Audzilla

Bug love, and dinner.

SWAN By Chaitanya Deshpande flickr.com/photos/chaitanyadphotography

Thanks to a March 9th sighting off Lahaina, Hawaii, it is known Glacier has travelled ~4,500 km to Hawaii and she is reported to have a new calf. She will be a...ll the hungrier when she returns to British Columbian waters to feed as a result. Mother Humpbacks lose up to half their body mass nursing their newborns - fortifying them for colder water, a long migration, and the potential of encounters with mammal-hunting Orca (Bigg's Killer Whales). We know Glacier is female, having had a calf in 2019. There have been no known sightings of that calf since 2019. We strongly suspect that Cirque is Glacier's 2016 calf. We have some uncertainty because Glacier appears to have been without a calf in September of 2016 and then was sighted with Cirque in January of 2017. Cirque did not look like a calf who was less than 4 months old. Possibilities (1) Was Cirque somewhere near in the September 2016 sighting but not documented? (2) Did the extraordinary happen and Cirque was born in BC waters and at a very atypical / late time? (3) Is Cirque not Glacier's calf at all and they were just travelling together in January of 2017? As is often the case, the puzzle pieces may come together later, possibly through the contribution of older sightings information or through our DNA studies (more resources are needed for this). All this sightings information, brought together through the vigilance and care of many, helps inform everything from habitat use, to site fidelity; from age of first calving to calving interval; and longevity and survival. The knowledge about Glacier being sighted in Hawaii on March 9th is thanks to Happywhale and Ultimate Whale Watch. The knowledge of her activity in the feeding grounds involves so many other data contributors and research colleagues. We will of course update you when we first see Glacier at this end of her migration, hopefully with a calf. MERS Catalogue photos are from: Louis Jobidon, @Shelanne Bulford and Jared Towers, MERS. Sighting of Glacier and Cirque together in January 2017 by Geoff Dunstan.

Vermillion Star near the egg collars of an other moonsnail species than that I have posted about recently. I believe these to be the egg collars, not of the la...rge Lewis' Moonsnail but of the Aleutian Mooonsnail, also found along BC's coast. The Aleutian Moonsnail is Cryptonautica aleutica, shell to 6 cm across. Known range northern Alaska to southern California. Lewis' Moonsnail (aka Northern Moonsnail) is Neverita lewisii, shell to 14 cm across. Known range Japan, and sourthern Alaska to northern Mexico. For more on the egg collars containing 1000s of eggs and how astoundingly they are constructed, and for information on the different species of moonsnail off our coast, please see my Marvellous Moonsnail album here www.facebook.com/media/set Photo: March 8th near Telegraph Cove, The Marine Detective. There are five Moonsnail species that could be seen in British Columbia. In addition to the two referenced above there are the following 3 which I very rarely see but I could have misIDed them. Like other moonsnail species, they too are often under the sand. - Arctic Moonsnail - Cryptonatica affinis, to only 2.5 cm. Known range northern Alaska to northern Mexico. - Pale Northern Moonsnail - Euspira pallida to only 4 cm. Known range circumpolar, and northern Alaska to northern Mexico. - Drake's Moonsnail - Euspira draconis to 9 cm. Known range Alaska to northern Mexico. Source: Hanby and Lamb's Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. #dailydoseofdepth

LIKE THORNS Thorn Bugs gathered on a small Wild Tamarind tree. During heavy infestations, nymphs and adults form dense clusters around the twigs, branches and s...mall tree trunks. In Everglades National Park in the pine rocklands. Photo by Kevin Barry www.kevinbarryphotos.com

Ocean of colour. Ocean of giants. Here, an astoundingly coloured Giant Nudibranch (head is on the right) with its prey, the Tube-Dwelling Anemone. This nudibr...anch species is indeed a Giant, at up to 30 cm long. It can swim. It pounces on the anemone and gets pulled into it when the anemone retracts as defense. It lays its big, whirly egg masses right on top of the anemones. Further, the diversity of colour in the species is so stunning. I've strived to show all of that in my blog at https://themarinedetective.com/2010/03/28/whos-eating-who. Know that in sandy habitats on our coast, these are common species, even in the shallows. Jackie Hildering; The Marine Detective. March 8th, near Telegraph Cove. #KnowYourNeighbours #AmongGiants #Nudibranch