18.08% of the time elapsed - 35.1% of the species count done!

Of course, the number of species is always fluctuating. Not a week goes by without my deleting, adding, or changing a species name from the (so far) 461 observations I logged with iNaturalist.org.

It's been a good few weeks for mollusks, with 59 species so far!!!!

An outstanding mollusk seen since the last blog post is the orange peel nudibranch, Tochuina tetraquetra:

Orange peel nudibranch - Tochuina tetraquetra - Sitka, AK

Brooke also found an American three-toed woodpecker on Kruzof (three-toed woodpeckers are rare in the Sitka area):

American three-toed woodpecker, Picoides dorsalis - Kruzof Island, AK

The day after the three-toed woodpecker, we saw hundreds of harbor porpoises. Usually if we see a lot of porpoises in Southeast, they are Dall's porpoises. Yes - the black dots in the background are also porpoises!

Harbor porpoise, Phocoena phocoena - South of Kruzof Island, AK

There were also some good news in the tunicate side of things. So far I have seen 16 species of tunicates, including two species I hadn't found before (Styela yakutatensis and Didemnum albidum), and two specimens of this amazing parasitic flatworm inside the solitary ascidian Corella willmeriana (you can see its ventral surface through the tunic of the individual in the left side of the picture):

Eurylepta leoparda, a parasitic flatworm in tunicates, inside Corella willmeriana. Jamestown Bay, Sitka, Alaska

Platyheminthes, parasitic in ascidians, Eurylepta leoparda

I also got to 22 mosses and four liverworts, from almost none of either group, mainly thanks to Matt Goff. Matt went on a short walk with me to show me some common mosses, and gave me detailed instructions on how to find a few more species. Also, Kari Sagel loaned me her dissecting microscope for the year, which helps me take diagnostic photos of mosses, such as of this Rhytidiadelphus loreus from Starrigavan Valley:

Rhytidiadelphus loreus - Sitka, Alaska

And thanks to Brooke, too, of course!

A month and a half in, and one quarter of the way there!

I haven't added many species at all lately, because I was very busy with work and school, and the weather was not great. I still haven't seen a mockingbird, but I did find one of the rare birds that were reported recently: the chipping sparrow.

Since it is still winter, Brooke and me are still snorkeling a lot

Brooke snorkeling in Sitka

Here is a nice sea anemone: Urticina lofotensis

Urticina lofotensis

Here is another anemone, very common but always pretty, from a Valentine's Day snorkeling trip in Leesofskaia Bay:

Metridium farcimen

For those of you who aren't familiar with the species, it's about the length and width of a person's arm.

I also found a giant nudibranch, Dendronotus iris. I do not see one of those every year.

Otherwise, most of the species I added since January were species that I will probably see again over the course of the year.

The biggest surprise last month was that I had already seen 11 species of echinoderms. Now it's an even bigger surprise to find out that I saw 18 species of echinoderms so far!!!!

One of my echinoderms showed up as a single arm on a fishing hook that had gotten hung up on the bottom. I immediately recognized it as the fish-eating starfish (also known as velcro star) Stylasterias forreri and tossed it into the bait bucket to take a picture later. When I retrieved it from the bait bucket it had attached itself to a couple of bait herring. If a fish is complacent enough to land on its back, this species of starfish is capable of catching it with its dorsal pedicellaria, and eating it. Way to go, echinoderms of Sitka Sound!

Fish-eating starfish, Stylasterias forreri

Here is the list of echinoderms seen so far this year, as of February 15:

Amphiodia occidentalis

Cucumaria miniata

Cucumaria pallida

Dendraster excentricus

Dermasterias imbricata

Evasterias troschelii

Henricia leviuscula

Leptasterias hexactis

Mediaster aequalis

Ophiopholis aculeata

Parastichopus californicus

Pisaster brevispinus

Pisaster ochraceus

Psolus chitonoides

Pycnopodia helianthoides

Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis

Strongylocentrotus franciscanus

Stylasterias forreri

Basically, I will probably end the year with 25 echinoderms, which is very, very good. I now have to look for Eupenctata spp., Cucumaria vegae, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Strongylocentrotus pallidus, Solaster dawsoni, Solaster stimpsoni, Orthasterias koehleri, a Chiridota, and perhaps a subtidal surprise on the longline, like a crinoid, sand star, or unusual Solaster. I know people that have found slime stars, Crossasters, and black-spined sea stars here, but I have never found any of those. I will look!

And since we are on the theme of echinoderms, here are a couple more species seen in the past month:

Amphiodia occidentalis

Henricia leviuscula - the blood star - the other species of Henricia here is rare

Six armed star

Daisy brittle star - Ophiopholis aculeata

Giant pink star - Pisaster brevispinus

CUcumaria miniata and Cucumaria pallida - supposedly different species

Parastichopus californicus

Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, pale form

Introducing the thousand species project!

This year I am starting something new to me: to try and find 1,000 different species in southeast Alaska within one year.

