). they occupy a similar niche to penguins, but are far quicker on land and capable of a (somewhat awkward) quadrupedal gait, and can be found far inland and even in fresh water. they congregate in large colonies, nesting near the treeline. they feed almost exclusively on fish, and are extensively hunted by bjommri while out at sea.

this clade is unique among pterosauroids, both for their flightlessness and for the density of their pyncofiber (hair). this incredibly dense coat works alongside a layer of blubber to keep them warm in cool seas.

bjommri and frandir are both part of a small clade of marine mammals exclusively found in northern latitudes. while their exact classification is uncertain, they are believed to derive from early canids who found niches in cool coastal areas. the two are distant cousins, with frandir representing the basal form of this group.

bjommri are large predators, with the biggest individuals weighing in at around 2000 lbs. their (and others of their clade) method of propulsion is unique among marine mammals, bearing more similarity to polycotylid plesiosaurs than the seals they resemble. however, they still haul onto land to rest and breed, where they are slow to the point that their prey can quite easily walk among them.

also unlike seals, they are almost strictly monogamous, forming close-knit pair bonds that can last a lifetime. their fur coloration and spotting is unique to each individual and assists in recognition. while these pairs are generally mates, they may also be siblings or an unrelated same-sex bond, in which case they will mate with other pairs or unattached bachelors. these pairs will coordinate hunts, sometimes even taking down small beaked whales, but mostly consume fish, squid, seabirds, tyviit, and seals.

the frandir fox (or just frandir) (not actually a fox) are opportunistic omnivores, eating fish, mollusks, kelp, seabirds, eggs, berries, and occasionally congregating in loose packs to hunt small seals or young ungulates (though they are typically solitary). they also feed on the parasitic crabs that plague the bjommri, and in turn are tolerated and receive a degree of protection from the bigger beasts. their similar coat colors and close interaction earns them their name, which roughly translates to 'little cousin'.

the parasitic crabs here have no specific name, but are colloquially referred to as 'sea ticks'. they are opportunistic parasites, feeding predominantly on the blood of semi-aquatic mammals but also sometimes stealing bites from their host's prey. they are removed from bjommri via social grooming, but their small size, flat shells, and tight grasp make this a difficult task for such a large animal. the delicate teeth of the frandir fox are better suited to this task.

#blightseed #my stuff

[chilirasbora]

Northern kelp crab | Pugettia producta

Photo credit: x

#boras posts #salt #fishblr #marine life #ocean life #ocean #crab

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Superb Black Turban Snails

For beach-goers along the North American Pacific coast, the black turban snail (Tegula funebralis) is a common sight. They can be found from the northern reaches of British Columbia, Canada to southern California in the United States, almost exclusively in the intertidal zone. Although they are small, weighing only 20g and about 5 cm long, their clusters are hard to miss. Groups of hundreds of black turban snails congregate in seaweed beds, under rocks, and in the tight crevices of the rocky shoreline, and disperse only when they are covered by the sea.

    The most distinctive feature of T. funebralis is the shell. It is typically black or purple, but over time the outer layer of chiten can wear away to reveal a pearly inside. These shells are sought after by people for decoration, and by hermit crabs for shelter, although in both cases the shell is typically scavenged after it has already been emptied by predators. The rest of the snail’s body is black, soft, and can curl easily inside its shell to protect itself. As a member of the order Trochida, these snails also have an ‘operculum’; a hard trap door- like structure that the snail can close the aperture of the shell with to further protect itself. Interestingly, turban snails also have a unique organ called a bursicle that can sense chemicals released by their predators; primarily sea stars and crabs. When a threat is detected, the snail may either curl up in its shell or attempt to flee at a racing 8cm per minute. 

    Like many gastropods, black turban snails are herbivorous. Their primary food is algae, especially macroscopic algae like seaweeds and kelp. They compete with other grazers, mainly hermit crabs and urchins, for this food, although it’s not uncommon to see all three in the same area. In turn, black turban snail shells are sometimes colonized by limpets and slipper snails, which feed on the red algae that grows there. Periwinkles or other predatory snails will also sometimes attach themselves to turban snail shells and predate upon them by boring holes through the shell itself, but this is less common. 

    The main driver behind the black turban snail’s abundance is its high reproductive rates. It is a broadcast spawner, meaning that when it is covered by water, both sexes of the snail will release hundreds of thousands of gametes into the water column . Within a day or two, many of these gametes will combine and become microscopic larvae, which then disperse, metamorphose into juvenile snails, and settle in less than three weeks. Juvenile turban snails are a favorite food of sea stars, crabs, and intertidal fish, but the sheer number of young ensures that most will survive. 

    Conservation status: Although black turban snails were and still are a source of food for humans, they are extremely common and are considered of least concern. Their primary threat is ocean acidification and warming temperatures, but they are in turn a much larger threat to intertidal zone community stability when their primary predator, the sea star, is removed and their population grows unchecked.

#black turban snail #Trochida #Tegulidae #sea snails #mollusks #gastrpods #invertebrates #marine fauna #marine invertebrates #intertidal fauna #intertidal invertebrates #shore fauna #shore invertebrates #north america #Pacific Ocean #coasts #coastal invertebrates