Mike Kelly

Amblypygi - Wikipedia

Very cool tailless whip-scorpion! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblypygi

I came here just to find the first Father Ted reference. You win!

Purple Jellies of Doom Hi there. I'm a stranger from the future here to beg you to stop reading these Washed Up stories. The asshole who writes them made...

My new story in the NCJ. Why purple-striped sea nettles and billionaires don't mix. www.northcoastjournal.com/life-outdoor...

Cool. (If anything from Sulawesi washes up here, you'll here about it.)

Thanks! Sometimes I'm surprised by what they let me say. And other times I'm surprised by what they won't let me say. E.g., I can chop a person in half with a sword, but I can't swat a dog with a rolled-up newspaper. Apparently censorship is based on how many angry letters they would expect.

Prudes and children are not the target audience. This column appears in a journal for adults, and my target audience is people who don't normally read natural history writing. This one was pretty tame.

Sea Nettle Babymaking A local grocery store was overstocked, so they had a big sale. When I arrived, the place was packed with people having sex and grabbing...

Here's installment 2 of my jellyfish trilogy in the North Coast Journal. Please enjoy responsibly... www.northcoastjournal.com/life-outdoor...

Macro photo of a tiny true bug on a dried flower. the view is looking down at the top of the bug. they are white dotted with red dots. they also have blue and gold color on their wings and lavender eyes.

The world is covered in teeny jewels!

An ab fab Genus Arhyssus Scentless Plant Bug for #TrueBugTuesday

#becurious #inverts

Lots of fun (and science!) here. Get your science-based New Yorker comic fix!

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Moon Jellies for Breakfast We at Washed-up Foods Inc. are preparing to launch our first breakfast cereal. It's called Sugar Frosted Moon Flakes. It's made from our local moon...

My new Washed Up story in the North Coast Journal. If this one makes you hungry, eat anything other than Sugar Frosted Moon Flakes. www.northcoastjournal.com/life-outdoor...

YouTube video by M. Sid Kelly (HumboldtMike) Big Surf December 23, 2024 Humboldt County, California

Here are clips of some of the bigger sets that came in during the big California surf on Dec 23. From Wedding Rock at Sue-meg State Park. #Humboldt youtu.be/gESK9Iq9QdM

YouTube video by M. Sid Kelly (HumboldtMike) Stone Lagoon Breach 12 29 24

Here are some clips of the breach at Stone Lagoon on Sunday. This was shortly after the breach began and shows the breach channel still forming. #Humboldt youtu.be/Ak-Clx8ZU7o

A light tan sea slug with many dark brown spots across its body. The spots have white rings around them, and are biggest on the top and very small around the margin. It has two thick feathery antennae in front, and an out-of-focus rosette of gills at the back. It is crawling from upper right to lower left on a rock encrusted with some kind of brown organism(s). Most importantly, it is wearing a Photoshopped-on Santa hat.

Merry Christmas everyone!🎅🤶🎄

Heh heh... Yeah, this one screamed TAKE A PICTURE!

It's best after a dry period and during calm seas. But it's pretty well protected from moderate surf when the tide is low enough. Need the dry period to firm up the mud at the base of the trail. I bet it's super sloppy right now. Too bad since there are some decent afternoon low tides this week.

Would be a good one.

The best tide pools IMO are at Palmer's Point in Sue-meg SP, but the trail down is pretty steep and gets sketchy at the bottom - but should be fine for an 11 year old. The pools at the north end of Trinidad State Beach have better access, but not a good choice if the surf is elevated.

Good question. At the time - 10 years ago - I was certain it was alive. I believe I saw it moving. But my memory isn't totally clear, so I can't be 100% sure now. My assumption was that the gungy coating on the crab disguised it as not being anemone food, and maybe that would be a safe place to be.

A crab sitting on top of a green anemone surrounded by the anemone's tentacles seen from above. The crab is triangular and widest at the back, and has at least 3 prominent bumps on each side, and a blunt projection on its face. It is likely a decorator crab, but only has a covering a gungy-looking brown stuff on it. Its walking legs are evenly spread around its body. There should be 8 legs, but only 6 are visible. I assume the other pair is obscured by the crab's claws, which are cocked out in front of it and white at the tips. The anemone is mostly bright green, but the upper half of the tentacles are bluish at the ends, and the lower ones are whitish at the ends. The tentacles are arranged in circles around the central disc, which is a pale greenish blue. There are 4 or 5 rows of tentacles visible around the circumference. The background is a large rock with some red encrusting organisms on it.

