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