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Views of South Beach, Studland, in November

winderjssc — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:05:49 +0000

Even on a bleak, late November afternoon, Studland Bay is magnificent. Each part of Studland has a really different character. As black clouds and heavy rain passed over South Beach last week, the dramatic dark sky temporarily opened to allow passage of a shaft of sunlight. Dodging the raindrops, and with much wiping of the lens, I managed to get a shot of the wonderful rainbow that formed far out on the horizon and arched right over the bay. The rainbow’s end was on Knoll Beach where it illuminated the great long golden strip of sandy beach and dunes.

The yellow sands of South Beach itself were partly obscured by fallen sweet chestnut leaves from the trees topping the low cliff. The amazing red and yellow sandstone rocks of the cliffs brightened this beach even though it remained in the cloud and the rain.

The cliff face has thousands of small holes which are the entrances to burrows excavated in the warmer months by miner bees for their eggs. In the winter, these tunnels seem to be occupied by spiders that festoon them with cobwebs.

In stark contrast to the remarkable natural features of South Beach, is a remnant from World War II. A concrete ‘pill box’ fortification leans tipsily seawards right on the promontory which is the junction of South Beach with Middle Beach. I imagine that it may have once stood on the top of the cliff because the rock is soft and continually eroding back. I’ll have to look into the history of it.

The cliff colours vary along the length of South Beach and the rock strata show interesting layers, patterns, sculpturing and cross-bedding. The soft sediments have attracted generation after generation of rock carvers.

Picturesque old-fashioned beach huts nestle at the base of the cliff amongst the trees; boarded up against the winter elements now - the same as the little wooden cafe. Small boats have been hauled high up the shore – hopefully safe from being washed away with high tides.

The beach itself was strewn with mostly red seaweeds and individual heaps of flint pebbles washed up by stormy seas. Blackened strands were scattered everywhere from the underwater eel grass beds just offshore – home to rare species.

© Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog, 2009. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including both text and photographs, without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Variety Scenes at Columbia River

judyphoto — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:19:46 +0000

I may have went by that place many times, and never had noticed a new Beach restaurant perched on edge of Columbia river if not for Dunn girl showed me in the new homes built not long ago. Next time I would take my husband for a lazily stroll through the beach shore beside Columbia river and show him new wonderful view. So peacefully there! Several people jogging, or relaxing by the river. Good place for rolling blade skating, or riding bike, as well.

Let you take a peek through my camera lens below:

Beach Art 9 - Love Token

winderjssc — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:00:03 +0000

It seems to be an irristible urge – creating declarations of love and romantic attachment, that is, ….as well as the other! This is one of many ephemeral messages in the sand. Here’s hoping the passions lasted longer than the transient beach art expression of it.

Lugworm casts at Whiteford Sands again

winderjssc — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:05:16 +0000

I couldn’t resist taking photographs of the lug worm casts on Whiteford Sands again. There seemed to be more than ever in October. I was struck by the patterns they made. First of all, the patterns within the worm casts themselves – the shape similar to the one you’d get if you had squeezed out the entire contents of a tooth paste tube in one spot – only made of sand. An incredibly long and sinuous unbroken sandy coil. These casts were huge.

The second type of pattern was made by the arrangement of the thousands and thousands of casts and burrow holes on the sea shore – especially where it was covered by a gleaming surface layer of seawater that reflected not only the blue of the sky but the image of the worm casts as well – this made the mounds of sand look twice the size from a distance.

The worm cast patterns could perhaps be considered as naturally-occurring abstract designs. I played around with computer-generated effects to see how they would look. Applying the high solarization effect results in a scene that looks almost moonlit, or a negative image, and for full impact is perhaps best seen with the photograph blown up to highest extent.

The casts were really big. I don’t know whether this was because the worms were taking advantage of sediments that were particularly enriched with microscopic nutrients. Or whether it was the opposite scenario, where a vast quantity of sand had to be quickly passed through the gut of the worm in order to extract the meagre distribution of food particles.

