Jan. 30, 2011 - Gulf of Mexico Beaches

This Lined Sea Star was washed up on the beach at St. George Island State Park. It gets its name from the dark line down the middle of each of its five arms. They are found along the Atlantic coastline from New Jersey to southern Brazil and all around the Gulf of Mexico. These sea stars can be found in depths up to 325 feet, but are most common in less than 100 feet of water.

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Another creature found at the state park was this Spider Crab, which does resemble a spider. They are found along the coast from Nova Scotia to the Florida Keys and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. They live at depths of up to 160 feet and feed on large starfish. This one doesn’t show it, but they often “decorate” themselves with sponges and algae.

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Stone Crabs have huge claws with black tips. They use these powerful claws to crush and eat barnacles and clams. This photo was taken on Sanibel Island, Florida.

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Horseshoe Crab shells are often washed up on the beach at Sanibel Island. Diana’s hand next to it shows you how large they can be.

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The Lightning Whelk is one of the most popular shells among collectors in Florida. Taking live shells is not permitted on Sanibel Island, so I returned this one to the water after taking its photo. The black part inside the shell is the “foot” of the live animal, used for locomotion, with the soft body parts hidden behind it. The foot has yellow flesh covered with black skin. The oval, shell-like piece in the middle is called the operculum and is attached to the animal’s foot. When the whelk withdraws into the shell, the operculum acts like a trap door and seals the animal safely inside. This is the only Florida shell which is “left-handed”. That means if you held it with the tip down, your left hand would naturally slide inside the empty shell. While they can grow to 20 inches, this one was only about 8 inches long.

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This is one form of Red Algae. The piece in front has faded from exposure to the sun.

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Sea Grape is a plant that grows along the shore and helps control erosion. This young Sea Grape is in a part of Sanibel Island where they are being planted to help stabilize the beach. Notice the lower branch has touched the sand. It will now send down roots and start a whole new plant.

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Birds often leave tracks in the wet sand along the shore. I’m not able to identify birds by their tracks, but I can at least guess about these. The larger tracks seem to be from webbed feet and I would guess they were made by a gull, probably a Ring-billed or Laughing Gull. The smaller tracks are from a shorebird and my guess would be a Sanderling, just because they are so common on St. George Island and are constantly running along the edge of the water.

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A few years ago Hurricane Dennis sent a 12-foot surge of water over St. George Island. That destroyed a lot of the vegetation along the shore. Snow fencing was placed along the shore to catch the drifting sand and help rebuild the dunes. It is working; you can see the Sea Oats growing in the dunes. Sea Oats has long roots and helps to stabilize the dunes. Now, in Minnesota, we have a different use for snow fence.

SeaOatsfenceGeorgeIsland20110120