The megalopae are here!

While the students deserted us on 24 May, the Pearson College dock has thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands?) of visitors right now. The final larval stage of the Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) is called a megalopa and there a many, many megalopae swarming around the dock.

On the dock, there are also thousands of juvenile crabs scrambling around.  The megalopae molt and metamorphose into the benthic juvenile stage seen below.

There are also many megalopae and juveniles on the succession substrates that students put in the water in September 2012.

 And Ivan thought nothing was using his wire!

Passing the tooth

Ivan (far left) and Steph (far right), both year 39, each received a sea lion canine tooth from Chris and Sammy (year 38) on the PC dock this afternoon to recognize their outstanding enthusiasm for Marine Science.

Window into a sea urchin

Students writing their first year field exam at Race Rocks on Saturday 11 May spotted this green sea urchin with a window to its Aristotle’s lantern. More details about the field exam to come…

Intertidalling deer

Ela spotted these black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) walking in the intertidal mudflats near our Maintenance dock on Wednesday 1 May. She said that while they did have some difficulty traveling across the mud, they were much more at ease than small-footed humans seem to be.

Thanks for the photos Ela!