November Urban Nature Walk at Lynn Shore Reservation
Yesterday the Urban Nature Walk was guest-hosted by scientist-naturalist Teá Kesting-Handly. She's taking a marine biology course right now, so had a lot of great knowledge fresh on her mind. She led us down to King's Beach, park of the Lynn Shore Reservation.
The skyline of Boston can be seen on the horizon ten miles south.
We got there at low tide, so we could walk among the bladderwrack and tide pools to find marine invertebrates.
We found tons of European green crabs and Asian shore crabs.
I am very impressed with Teá's ability to identify and name the species of periwinkles we encountered. This one, notable for variable shell color, including bright yellow, is Littorina obtusata.
When we brought the specimens up to the makeshift lab (Teá's microscopes and laptop set on the sea wall) I tried to focus my iPhone camera through my loupe. This is a marine bryozoan--possibly Membranipora membranacea--growing on a piece of brown algae.
This clump of orange polyps is another colonial animal--the orange tunicate Botrylloides violaceus. Despite it's superficial resemblance to corals or bryozoans, this animal is actually in the Phylum Chordata (same as you). Alas, this is an invasive species, originally found in the Pacific, now considered a pest that encrusts marine structures.
Thanks to Teá for leading this walk and sharing her knowledge--I learned a lot, and had a great time!