Whatever the case, I don’t think I have seen so many casts at this location midway along the beach before. Mostly I have seen them much further eastwards beyond Whiteford Point. I may be wrong, but I think I remember hearing that the water in the Loughor estuary has become enriched by stormwater and sewage overflow in recent years and this has been suggested as a possible indirect cause for the mass deaths in the cockle populations in the area. I wonder if this is connected to the the apparent population boom in lug worms?

There is more about these marine worms in the earlier post Lug Worms from Whiteford Sands.

Blog Challenge Day 1: Lifes a Beach

amy@amykoehler — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:56:16 +0000

This is just the challenge I need: @gwenbell’s “The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge” and I intend to stick with it. So, here goes…

http://www.gwenbell.com/blog/2009/11/30/the-best-of-2009-blog-challenge.html

Well, 2009 wasn’t a stellar year for travel for the Koehler family. Finances in general have been pretty tight so we’ve stayed pretty close to home for the most part. However, any trip to a beach is a wonderful trip, no matter where the beach is. Sand, ocean, sun and mixed drinks are all my husband and I need to relax, refresh and renew. And the kids? What kid doesn’t love the ocean. And what parent doesn’t love watching their kids loving the ocean. Its nature at its best. So this summer’s trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina was the best trip of 2009 for us. Life is good on the beach…

Our very favorite place to go is Bald Head Island in NC. I highly recommend it. You can only get there by ferry and there are no cars on the Island. Just golf carts. The homes are lovely and the waves perfect.

We also love Sanibel Island in FL. We went there a few times while we were living in Atlanta and it really is beautiful and peaceful there. The Gulf Coast is truly magical.

Closer to home, we’re lucky to have the NJ Shore and we go “down the shore” as often as possible. It’s not paradise but, hey, it does the trick. Very much like the beach I hung out on and worked at as a teenager, Jones Beach. And a glamorous career I had in the Field 4 (the most popular) parking lot of Jones Beach. Yup. I collected entrance tickets while sweltering away in drab green long pants and starchy top. Thankfully, they let the kids wear shorts now.

A wonderful bird is the pelican

vickip2 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:59:55 +0000

As the evening sun was setting, we tested the shyness of this pelican by gradually approaching his rocky Pt George post at Indented Head. As this series of photos shows – he was quite relaxed.

Pelican returns to Indented Head for summer

Peican is cool about our approach

As a child, holidaying on the Bellarine peninsula, these graceful birds were a rare sight. However in recent years, it is quite common to see them gliding overhead or paddling in the shallows. Despite their growing numbers, they are still a majestic and pleasant sight. I can’t help remembering the popular limerick -

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His beak can hold more than his belican.

He can take in his beak,

Enough food for a week –

I’m blowed if I know how the helican.

Pelican still calm

This pelican was the first to return to our shores for the approaching summer. Perhaps it’s not surprising that he’s not that shy – he’s well used to getting close to humans. Over the summer he will position himself on the shore and in the shallows as he seeks to maximise his bounty – the heads and entrails from the fishermen’s catches.

1677

thewaterworks — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:29:38 +0000

Where the ocean meets the shore. The path of experience is bounded by waves of desire on the one side and the sandcastles of imagination on the other.

Big Quahog Clam at Studland Bay

winderjssc — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:05:32 +0000

In the heavy, squally rain of last Friday, I found this really large and weighty living specimen of bivalved mollusc washed up on the sand at Studland Bay’s South Beach, Dorset. It doesn’t look like a common British species on account of its great size…and it isn’t. It is a Quahog – Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus) - which is a native clam of the north eastern United States of America. This type of mollusc was introduced to the British Isles accidentally in the middle of the 19th century. It is thought to have been introduced to our waters by ships such as cruise liners travelling from the States to south coast ports like Southampton in England – maybe surviving when some clams were thrown overboard with other food refuse once they were no longer fresh.