Of course, this is still Alaska in the winter, where some habitats are buried under snow and many species are dormant, gone, or otherwise inaccessible. Thankfully, there isn't much snow and I know a few people who are willing and able to help. First of all, Brooke (above), and also Matt Goff, Kitty LaBounty, Aaron Baldwin (in Juneau), and many other people both online and in real life.

Also thankfully, things are just fine underwater:

At the very beginning of the year I was still working two jobs so I just counted a few birds at the feeders in the front yard, and at Swan Lake. Then I set up an account with a website that should help me log, identify and report the 1,000 species: http://www.inaturalist.org/

iNaturalist is a useful website because I need a place to put my observations and have others check them, and they need people to upload observations to attain critical mass. So far, they only have about a million observations, which is only a thousand people doing a project like this.

So far, over the first fifteen days I have logged 185 species. The website counts 175 or so, because of some peculiarities of the way in which they count. That's fine. The biggest suprise so far is this:

I introduce you to Chirolophis decoratus, the decorated warbonnet, an amazing fish we found snorkeling and I had never, ever seen before. Brooke actually touched it.

I predicted that I would start out with mostly birds, and so far that is mostly accurate. I found 56 birds, mostly abundant species but also a couple of rare ones, such as the American kestrel and American tree sparrow.

A surprise is that I already have seen a large number of the local echinoderms, 11 species in all, out of not very many total (echinoderms are the starfishes, sea cucumbers and sea urchins). I expect to see maybe three more sea cucumbers, one sand dollar, five more starfishes, one more brittle star, two more sea urchins, and a sea lily if I am lucky. That means I am almost halfway through that group, which is rather incredible.

I also found a couple of good nudibranch, including this stunning Tritonia festiva:

I am also almost halfway through the expected tunicates, which is less surprising since so many of them are most easily found in the harbors and the rare ones are not easily identified without DNA analysis. So far, I have observed six tunicates.

Here is my list so far, only in Latin at this time:

