Thursday it was raining on and off, and I was on and off about going, all the way on the bus and up until I stepped on the beach. It was raining. I was sure it was about to stop but heavy downpours kept happening. When I finally got on the beach it started hailing but the raincloud was long and narrow and looked like it was on its last legs so I decided to stay. I'm glad I did because it almost immediately cleared up and the cloud show was amazing. I also feel more useful cleaning up after a storm because I get to pick stuff out of the surf that would otherwise get washed back. Big sheet of shredded black plastic, the usual exploded pens, candy wrappers, plastic bags, etc. I also get to walk by the water without feeling that I should be farther up the beach where more trash is. I know it's only a virtual drop in the ocean but maybe that drop saves a sea turtle or two.
This is as much about getting to know Ocean Beach as picking up trash, however. Saw a lot of kelp washed ashore after the storm, kinds I've read about but not seen yet, like palm kelp which looks like minature palm trees, and a long feathery-rubbery strands. Boa kelp? As soon as it cleared up more people (and dogs) started coming out. Waiting for the chance after the storm.
Saturday I got there about 7:30 a.m. or so. Sunny and already warm. Low tide with lots of patches of beach between water. Sand dollars scattered all over.
The embarassing part. I came upon what I thought was a stranded seal, on the beach near the water. I walked up maybe 100 feet from it and it didn't move, it just looked at me. I didn't know what to do. I figured the Marine Mammal Center wouldn't be open yet, so I walked/ran about a half hour to the Beach Chalet where I figured I might find a Park Police person or two, all the while worrying about the animal in what was starting to be a warm day. I did find some park people getting ready to empty trash cans who referred me to the Marine Mammal Center. I called and they do have a 24 hour line. It's in my cell phone now. The person who answered was nice and he asked me a few questions. I walked back and there was no trace of the "seal". I read a flyer later and it was probably fine. I thought it wasn't because it let me get so close without disappearing into the surf, but I now think it was perfectly fine and that it wasn't a seal at all but a Stellar Sea Lion. Now I wish I had known so I could've enjoyed seeing a marine mammal up close.
One point of writing this: if you see a possibly stranded marine mammal, call the Marine Mammal Center at (415) 289-7325. This is assuming you're in the SF Bay area. Don't touch the animal or try to push it back in (I assume this is self-evident but just in case). Whales are the animals most likely to be stranded but the person you talk to will know what to ask you. Do know where you are so you can tell them (obvious but I had to go to the street to see where I was).
I'm finally keeping my promise to make the beach alive to you, species by species. Because I promised, I'm starting with sand dollars. I'm starting with these because I've noticed that a lot of people look at sand dollar skeletons and see a decoration, not the remains of an animal. Sand dollars are sea urchins who adapted to a life burrowed in the sand by becoming flat. The hard white shell is the skeleton. Sand dollars start out as eggs (the idea of an adult sand dollar laying eggs boggles the mind), then swimming larvae, part of the microscopic part of the ocean food chain known as plankton. As larvae they can clone themselves if necessary. When the larvae become adults they live around the low-tide line, either buried in the sand or sticking out of it sideways. They can creep a little and bury themselves when the need (or mood?) arises. In fact, the flower patterns actually enable locomotion, when they're alive. When they're alive, they're dark colors with hairy cilia covering their body. They eat by filtering microscopic organisms out of the seawater, and (unwillingly) provide food for sea stars, flounder, cod and other botton-feeding fish.
I get updates from the Audobon Society about the world-changing Gulf oil crime, because I signed up to be a volunteer if needed. They're nowhere near needing an out-of-shape volunteer with no skills who doesn't live in the area but they send out updates occasionally. An important part of their advice to potential volunteers not in the area are to take care of the wild places where you are. We need to do that, in so many local and global ways, starting with a hard look at ALL of our consumer habits. Starting now. Starting here, where ever here is. I am doing this. And I can do better. And I'm working on it.
Until next time...
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