Blog Post #9: Field Trip to Shannon Point

Picture #1 Sea Pen

Picture #2 Opalescent Nudibranch

Picture #3 Mask Limpet 

Picture #4 Purple Shore Crab

Picture #1 is of a Sea pen, also known as a Ptilosarcus gurneyi. I saw it in the lab and it wasn’t really moving very much. I think its ecological role in an ecosystem it to be a food source for other organism. Picture #2 is of an Opalescent nudibranch, also known as a Hermissenda crassicornis. I saw it in the lab and it seemed to be moving very slow and the small things on its back were moving around. I think it’s ecological role in an ecosystem is to be a food source for other organism and it maybe consumes things likes algae. Picture #3 is of a Mask limpet, also known as a Tectura persona. I found it on the beach and it was on the side of a large rock and it was not moving at all. I am not really sure what it’s ecological role could be. Picture #4 is of a Purple shore crab, also known as Hemigrapus nudus.It was underneath a rock on the beach and it moved away very quickly and tried to hide under another rock. I think it’s ecological role is to be a food source. Overall I think this was a very interesting field trip and I really enjoyed my time there. I was able to learn a lot while there because it was so hands on. It was really cool to sea different organisms that I had never seen before. I saw so many cool organisms but I think the coolest one that I saw while out on the boat was a porpoise; more specifically it was possibly a harbor porpoise. I had never seen one in the wild before so it was really amazing to see. Before the field trip, I didn’t really know that there were any in Washington so seeing one and learning about it changed my perspective about the Pacific Northwest. One of the questions I had during the trip was where in the ocean are organisms such as sea pens located?