Other Oceans

Cinnamon Bay, St. John. US Virgin Islands.




















Lemonwater Caye, St. John Us Virgin Islands

Greyhound Rock Beach

Greyhound Rock Beach
Santa Cruz County, CA

Located approximately 12 miles from Santa Cruz proper, Greyhound Rock Beach is an arched stretch of glittering beach tucked underneath a towering cypress laden bluff. From the top of the cliffs, the beach's namesake is vivid and magnetic. I wanted to climb the enormous sea stack immediately. Greyhound Rock looks more like a giant humpback whale's dorsal ridge peaking out from the ocean's surface rather than a sleek racing dog, but who am I to say? In order to begin my exploration of the rocky formation, I would first need to traverse the steep trail which lead to the beach below. The path was flanked with a type of succulent plant that looked like small green banana bunches dotted with magenta starburst flowers. Above the ground crawling plant were tall reedy plants that looked like enormous feather dusters. The path was a bit treacherous, but maybe only to those who never wear proper shoes... Upon arrival at the beach, Greyhound Rock begs to be climbed. I read somewhere that the sea stack is made of miocene mudstone. If this state
ment is true that would mean that Greyhound rock is approximately 5-23 MILLION years old! MILLION! He's an old dog!

The tide was a bit high on the day I visited Greyhound, which caused me to wade through sea water nearly up to my knees before reaching the rock's edge. My rainboots proved fairly pointless as I marched through the salty water. Again, poor shoe choices. The bottom edge of Greyhound that covered by the ocean is encrusted with muscles, barnacles and sea kelp. I also observed corralline algae and various limpets and ONE sea anenome, but he was vivid green and lively. However, once above the waterline, Greyhound is dry and rocky as a desert plain and steep to boot! There was a small family coming down the rock as I was heading up. There were two small boys in the brood who seemed terrified...and shoeless. I guess my inadequate shoes were better than no shoes at all!

In my memory the top of Greyhound is narrow with steep sides reaching down to the sea below, but my mind could be making the climb more dangerous that it was in reality. The views from Greyhound are just as spectacular, if not more so, than the views of the sea stack itself. Waves smashed against the seaward side of rock creating spray that nearly reached the top of the mudstone structure. Peering over the edge of Greyhound was both thrilling and frightening. I doubt anyone would survive that fall, but I digress! Greyhound rock is ancient and beautiful and provides an inverse visual perspective of the coast.






Photos = Joshua R. Neely

Natural Bridges State Park

Natural Bridges State Park Santa Cruz, CA

Although this State Park is dubbed "Natural Bridges", in 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake caused a portion of the bridge to collapse, much like another bridge forged from steel, and return to the sea. Therefore the "bridges" are no more and all that remains is a lone sea arch that was once connected the the headland. The photos to the left and below (taken from www.parks.ca.gov and a mystery source) show the dual bridge status once hailed by the park.

As stated in a previous post, sea arches are formed when waves break at the tip of a headland and the wave energy is directed around both sides of the land mass. The beating waves tear away at the rock and form parallel sea caves which eventually meet, thus forming the arch. As the salty sea water continues to erode away at the promontory, the arch falls and becomes a sea stack, and then eventually becomes sand. By examining the sand of any beach, one can determine the make-up of the surrounding rock and in some cases the geographical source. For instance, the sand at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, is made up of granite from the Sierra Nevadas! Millions of years ago the Sacramento River, carrying sediments from the mountains, emptied directly into the San Francisco Bay. The sediments were then carried by the the California Current and deposited at the beach, forming large dunes which have historically fed and kept the site rich with sand. Present-day Ocean Beach is removed from the California Current due to the geography of the bay, and the ancient sand dunes are depleting without being replenished. In time, Ocean Beach's vast sandy expanse will be no more. But, I digress.

Natural Bridges State Park is also home to a mythical "Monarch Natural Preserve" Mythical, because like the eroded sea arch, the butterfly mecca too has been emaciated. While the grove is full of fragrant eucalyptus trees, I only spotted two of the orange stained-glass patterned insects. While the State Park's website touts a presence of nearly 100,000 butterflies each winter, santacruz.com reported only 1,000 in 2009. Sadness!

And now for something completely different!

