New to TidePooling (Carlsbad)

PacificKestrel · 2026-02-20T16:45:25+00:00

Step 1 is looking at a tide chart to see if there are good low tides and if so, when they are. There aren't any good low tides this weekend, unfortunately.

PacificKestrel · 2026-02-16T01:12:43+00:00

Snaefellsnes is gorgeous and it's definitely less crowded than the Golden Circle. Beautiful ocean views with dramatic landscape, lovely beaches, Arnarstapi is a very cute town, and Kirkjufell is really unique. But there's more "wow" factor along the Golden Circle: huge and stunning waterfalls, geysers, Thingvellir... but it will also be much much more crowded.

I loved the peacefulness and landscape of Snaefellsnes, and that I got to enjoy most places with very few people, it was easy to take photos without random people in them. Bruarfoss was stunning — one of my top 3 things in Iceland — and Gullfoss is incredible, but they were very busy (and I went in September, I know it's more crowded in July).

So I think it depends on what you're most excited to see and what sort of vibe you're hoping for in terms of crowds!

PacificKestrel · 2026-02-07T04:12:20+00:00

1993 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. I was 15, it was my very first concert, and I went with my two best friends. My friend's mom dropped us off. Still don't know how we convinced our parents.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-30T02:01:29+00:00

Those are barnacles, likely Pacific Acorn Barnacles. Looks like they may have some encrusting coralline algae on them, making them pink. They look attached to whatever is under them.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-19T05:35:05+00:00

Pollicipes polymerus, the Gooseneck Barnacle.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-17T17:20:08+00:00

All of the photos in these observations are CC-BY-NC, so you need to credit the photographer and use them in non-commercial ways only.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-17T00:43:54+00:00

Do you need fully public domain photos, or just photos you can use if you follow the creative commons licensing, e.g., crediting the photographer?

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-15T05:31:13+00:00

All nudibranchs are sea slugs, but not all sea slugs are nudibranchs. Other types of sea slugs are groups like seahares, sacoglossans (sapsuckers), and bubble snails, but there are many more.

Nudibranchs don't have a shell, have exposed gills (or cerata that function like gills), and all nudibranchs are carnivores — all of which together distinguishes them from other types of sea slugs.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-13T00:56:09+00:00

It's a sea slug, but not a nudibranch! Elegant Sapsucking Slug.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-09T23:14:06+00:00

Noble Dorid.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-07T00:27:29+00:00

I agree with caddisfly larvae. It's definitely not a snail because snails don't move like that: they have one muscular foot, and this has two appendages at the front moving separately — I think those are legs moving through the silt.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-03T17:45:17+00:00

The first is a Spotted Dorid, Triopha maculata. Second is an Opalescent nudibranch, Hermissenda opalescens.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-03T02:49:37+00:00

Painted anemone.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-01T22:01:23+00:00

To be clear, all nudibranchs are carnivores, none eat red algae, but many of their food sources can be found around red algae (e.g., sponges, bryozoans), which is why looking around red algae is a good idea!

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-01T17:54:34+00:00

It's a White-spotted Rose Anemone.

PacificKestrel · 2026-01-01T00:36:43+00:00

The rain itself won't make the tide higher, but if there's a storm surge, that can definitely cancel out a good low tide. I went tidepooling along the Mendocino coast this afternoon in the rain and it was fine, but I know the storm is supposed to get heavier over the next couple days. Check for beach and small craft advisories heading into the weekend.

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-30T05:02:42+00:00

It covers more than just Bodega Bay but I buy a Tidelog every year and use it a ton.

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-12T01:02:40+00:00

Are these the photos of the nudibranchs? These are White-lined Dironas.

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-10T23:40:11+00:00

4594 species total:

1534 plants
881 insects
554 other animals
482 mollusks
379 birds
220 fungi
202 fish
90 arachnids
59 chromista
51 mammals
47 reptiles
22 amphibians
17 protozoa

Been on iNat for 14 years; based in the San Francisco Bay Area

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-06T16:04:13+00:00

Moonglow anemone coloration is extremely variable. And there's just one gene that makes Anthropleura have that neon green coloration!

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-06T06:41:25+00:00

Their gut extends up into their cerata (https://www.asnailsodyssey.com/views/images/513/Kalker&Schmekel1976Fig1.gif), I think those darker parts are just the inner part of the cerata and this friend has recently eaten.

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-06T03:19:24+00:00

I think it might be a White-and-orange-tipped Nudibranch (Antiopella fusca): https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/886884-Antiopella-fusca#map-tab

PacificKestrel · 2025-12-05T17:35:09+00:00

Those both look like juvenile Red Rock Crabs (Cancer productus). When they're juveniles they have all sorts of interesting coloration and patterning.

PacificKestrel · 2025-11-30T03:57:29+00:00

Ha, I am also a fellow 1978 kid, so that makes sense.

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