Saturday TPERPs participated in a trash clean up day in the tidepools. A more detailed post will occur soon but we wanted to let you know that 166 pounds of trash was removed!

During that cleanup TPERP Gayle came across the following plant like structure in the tidepools.

It kind of looked like kelp but then again it didn’t.

So Gayle asked her friend, a marine biologist, who also is a fountain of knowledge on native plants, says, “I think it is the tubers/ roots of Arunda, the giant reed that was brought over by the Spaniards. It looks similar to bamboo, and is seen in areas that get more water, like at the edge streams flowing into bays & the ocean. Arunda donax is the correct botanical name.”She also says, “It can grow in brackish water. You can see it as you go East up the San Diego River. It probably doesn’t like much salt. So mystery solved. It may have washed in from the river or an estuary, or tumbled from a cliff.

Speaking of interesting finds, TPERP Scott came across this huge California Sea Hare that a visitor found in the tidepools.

What you can’t tell from this photo is the size of this Sea Hare. Scott estimated it to be approximately 12 inches in size. Normally the California Sea Hare is much smaller than this one. It was approaching the size of the Black Sea Hare that is normally much larger in our tidepools. Perhaps this Sea Hare was getting ready to lay eggs or perhaps it was just very hungry. Whatever the reason, it was an unusual find, but a nice find just the same.