August 13, 2013

Temperature: 68 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: 0.6 feet.

Number of people: 15. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 10. Playing in sand: 5. observing tide pools

bits of crab shells all along the drift line.A few pelicans skimming the waves, couple hundred murres on the large Gull Rock. Brown jelly fish here and there.

Unusual concentration. large deposits of crab carapaces and parts, presumably from molting, in two locations. Large clumps of seaweed entangled with crab shells.Huge number of small (2 inch) translucent casings (worms?). see photos

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt).

I called the Marine biology dept. in Astoria about the large amount of what looked like dead crab to me.They informed me that at this time of year large scale molting takes place and such deposits are not rare.The next day (today) I did go back and examined the remaining shells more closely: indeed, the "inhabitant" was gone, slipped out the back to grow a new shell in a safe place.