Quahogs have a rounded triangular outline and measure upto 120 mm long, i.e. about 5 inches. They are light brown to grey in colour and have many thin concentric ridges which are raised and sharp at the anterior and posterior ends, and also in new growth areas, on the outside surface of their thick shells. The ridges are smoother in the middle of larger shells. In front of the rounded prominences known as the umbones there is a beautiful, distinctive, and striated heart-shaped area called the lunule where the left and right valves join. Quahogs live in mud on the low shore or just off-shore.

The photographs show this lovely creature from various angles and as it was first seen on the beach. This magnificent mollusc was returned to the sea – I am not sure how rare it might be in this location.

UAE acts to shore up banking system and calm markets

Viet Nam — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:10:08 +0000

The United Arab Emirates central bank on Sunday pumped more liquidity into its banking sector amid fears that local stock markets may plunge after debt-laden Dubai asked to suspend debt payments.

The intervention is seen as a step to soothe investors and bank depositors after the shock announcement that state-controlled Dubai World wants to halt payments to creditors until at least May next year.

“This is a step aimed to calm investors… Markets should be calmer (than feared) tomorrow,” said Emirati financial analyst Nasser bin Gaith.

“This means that banks will be on the safe side,” a UAE official who requested anonymity told AFP.

The central bank’s move came just before the the stock markets in Dubai and neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi have their first chance on Monday to react to the disclosure of the debt difficulties, which were unveiled just before the start of a four-day holiday for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

A foreign labourer pictured at the construction site of Dubai’s Business Bay on November 27

The central bank said in a statement, unusually issued during a holiday, that it was providing banks with extra liquidity, stressing its support to the banking sector.

But bin Gaith expects the decision to have no real immediate impact on Dubai’s debt problem, pointing out that Dubai World is largely indebted to foreign banks.

“On practical level,there is no direct impact… Local banks have limited exposure to Dubai World, unlike foreign banks,” he said.

British banks reportedly have a total exposure of 30 billion dollars to Dubai World.

And until the UAE stock exchanges reopen on Monday it is uncertain to what extent investors will be reassured by the central bank’s statement.

“I expect to see a drop in Dubai’s market when it opens Monday… a minimum of two-three percent,” Saudi financial analyst Ali Daqaq told AFP. Dubai stock market rules limit the index to a change of 10 percent in one day.

“The banking sector will be the hardest hit, due to exposure to loans, and the danger of default on this debt,” he said, speaking before the central bank pledged support for banks.

The central bank said the UAE banking sector stands stronger and more liquid than a year ago and that it enjoys a “strong base of stable deposits.”

Other Gulf stock markets have also been on holiday since Thursday for Eid al-Adha, sparing them an immediate impact from Dubai’s announcement.

However, the news sent jitters throughout Asian and European stock markets on Thursday and the US market on Friday as investors feared a possible default by Dubai and its state-owned businesses, which together owe 80 billion dollars.

Some economists say the delay in the reaction by Gulf markets because of Eid might reduce the severe impact on those bourses.

“Market fundamentals say that the local market should be negatively affected by the announcement, especially banks and real estate stocks,” bin Ghaith told AFP before the central bank announcement.

“The reaction by the global markets was psychological, and came strongly. I expect the reaction here to be less hard because the first shock was absorbed by the global markets,” he said.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be the only Gulf stock markets to open on Monday, while Kuwait follows on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia’s financial market, the largest Arab bourse in capitalisation, will remain on holiday until Saturday.

The markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi will have only two days of trading before they go again on holiday until Sunday December 6, for the national day.

Gulf investors outside the UAE are worried about contagion from Dubai’s problems.

“Even here in Saudi Arabia people are talking about withdrawing from the market when it opens (next) Saturday in fear of the impact of the banks’ exposure to Dubai’s debt,” Daqaq said.