On this rather warm day in February, I collected an Ostrich-Plume Hydroid along the shoreline mixed in with various types of kelp (bull whip kelp, feather boa kelp, etc.). When I first examined the specimen, I thought it was a type of sea algae or maybe a type of lichen. However, after scouring books and websites, I could not identify the creature so I sent my photo to algaebase.com and was told that this guy is a carnivorous hydroid. I was way off! Hydroids are in Phylum Cnidaria along with jellyfish and sea anenomes. The feathery-like appendages are actually colonies of polyps. Like other cnidaria, the ostrich plume hydroid's polyps contain strong stinging cells which can cause irritation and rashes to the unassuming swimmer or snorkler. However, when I found the hydroid, he was already long gone of this world. RIP Ostrich-Plume Hydroid.


Photos= Joshua R. Neely (with exception of the aforementioned State Park photo)

The Devil's Teeth - A Review!

The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks

The Devil's Teeth is a real life story about a lady and sharks! Yes, please! Susan Casey is the author and recently made Editor-In-Chief of O Magazine. Yes, "O" as in "Oprah". Casey just lost ten million points in my book. Apparently, Susan also had something to do with the film "Blue Crush." I did not see this movie as it starred lollipop-headed Kate Bosworth, thereby rendering the film disqualified for viewing (again, according to my book). Despite these facts about the author, Devil's Teeth is a well-written, fast-paced read about the infamous Farallon Islands and its more infamous residents : Carcharodon carcharias.

Great White Sharks are the subject of Casey's obsession and literary work. But, perhaps what I may have enjoyed most was her research and account of the history of the Farallone Islands. For instance, there was once a group of "eggers" who collected murre eggs, because there were no such things as chickens in San Francisco circa 1812-1838. I don't want to give away too many surprises, but the eggers constructed special pouched shirts to hold their embryonic treasure. If special egging shirts do not entice you to read, I am not sure what will!

Another interesting aspect of this book (besides the sharks) is just how Casey was able to obtain access to the island and convince the biologists to let her tag along. She glosses over how she succeeded in securing a pass to the Farallons, but is quick to adopt a haughty attitude about the US Coast Guard, the tourism industry and her own rights to be in an otherwise restricted and protected area. While, I agree that the chumming & baiting tourism industry is detrimental to the scientists trying to observe and document the sea creatures, I feel Casey is a bit hypocritical in her views of the same. Although she is not participating in destructive behavior, her sheer presence alone violates the maxim of the island. If every curious shark enthusiast were allowed to boat around the Farallons and explore the rugged terrain, what would that mean for the sharks, birds, seals and other creatures? I realize that part of my criticism of Casey is based on my jealousy that a non-scientist/oceanographer/biologist was able to do something that I will never be able to do: encounter the largest sharks in the world. Sure, I could pay the $800 to charter the tourist cage-diving boat, but even then the chances of coming within petting (yes petting) distance of the white sharks is slim. Visibility is poor at the Farallons and conditions are beyond rough. What I need is experts at my disposal who KNOW the sharks and how to visually hunt them.

Although Casey enraged me at times with her oblivious attitude towards the double-standard line she was walking, Devil's Teeth is a great (pardon the pun) read. Even though I found myself totally infuriated with this high-adventuring lady, I'm looking forward to reading The WAVE -- Casey's other foray into the oceanic world.

Rocks!

Coleman Valley Road, Occidental
to Arch Rock Beach
Carmet, CA
Sonoma County

Occidental is a one drag town with three bars, a couple restaurants and home collectible stores. I have been told that at scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed here, but I have not confirmed the same to be a fact. Maybe it was Vertigo ... but I digress. From the main street in Occidental there is a road called, Coleman Valley that heads west out to the coast. The drive is crooked and winding and if you don't happen to see the small hand painted wooden directional sign that reads "Ocean" you may miss the turn and head south towards the Bodega Highway. The drive out to the coast takes approximately thirty minutes from Occidental, but the drive goes quickly and the scenery is lovely--picturesque even. Barns, an old school house and cows dot the landscape as you drive through densely wooded expanses and into open meadows on your way to the apex of the hills. Once atop the rolling range, the scent of California sage brush lightly floats in the air indicating that the coast is near!


