Predatory Snails

 

Snails Sharing a Meal
(click images to view larger)

I couldn't tell what those two snails (dogwinkles?) were up to, even with my glasses on. I figured they were either mating or fighting. But as soon as I got the image up on my computer screen I could tell that the "weird appendages" I'd seen through my lens were not parts of the snails, but were actually crab legs. Earlier I'd watched a crab escape from my prying eyes by burying itself in pebbly sand. It seems a little amazing that a snail can catch a crab. Although it also seems amazing that even sea anemones catch crabs. I would  soon find one such kelp crab being devoured by anemones and possibly a turban snail, which is supposed to be an algae-eater.

With low tide arriving before sunrise over the weekend, and not being terribly low at that, I was unable to roust myself out of bed so early for the hourlong drive out to Duxbury Reef. I wasn't even sure it would be worth the drive this morning despite a post-sunrise low tide of +0.46. Although there wasn't a whole lot of reef to explore by the time I got there, I was reluctant to leave even when the reef had mostly returned to its underwater realm. If I'd been in Hawaii I'd probably have gone snorkeling. I didn't want to stop to exploring. 

Pair of Snails Feasting on a Crab

Limpet Covered with Tiny Animals
(the white things with black dots)

Close Crop of Limpet Shell

Hermit Crab Hanging Out

Deadly Elegance

Captured Kelp Crab

Camouflaged Kelp Crab Playing It Cool

Small Mossy Chiton

Another Strange Unknown Creature Similar to This One
(Note brown cylindrical waste pellets around it.)

Band-Tailed Pigeons Feeding on the Bluffs at Agate Beach

Wider View of the Group
(feeding on dirt?)

Very Shaky Video of the Band-Tailed Pigeons

On The Edge (Bolinas Ridge)

Fog Beams on the Edge of the Woods (Mt. Tam)

Silhouette With Cool Clouds Above Mt. Tam

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