Saudi economist Abdulwahab Abu-Dahesh expects a crash in the region’s markets. “I expect Gulf bourses to dive like the September crash last year,” following Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, he said.

Dubai does not have big oil reserves, unlike Abu Dhabi which sits on around 95 percent of the UAE’s crude deposits.

But doubts have been growing about Abu Dhabi’s commitment to buoy Dubai, despite a full subscription by two Abu Dhabi-controlled banks to Dubai bonds worth five billion dollars, announced a few hours before Dubai hinted at debt default.

The once-rapidly-booming economy of Dubai came to a screeching halt — most noticeably in its real estate sector, after being hit by financing shortage due to the global financial crisis.

Property prices in the once-booming desert city have slumped by 50 percent.

The latest edition of Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper was barred from news-stands in Dubai because of a graphic showing the emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum sinking in a sea of debt.

“The Sunday Times was not distributed today,” an official from the UAE national media council told AFP, requesting anonymity.

“We cannot accept a personal insult. It is against our traditions,” he said.

Source: SGGP Bookmark & Share

Builders' bags on the beach

winderjssc — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:05:07 +0000

On a single walk along the beach on 28th October 2009 I noticed 16 big polypropylene builders’ bags in various states of burial and disintegration. Here is the photographic evidence for this relatively new plastic flotsam phenomenon. Each white bag measures about a metre cubed. They sometimes have contrasting reinforced black or blue taped seams and carrying handles. The writing on one bag says it contained a tonne of sugar originally. So, the bags have probably had all sorts of uses, including bulk dry goods for the building trade and local transport of cockles and mussels, before ending up on the shore.

The Fiddler in His Hole (Part III)

Allison Frost — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:17:03 +0000

Part I – Part II

The Fiddler in His Hole (Part III)
17 August 2009
Mill Creek, Sag Harbor, NY

Fish bones & fishing net at Rhossili

winderjssc — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:00:13 +0000

These intricate and delicate structures are vertebrae from a fish. They seem both complex and beautiful. They are an example of the interesting and amazing things you can find washed up on strandlines if you only take a closer look. These backbones were still articulated and joined to the head (illustrated in the picture below). I am not certain, yet, what type of fish this is but I am going to find out when I can access the right literature; both the bones and the scales can provide clues for identification.

It would have been very easy to overlook these fishy remains on the beach. An entire mono-filament nylon fishing net, complete with the catch of fish, was washed ashore and mostly buried in the sand. Only a small portion of the net was visible above the surface. On close inspection, dead fish heads and bones were entangled in the mesh and protruding from the sand – as you can see in the photographs below. Some of the skin and scales remained but the meat had been removed. In the sand around the nets and bones are small holes where small seashore creatures, like the sandhopper amphipods, have burrowed into the sediments and feasted on the fish.

Beachcombings (2)

winderjssc — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:18:21 +0000

Found objects from the Gower coastline. The tiny Teddy Bear with his red hat was washed up on Rhossili beach – see the picture below for how he looked when I found him. He now lives comfortably dry in the bowl shaped remains of a metal fishing float that I picked up on Whiteford Sands – “La Coquille” is embossed on the outer surface. The corrosion gives a rough weathered textural surface to the float; and inside there is a series of radiating ribs that make an interesting pattern. I used the piece of bright blue and yellow discarded fishing rope to carry the float home.

Poor Teddy!

The Little Bird on the Rocky Shore (Part II)

Allison Frost — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:26:19 +0000

The Little Bird on the Rocky Shore (Part II)
21 September 2009
Tiana Beach (bay side), East Quogue, NY

Pebbles made of iron

winderjssc — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:00:32 +0000

Immediately recognisable because of their heavy weight, nodules of iron pyrites commonly weather out of the cliff face rocks along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, UK. The top photograph shows an arrangement of iron pyrites pebbles from the seashore at Charmouth.

