masonmarsh's photostream  

An Ochre Sea Star works over a mussel during low tide at Seal Rocks on the Oregon Coast. Whether they be red, oreange, purple or brown, these stars are the wolves of the intertidal zone. They crawl about prying open mussels and barnacles with their tube feet and then they invert their stomachs into the victim's shell and digest the meat. When they are done the retract their stomachs and move on. Pretty amazing, really. This image shows the star's back. The white dots are the animal's breathing organs and the pale dot in the center is the anus. Yup.

Seal Rocks on the Oregon Coast are basalt remnants of an ancient lava flow that originated in what is now eastern Oregon. When the lava flowed west it followed the channel of the Columbia River, which used to enter the Pacific south of present-day Newport. The eroded basalt rocks of Seal Rocks are the oldest of these Columbia River lava flows. Other flows include Yaquina Head, Cape Foulwesther, Cascade Head, Cape Lookout, Cape Meares, Cape Falcon, and Tillamook Head. This is an HDR of the rocks made Saturday morning.

A pair of Pacific Oystercatchers work the intertidal zone Sunday morning at Yaquina Head on the Oregon Coast. These wonderful birds are notoriously skittish and territorial, so it's a rare treat to catch a pair up close. I was lucky enough to see two pair at Yaquina Head on Sunday morning. It's my understanding that there may only be 100 pair of these birds on the entire Oregon Coast.

Seal Rocks on the Oregon Coast is a remarkable geologic formation known for the harbor seals that use the rocks as a haul out. When I visited Saturday morning, there were a few seals, but it was the Ochre Sea Stars that stole the show for me.

I spent the weekend in Newport and was able to get out a couple of times to some photo spots I seem to never have enough time to explore. this is the sunset Saturday night from the sculpture park in Nye Beach. I really like the whale skeleton sculpture, but it needs a sunset to make it sing.