While out birding last Saturday, our group got quite a scare as we crossed over to the Sound side at Opel Beach. There were large mats of what we thought were tar balls washing ashore with the sea weed. We contacted a ranger and reported what we had found and someone came to investigate. Turns out they were not tar balls at all (Whew!) but some sort of vegetation. Once home, the research began and turns out what we were looking at were either sea squirt casings (http://collierseagrant.blogspot.com/) or Black colonial tunicates of the genus Eudistoma or filamentous blue-green algae broken off from underwater algal mats. (http://www.sccf.org/content/184/Clumps-on-Island-Beaches.aspx) Whatever they were, we were all very happy to know they were NOT tar balls.
I'm glad you reported it, even more pleased that they could give you such precise details. It must have been hot out there.
ReplyDeleteVery odd, but thank god.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad all's well that ends well.
ReplyDeleteYou were more ambitious than me. Once we found out it was NOT tarballs, I went no further. But my thanks to you for digging about some and educating us a bit. And, yeah, it was hot out there!!!!!
ReplyDeletePaula: I actually felt a little giddy when we realized it was not tar balls. And boy was it hot. I was melting.
ReplyDeleteAH: Thank God indeed.
Ciel: Don't you just love happy endings?
FFG: I always need answers. I'm kinda anal like that.
whew...
ReplyDelete