These metal pebbles are composed of a mixture of iron and sulphur. The name pyrites derives from the Greek word meaning fire – because sparks fly when they are struck by another stone or metal. The smooth rounded shapes are natural and not the result of wear while rolling around on the beach. Inside, they have a crystal structure. Iron pyrites is also found as veins through rock joints; and the replacement of the original organic compounds in fossils such as ammonites.

If you would like to learn more about ‘what is pyrite?’, click here for the website Discovering Fossils – bringing the prehistoric world to life.

W.H. Street and J.A.S. Street Records

yorksunburymuseum — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:29:27 +0000

MC300-MS7 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection
Description (page 121)

If you are interested in any of these files then please contact the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

“The documents in this series were kept by two brothers, William Henry Street and John Ambrose Sherman Street, who were born in Burton, Sunbury County, the sons of Hon. Samuel Deny Street and Abigail Freeman. They were educated at public schools in Burton and Fredericton.

William Henry Street was born April 11, 1793. After completing his education, he engaged in the mercantile business in Saint John. He was twice mayor of Saint John (1835-1836 and 1848-1849) and served in the militia. In the General Election of 1842, he ran for Saint John City and, after protest, was awarded the seat. He sat until the dissolution of the House in 1846 when he retired from politics. W.H. Street was married twice: in 1824 to Mary Bruce, and in 1847 to Sarah Boyd Orr. He died in Saint John on April 4, 1875.

John Ambrose Sherman Street was born September 22, 1795. He studied in his father’s law office and was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar on February 22, 1817. He practiced law at Chatham, Northumberland County, and in 1823 married Jane Isabella Hubbard. He was elected to the Assembly as a Conservative member for Northumberland County at a by-election in 1833. He sat in the House almost continuously until his defeat in 1856. He then moved to Fredericton and unsuccessfully ran for York County in 1861 and 1865. He was made a member of the Executive Council in 1851, and served as Attorney-General until 1854. He died in 1865.

The Street Records pertain to the legal and business affairs of the brothers. The material is catalogued alphabetically according to client’s name. The types of documents found here include: indentures, deeds, declarations, bonds, assignments, correspondence, and leases. The material dates from 1812 to 1863. This series measures 9 centimeters.”

1 Bedell, George A.; Woodstock, 1855-1862.

2 Betts, David and Levi; Newcastle, 1831.

3 Bowman, William, and Daniel Campbell; Liverpool England, 1845.

4 Chisholm, Patrick; Northesk, 1828.

5 Clarke, Alexander; Nelson Parish, 1828-1831.

6 Clarke, Richard Samuel, High Sheriff, for land of William Matchett to Oliver Stringer; James Vye to John, Alexander and James Fraser; Charles McDonald and Ronald Davidson to James McDonald and William Ravinscroft. Dennis Cochran, Samuel Porter to James D. Berton; William and Elizabeth Murray; and Thomas and Alexandra Wilson; Northumberland County, 1825-1832.

7 Crookshank, Robert W.; Saint John, 1826-1852.

8 Cunard, Henry; Newcastle, 1836.

9 Davidson, Allan, William, John and Phineas; Newcastle Parish, 1824-1847.

10 Hooper, Nehemiah Story; St. Mary’s Parish, 1851-1857.

11 Jardine, Alexander, Robert Jardine and Barnabas Tilton; Saint John City, 1849.

12 Johnson, John M, High Sheriff, for lands of Patrick Flannigan, and Alexander Clarke; Northumberland County, 1841.

13 Kerr, George, of Newcastle, for lands of John Kerr, John Mayes, and Jane Matthew to John Walker; Jeremiah Newman; Alexander Fraser Jr., George McGuigor, and Joseph Saunders; Andrew and James Grant; William Henry Moore; Northumberland County, 1828-1843.