Pleurophycus gardneri	Alga
Chondracanthus exasperatus	Alga
Nereocystis luetkeana	Alga
Macrocystis integrifolia	Alga
Arenaria melanocephala	Bird
Catharus guttatus	Bird
Histrionicus histrionicus	Bird
Fulica americana	Bird
Larus thayeri	Bird
Aythya collaris	Bird
Bucephala clangula	Bird
Spinus pinus	Bird
Troglodytes pacificus	Bird
Agelaius phoeniceus	Bird
Brachyramphus marmoratus	Bird
Calypte anna	Bird
Haematopus bachmani	Bird
Actitis macularius	Bird
Falco sparverius	Bird
Spizella arborea	Bird
Podiceps grisegena	Bird
Uria aalge	Bird
Gavia pacifica	Bird
Phalocrocorax auritus	Bird
Melanitta fusca	Bird
Melanitta perspicillata	Bird
Larus canus	Bird
Anas crecca carolinensis	Bird
Aix sponsa	Bird
Sialia currucoides	Bird
Aythya affinis	Bird
Turdus migratorius	Bird
Bombycilla garrulus	Bird
Megaceryle alcyon	Bird
Gavia immer	Bird
Bucephala islandica	Bird
Podiceps auritus	Bird
Bucephala albeola	Bird
Phalocrocorax pelagicus	Bird
Aythya marila	Bird
Clangula hyemalis	Bird
Mergus merganser	Bird
Ardea herodias	Bird
Mergus serrator	Bird
Haliaaetus leucocephalus	Bird
Loxia curvirostra	Bird
Poecile rufescens	Bird
Ixoreus naevius	Bird
Cinclus mexicanus	Bird
Regulus satrapa	Bird
Corvus caurinus	Bird
Zonotrichia leucophrys	Bird
Melospiza melodia	Bird
Anas platyrhynchos	Bird
Anas americana	Bird
Sturnus vulgaris	Bird
Streptopelia decaocto	Bird
Passerella iliaca	Bird
Zonotrichia atricapilla	Bird
Junco hyemalis oreganus	Bird
Anthopleura artemisia	Cnidarian
Metridium senile	Cnidarian
Gersemia rubiformis	Cnidarian
Metridium farcimen	Cnidarian
Anthopleura xanthogrammica	Cnidarian
Hemigrapsus nudus	Crustacean
Hesperibalanus hesperius	Crustacean
Pentidotea wosnesenskii	Crustacean
Oregonia gracilis	Crustacean
Heptacarpus brevirostris	Crustacean
Balanus nubilus	Crustacean
Pugettia gracilis	Crustacean
Pandalus danae	Crustacean
Pandalus platyceros	Crustacean
Semibalanus cariosus	Crustacean
Hemigrapsus oregonensis	Crustacean
Munida quadrispina	Crustacean
Strongylocentrus franciscanus	Echinoderm
Pisaster ochraceus	Echinoderm
Psolus chitonoides	Echinoderm
Ophiopholis aculeata	Echinoderm
Cucumaria miniata	Echinoderm
Dermasterias imbricata	Echinoderm
Pycnopodia helianthoides	Echinoderm
Mediaster aequalis	Echinoderm
Strongylocentrus droebachiensis	Echinoderm
Parastichopus californicus	Echinoderm
Evasterias troschelii	Echinoderm
Polystichum braunii	Fern
Adiantum aleuticum	Fern
Polystichum setigerum	Fern
Huperzia miyoshiana	Fern
Polystichum andersonii	Fern
Gymnocarpium disjunctum	Fern
Equsetum variegatum	Fern
Polypodium glycyrrhiza	Fern
Artedius fenestralis	Fish
Pholis laeta	Fish
Chirolophis decoratus	Fish
Sebastes caurinus	Fish
Sebastes entomelas	Fish
Xylaria hypoxylon	Fungus
Heterotextus alpinus	Fungus
Nidula candida	Fungus
Fomitopsis pinicola	Fungus
Nidula niveotomentosa	Fungus
Pleurotopsis longinqua	Fungus
Trametes versicolor	Fungus
Ganoderma applanatum	Fungus
Cladonia cornuta	Lichen
Cladonia maxima	Lichen
Pilophorus clavatus	Lichen
Lecanora xylophila	Lichen
Caloplaca verruculifera	Lichen
Icmadophila ericetorum	Lichen
Neovison vison	Mammal
Megaptera novaeangliae	Mammal
Phoca vitulina	Mammal
Eumetopias jubatus	Mammal
Enhydra lutris	Mammal
Tamasciurus hudsonicus	Mammal
Homo sapiens	Mammal
Lottia pelta	Mollusk
Macoma balthica	Mollusk
Protothaca staminea	Mollusk
Pododesmus macrochisma	Mollusk
Aegires albopunctatus	Mollusk
Hermissenda crassicornis	Mollusk
Doris montereyensis	Mollusk
Katharina tunicata	Mollusk
Tritonia festiva	Mollusk
Acanthodoris hudsoni	Mollusk
Ceratostoma foliatum	Mollusk
Lirabuccinum dirum	Mollusk
Cryptochiton stelleri	Mollusk
Tonicella lineata	Mollusk
Amphissa columbiana	Mollusk
Acmaea mitra	Mollusk
Mytilus trossulus	Mollusk
Clinocardium nuttallii	Mollusk
Hylocomium splendens	Moss
Vaccinium oxycoccos	Plant
Picea sitchensis	Plant
Alnus viridis ssp. Sinuata	Plant
Boschniakia rossica	Plant
Lysichiton americanus	Plant
Elliottia pyroloflorus	Plant
Claytonia sibirica	Plant
Plantago major	Plant
Maianthemum dilatatum	Plant
Phyllospadix serrulatus	Plant
Geum macrophyllum	Plant
Senecio vulgaris	Plant
Aruncus dioicus	Plant
Sambucus racemosa	Plant
Oplopanax horridus	Plant
Juniperus communis	Plant
Empetrum nigrum	Plant
Ledum groenlandicum	Plant
Kalmia polyfolia	Plant
Pinus contorta var. contorta	Plant
Tsuga mertensiana	Plant
Moneses uniflora	Plant
Cupressus nootkatensis	Plant
Tiarella trifoliata	Plant
Rubus pedatus	Plant
Cornus canadensis	Plant
Menziesia ferruginea	Plant
Coptis asplenifolia	Plant
Tsuga heterophylla	Plant
Rubus spectabilis	Plant
Taraxacum officinale	Plant
Digitalis purpurea	Plant
Ranunculus repens	Plant
Heracleum maximum	Plant
Alnus rubra	Plant
Pyura haustor	Tunicate
Ascidia columbiana	Tunicate
Halocynthia igaboja	Tunicate
Metandrocarpa taylori	Tunicate
Botryllus schlosseri	Tunicate
Botrylloides violaceus	Tunicate
Eudistylia vancouveri	Worm
Serpula columbiana	Worm
Myxicola infundibulum	Worm

More random pictures of mountain life

Rock ptarmigan



Loiseleuria procumbens - Alpine azalea



Saxifraga eschscholtzii - Ciliate saxifrage












Ranunculus cooleyae - Cooley's buttercup










Gray-crowned rosy finch

Photos from our latest kayaking trip

Dunlin


Brown Bear


Semipalmated plovers


Lesser yellowlegs


Whimbrel


Wandering tattlers


Rock ptarmigan


Rock ptarmigan


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Mines in Prince William Sound

There are a bunch of interesting mines in Prince William Sound. They're fun to explore, although sometimes made even more interesting by rotten timbers and caved-in roofs.


Oh, and they're always more or less flooded:


This is a cool stamp mill:


There are also little ore carts abandoned all over the place:


An old boiler:


Another ore cart:


Sometimes it's just downright sketchy - and fun!!!


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Walking around in Prince William Sound

Here are some pictures of hiking during last summer's kayaking trip in Prince William Sound.