Soon enough the sage gives way to unencumbered green hills with few trees & shrubs gathered only around small waterways. A few granite outcroppings (rocks!!) can be seen which are indicators of ancient subduction zones. Subduction zones occur when two plate boundaries meet & converge. The more dense plate sinks or is subducted underneath the more buoyant plate. Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust and therefore is subducted under the continental plate to be absorbed back into the mantle. As the sinking plate is subducted the rock material breaks down, water is released which lowers the melting point of the mantle to produce magma. This magma then rises towards the earth surface and can result in a volcanic eruption. Over geological time the magma chambers cool and crystallize forming rock such as granite. As the materials around the chambers erode over millions (MILLIONS) of years, the granite becomes exposed. The granite in the Seirra Nevada's is estimated to be approximately 100 million years old--closer to the coast the rocks are dated at approximately 60-90 million years old. The next time you see a granite outcropping it is likely the site of an ancient volcanic arc--presently viewing the past.





The descent from Coleman Valley is a severe and dramatic drop to a little town called Carmet just south of Jenner. Carmet is home to Arch Rock Beach where many sea stacks and sea arches can be observed. Sea stacks and arches are the remnants of headlands worn down by wave energy. Sea arches form when the waves are directed around the end of a headland and crash on both sides form sea caves which eventually meet up! Once the sea arch falls, it becomes a sea stack. Stacks and arches are evidence of where the headland boundary once lived!



Photos = Joshua R. Neely

Heart's Desire / Tomales Bay

January 17, 2011: Heart's Desire Beach, Tomales Bay State Park
Iverness, California

Heart's Desire Beach is a lovely stretch of taupe colored sand lined by a flat grassy area with wooden picnic tables and iron bbq pits. The entrance to the beach area is flanked by hillsides covered in Bishop Pines with minty green moss hanging like tinsel from their branches. According to the Point of Interest (POI) informational board, the pines depend on natural lightening derived fires for their survival. Lightening strikes the wooded area generating a fire which causes the seeds to pop from the Bishop Pines and fall to the ground, thus completing the circle of life! The fires also serve as a way to clear brush and make way for new baby trees.

Facing Tomales Bay from Heart's Desire there are paths leading into the forested areas on both the left and right sides. We chose the path to the right which lead to Shell Beach less than a mile away headed inland (East?). The path began with a dark wooden staircase which eventually gave way to a black earthen path surrounded by ferns. While we heard many birds, the dense shrubbery provided excellent camouflage and very few were observed. Although, a few tiny bush tits (?) flitted overhead.

After climbing the path, we descended upon Shell Beach, which was at that moment experiencing a low tide exposing a muddy and grassy shore. The sea grass blades were a vivid lime green but laid limp without the salty water to provide support. Sea grass differs from sea kelp (algae) in that it is a plant with roots and seeds. Closer to the backshore, we observed rocks encrusted with muscles, chitons, and anemones retracted into their squishy mouth openings.

CRISIS OF OF IDENTIFICATION

Along the waterline, I found a few curious little creatures, that I still cannot with certainty identify. The creatures in question were about the size of a quarter, bright orange with brown spots and with an abalone like consistency (malleable rubber). At first I thought it might be a type of jellyfish (phylum Cnidaria), but now I am having doubts. Any ideas??

Another peculiar find was a piece of bone vertebrae, we think belongs to a pelican. On this day, we witnessed two large pelicans diving with rapid speed into the bay like a reverse rocket ship breaking into the ocean.





I am fairly certain that my last specimen within the identification crisis section is a sea sponge, but am not wholly sure. The sea creature was covering a rock, very porous and golden orange in color.


MORE OCEANIC FINDS!

On this day, we found over 25 dead salad plate sized jellyfish scattered along the shoreline. These jellies were clear with deep purple gonads! Yes, jellyfish have gonads! I have no idea why there were so many and why they were dead. Sadness.

Against the hillside, a portion of the stratum was exposed showing the geological history which included a layer of burned wood. The area was once known to be inhabited by the Miwok Indians, perhaps the find is evidence of the tribe's occupation of Tomales Bay! The wood is clearly sandwiched between two layers of rock, and part of the stratum.

As the sun started setting and the tide rising, it was time to head back to Heart's Desire and our vehicle. Instead of walking back along the trail, we opted to traverse the shoreline where we were followed by two seals swimming in the silvery water.

Between Heart's Desire & Shell Beach is an expanse of clam bed! Clams are bivalve mollusks that thrive in densely packed beds of rock & sand (according to the other POI). The tide was still very low and the clams were squirting water through their siphons causing a water show rivaling that of the Bellagio.



All photos taken by Joshua R. Neely