14 Kirk, James; Saint John City, 1847.

15 Matthew, George; Saint John City, 1812-1850.

16 Mersereau, Jacob; Blackville Parish, 1831-1837.

17 Miller, Edward, High Sheriff, and William Grigor for lands of George A. Munro; York County, 1843.

18 Mitchell, Peter and Barbara, and William and Isabella Masson; Newcastle, 1828.

19 Moore, William Henry, and Patrick Keho and Alexander Fraser Jr.; Parish of Chatham, 1824-1826.

20 McDermott, John; Blackville Parish, 1842.

21 McKay, Donald and Zilpah; 1825.

22 McLaggan, Alexander; Blackville, 1850-1862.

23 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company for lands of George Barrett; Stanley, 1847.

24 Rankin, Alexander, (William Bedell, W.H. Shore, Francis Ferguson, George and John Monroe); Miramichi, 1833-1855.

25 Spencer, John; Ludlow, 1841.

26 Spahn, Justin; 1856.

27 Small, Otis; Saint John, 1845.

28 Street, Louisa Isabella; William Woodbridge Street; Rev. Charles Frederic Street; John Ambrose Street; and George D. Street; Newcastle, 1845.

29 Sutter, Byron, John Connelly, Allan Lyons, and Alexander Davidson; Miramichi, 1839.

30 Walker, John, James Robertson and Mary Green; Saint John, 1840.

31 Worrall, George William; Saint John, 1847.

32 Young, James, Alexander McLean, Alexander McLaggan, and Neil McLean; Nashwaak, 1852.

33 Miscellaneous items; 1847-1863.

A different kind of Mermaid's Purse

winderjssc — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:00:40 +0000

Mermaid’s Purses become dry, black and brittle when they dry out on the beach. So they look very different from the fresh ones which are olive brown colour and translucent. The egg and embryo can often be seen within the egg case when it is fresh.

These photographs show the dessicated, black egg case of a Skate or Ray. These are different from the fresh Dogfish egg cases illustrated in the previous posts, Mermaid’s Purses at Fall Bay and Some more Mermaid’s Purses from Gower. Dog fish egg cases are a more elongated rectangle with curling tendrils on each corner that are used to attach the cases to seaweed or other objects. The Skate egg case, in comparison, is squarer in outline and has stiff curving spikes on each corner.

Submerged forest at Broughton Bay

winderjssc — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:05:27 +0000

The ragged tree stumps and roots, strewn over the seashore at Broughton Bay on the north coast of the Gower Peninsula, are the remains of a birch tundra woodland that once covered the ancient land surface. They lie in position, just as they were growing before they were inundated. Ten thousand years ago in the Pleistocene Period, a large river, fed by tributaries such as the Loughor, occupied what is now the Bristol Channel with its Atlantic waters. The last extension of the ice sheets in this area, during the late Devensian Period, had been about 8,500 years earlier. As the ice receded up into the valleys of South Wales, the climate had warmed up and allowed vegetation to flourish. The sea level at that time was about 22.5 metres lower than it is at the present.

By the beginning of the Neolithic Period 5,700 years ago, however, the sea level began to rise because of the increasing volume of global meltwater and its accompanying land subsidence. The forests and peat bogs of the coastal margins were submerged and buried in sediment…..until the 1980s when the remains began to reappear on Gower shores as the surface sediments began to erode away. Now, large expanses of Broughton beach have been stripped of sand showing the strata and entrapped woodland beneath.

Wood from these ancient forests is visible on the seashores of Swansea Bay and Port Eynon on the south Gower coast as well. Large blocks of peat dating from this time also wash up on the sand at Whiteford – the next bay to Broughton. The plant species already recorded include silver birch, hazel, alder, elder, deergrass, rushes, irises and spurges. As I understand it, no full investigation of this palaeo-environment has yet been conducted. I hope that full attention can soon be given to this valuable evidence before the rapid rate of erosion destroys all that is readily accessible between tides.

