Low Tide Adventure. Seattle, Washington

The majority of tunicates that you can see at Jack Block are of the multi-colored snot variety, more properly known as Botrylloides violaceus. They may be found occupying pretty much any surface that would normally be underwater. Their size and color will vary greatly. These are colonies of once-vertebrate individual zooids that have settled down together in systems commonly known as chain tunicate. They are covered with a shared sheath and excrete waste collectively through a singular opening. Chain tunicates have a matrix of blood vessels that run throughout the colony.

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The pink, chewing gum looking guy is a sea squirt, a singular type of tunicate. It is the only one of its kind I have observed in the Seattle area.

Mossy, woody and lined chiton proliferate throughout Jack Block park as they do throughout Puget Sound. This individual was covered in seaweed and barnacles. Others have more brilliantly covered shells, though can be easily missed if not paying attention. If you look carefully you are bound to find them on almost every rock revealed by low tide.

Anemones are abundant at Jack Block park. Large, individual anemones can be found dangling from the underside of rocks. Aggregating, or colonial anemones, are present but not abundant. 

Look in between rocks to spot the sea cucumbers at Jack Block. They seem particularly shy in this location. Look out for bright red patches the the shallow waters at the bottom of boulders. Much of the time you will only see their protruding tentacles, and not even that if your approach is indelicate.

Limpets are very common throughout Puget Sound. They are often found attached to a surface with very little of their body visible. The first image shows the underside of a limpet. This is not an ideal position for the creature as it exposes its tender underbits to predators, such as crows. Keyhole limpets are distinguished from common limpets by the hole on the top of their shell. Keyhole limpets live with a worm that will help defend it from predators!

Jack Block is one of many beach parks around Puget Sound where sea stars can regularly be found. What makes this location especially nice for observing them is their relative density in this small area, with the backdrop of an industrial setting. Ocher sea stars in a great spectrum of colors can be found here. Leather stars, though not as common as ocher stars, also make an appearance.