September 30, 2015

Eleanor Siebers called from the BLM Yaquina Head Interpretive Center to report a wood chunk with mussels found yesterday on Cobble Beach of Yaquina Head (30 Sept.

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Eleanor Siebers called from the BLM Yaquina Head Interpretive Center to report a wood chunk with mussels found yesterday on Cobble Beach of Yaquina Head (30 Sept. 2015) by “Lucia." It is local - NOT Japanese marine tsunami debris (JTMD). However, it was very good that I could have a look. It had plenty of “red flags." The giant stainless screws in it have what looks like a kanji character on their heads. The delicate, smooth mussels are definitely NOT the coastal Mytilus californianus and the log is heavily drilled by wood boring clams and isopods. However, it also has a lot of mud tubes that wouldn’t last a sea crossing, it has lots of very young and no old acorn barnacles and it has no sign of being at sea for four years. There were no traces of the pelagic barnacle, Lepas, for instance. Some pictures below. Seeing it was critical. Good job everybody. I saved 4 mussels from it for now. (all the mussels are small too)