Beach Art 7 - Wooden Cross

winderjssc — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:03 +0000

This little wooden cross gave me great pause for thought. It was accompanied by a name written large with pebbles. It was very sad. I wondered whether it marked the death of a relationship or an actual passing away. I know that I would like to have my own ashes scattered at Rhossili when my time comes. Perhaps the cross marked the spot where someone had buried an urn.

Pebbles at Whiteford (3)

winderjssc — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:05:37 +0000

These pebbles were all photographed within a few metres of each other on the beach at Whiteford Point, Gower. A relatively small selection showing a wide variety of shape, colour, texture, pattern and composition. There are limestones, sandstones, conglomerates, and fossils. Ovals, triangles, rectangles and boot-shapes! Red, yellow, orange, brown, buff, grey and blue-grey. Rusty patterns made by the inclusion of iron minerals within the stone. Patterns made by an assortment of rock types of different sizes cemented together. Designs formed by the inclusion of fossil corals. Patterns made by quartz veins in the mother rock. Pebbles derived from local rocks like Old Red Devonian sandstone, Carboniferous limestone, Millstone Grit and Coal Measures. Pebbles delivered to the Point from much further afield courtesy of an ice sheet.

playing on the "playa"...

bellaitaliana — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:48:04 +0000

Second in my series of people photography!! Now, I know I said that the Mexico series was done with, but, surprise! More Puerto Morelos pics! Were these strategically saved for this series or did I just forget to put them with the other series? You’ll never know. Anyhoo, its fun to photograph kids doing their kid-ly things. They always seem so completely absorbed in what they are doing and bring such a fun, carefree-because-they-don’t-have-bills-to-pay feeling to the photo. I find that looking at pictures like this always makes me remember how much I liked to do (blank) when I was (blank) years old, long before medical school sort of owned my soul.

So, this boy and girl were playing in the sand on the shore by the Puerto Morelos pier in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. They are in front of the original lighthouse that was transformed into the Leaning Lighthouse of Puerto by Hurricane Wilma. Since it’s more or less non-functional now, there is a new lighthouse a bit further back from the shore. It is much taller and, personally, if I were a sailor, I’d be glad Wilma killed the old short lighthouse so that I could guide myself home with the more modern upgraded model.

The photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G7. I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to adjust the contrast a bit and to bring out the slightly sepia tones in the picture to help create a more nostalgic feel and to highlight the angle of the sun.

Almost a Razor Shell - Pharus legumen (Linnaeus)

winderjssc — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:00:37 +0000

A collection of paired empty shells of the bivalved marine mollusc Pharus legumen (Linnaeus). This species is similar in appearance, and closely related, to the Razor Shells. Pharus belongs to the Family Solecurtidae whereas the Razors belong to the Family Solenidae. The valves of members of both bivalve families are elongated, narrow and brittle.

Pharus can grow up to 130mm long; the hinge and ligament is positioned about a third of the way along the length – in contrast to the Razor Clams (or Razor Shells) in which the hinge is located towards the very end of the long edge. In Pharus the two ends of the shells are rounded and the margins of the valves touch each other. In Razor Shells the ends of the valves are straight and gaping - with only the long edges touching each other.

This photograph shows a living specimen of Pharus legumen (Linnaeus) emerging from its burrow in the sand at low tide, with the paired siphons visible, at Rhossili Bay, Gower, South Wales.

This photograph shows the same living specimen of Pharus (as seen above – protruding from its burrow) temporarily lifted from its burrow to show the extended muscular ‘foot’ that it uses to pull itself down into the sand.

An empty shell of the bivalved mollusc Pharus legumen (Linnaeus) lying on the wet sand of the beach.

Finally, a natural accumulation of mostly Pharus legumen (Linnaeus) empty shells on the strandline at Rhossili.

You can find more information about this species from the Conchological Society web site and from the Journal of the Marine Biological Association UK .