Tag: nature

Phoca vitulina

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Harbor seals at Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, Cambria, CA.

The harbor (or harbour) seal, also known as the common seal, is found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas.

Harbor seals are brown, silvery white, tan, or gray, with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. Individual animals possess a unique pattern of spots, either dark on a light background or light on a dark. The body and flippers are short, and the head is rounded. As with other true seals, there is no pinna (ear flap).

Their global population is 400,000 to 500,000. Seal hunting, once a common practice, is now mostly illegal. While the species is no longer under threat as a whole, subspecies in certain habitats are threatened. Many local populations have been reduced or eliminated through disease, conflict with humans, and encounters with ocean litter.

Nycticorax nycticorax

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The Black-crowned Night Heron is a medium sized heron with a long head and a funny way of making its neck disappear when at rest. A juvenile was hanging out at Legacy Park this morning. I loved the lime-green legs.

These birds are among the seven heron species observed to engage in tool use. They lure or distract fish by tossing edible or inedible buoyant objects into water within their striking range. Smart!

Pachygrapsus crassipes

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Striped shore crabs (Pachygrapsus crassipes) live along the west coast of North America, from Baja California, Mexico, to central Oregon. Measuring 4 – 5 cm across the carapace, they can be found in estuaries, tide pools, mussel beds, or scuttling along shoreline rocks. These, and hermit crabs, are the most common crustaceans I see at my local tide pools.

Though they feed mostly on algae and phytoplankton, they are opportunistic and will also eat animals including dead fish, limpets, snails, isopods, worms, and mussels. They will even eat recently molted specimens of their own species. They are prey for seagulls, octopuses, rats, raccoons, and humans.

Though most crabs and many shore crabs spend the majority of their time underwater, P. crassipes is an exception. They apparently spend more than half their time on land, though they typically stay close to the water’s edge.

fostering plant love

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We kicked off the 2023 Junior Ranger program at Malibu Creek State Park today, with my session on plants. We had 23 kids in our target age group (7 to 12 yrs old) plus another 40-odd parents + older/younger kids. Many questions were asked. Many leaves were fondled. I think we all enjoyed ourselves—I know I did!

One enthusiastic young miss informed me that she wants to be a veterinarian. And because she loves animals, she also loves plants, because animals need plants. And we humans need both animals and plants. We are all connected. Yes, wise one, we are.