June 2018
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
Today is Summer Solstice, peak sun for us in the northern hemisphere. During these days around the solstice the sun shines down directly from above, and for 16+ hours each day here in the Salish Sea. As it happens, our lowest tides of the year in the daytime are around Summer Solstice as well. For an intertidal critter who can’t just swim away it’s a triple blast of desiccation. I visited a sandy beach and a rocky shoreline this past week to see who was about.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
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We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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How do they survive those hours deprived of the blessed cool wetness of the sea?
They hide.
Critters under the shade of a dock are golden.
... like these seastars.
The beach you see in the title image is more problematic.
Some critters tuck into the rocks along the headland.
Many invertebrates could move into deeper water with the tide but they’ve chosen not to, banking on the bit of shade they’ve found.
Some critters bury themselves in the damp cool muddy sand.
Most clams are well buried in the sand, many hidden under swathes of seaweed. I got sprayed by burrowing clams several times walking around on the muddy sand.
Lest you think that reddish brown blob is detritus, take a look at what it does when something approaches it:
There were a few invertebrates that were caught out in the sun. A big sea cucumber and a nudibranch were most worrisome. The crabs at least have a hard waterproof shell as protection from drying out.
The tides haven’t been so low these past few days. The critters get a break from peak sun. We’ll have a couple more stretches of a few days of minus tides in the next month but as we move away from the solstice they won’t be as low, nor will the sun’s effect be as strong.
Overcast here today on this Solstice morning, sun hidden behind the clouds.
What’s up in your natural neighborhood on this longest day of the year?
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