I'm not certain, but I think this is a Pugettia decorator crab. I wouldn't expect it to be comfortable encircled by the tentacles of a giant green anemone, but that's how it seemed. In a #Humboldt tide pool - for #Crustmas.

Two fish of the same herring species, but at different stages of development. The fish are next to each other on a white measuring board which indicates that they are between 4 and 5 centimeters long. The lower fish is mostly transparent with a thin black line along its side, a thicker black line along its belly, and a few black spots scattered around its head and body. The part of the belly where the guts are appears silver and not transparent. And the very bottom of the belly is pale orange. Its fins are so transparent as to be invisible. The fish on top is up-side down relative to to the lower fish. Its body has transformed into an opaque silver. It has many very find black specks arranged in rows across its back and on its tail fin rays. It's dorsal fin also has some fine specks along the rays. It's lower body has many almost vertical lines that appear associated with the underlying muscles. Both fish have large silver eyes and black pupils.

A larval herring and a recently transformed herring fry sampled in a tidal pond on #Humboldt Bay for #Fishmas. 🐟

I don't know.

Yes - crabs will grow new parts when they molt.

A rockfish with a bass-like appearance suspended just off the bottom. The bottom is mostly small gray gravel and one clam shell in the lower left. The background is a large rock with patches of pink, red, and brown algae on it. The fish is facing to the right. Its eye is large, and the black pupil is ringed in bright gold. The mouth is closed, but appears relatively large. The fish has prominent scales. The gill cover has some bright yellow highlights. The rest of the head is greening on top, pale gray around the mouth, and with some scattered small brown patches. The body has a pinkish background with many small brown spots below the mid-body, and brown blotches above . The fins are relatively large and unpigmented.

I believe this is a yellowtail rockfish in a #Humboldt tide pool for #Fishmas. 🐟🤿

A crab with relatively very large claws. Each claw looks bigger than the crab's body. The crab is exposed on a rock at low tide. The crab is brick red, but has areas that seem covered with grayish brown hairs and/or other material. The crab's left claw is missing its "thumb" and there is a bit of white meat exposed there. In the frame, the crab is facing up and holding its large claws folded in front of its face. The legs on the crab's left side are hidden behind some dark brownish red algae. Three legs are visible on the right side. The end of each leg has several spikes or hooks - almost like little toes. Its antennae are many-segmented, bright red, and held back behind the crab. The crab's eyes are a dark purple color. The background rock is encrusted with red algae, small barnacles, and there's an oval limpet just above the right "elbow" of the crab.

A porcelain crab with an injured "thumb" exposed at low tide in #Humboldt for #Crustmas. 🦀

Heh heh... Coulda put that in the alt text!

Probably a little over two inches including the antennae.

A very long and thin isopod crustacean on a kelp stem. The isopod has the look of a centipede. It is on top of and parallel to the stem and is facing toward the left. The view is side-on. The isopod is gripping the stem with six of its apparently seven pairs of legs. It has long antennae that are pointing forward and appear to be a little over half the length of the body. The overall color of the isopod is tan, but it has a dark line across the body where each of its seven body segments meet. It also has five or six fainter lines that run from head to tail evenly spread across the upper body. Its legs are transparent. A small eye is visible. The kelp stem is dark brown, and there is a second stem above this one and the isopod. The background is the tangled root-like holdfast of the kelp, and it is a much lighter yellowish brown.

For #Crustmas - a long isopod on the stipe of a kelp that was washed up on the beach and taken into the lab. I believe it is the kelp isopod Pentidotea.

An osprey carrying a fish. The picture is shot from an angle below the osprey so mainly the underside of the bird is visible. It is flying to the right. The beak and talons are black, the feather sticking out from the wing tips are black. There is a black V-shaped mark extending from the bird's eye, down to its throat, then up to the top of the neck. The top of the head and chin are white. The chest, belly and most of the under-wing are white. The trailing feathers on the wing are black and gray. The fish is facing forward - being held that way by the osprey to minimize drag. The fish is gray on top and white on the underside. It is long and relatively thin. Its eye is large and its mouth is small. It has a yellow mark on its gill cover. And there is blood on the back half of the fish's belly where the talons are gripping it. The background is blue sky.

For #Fishmas - a jacksmelt riding his osprey sleigh to bring presents to all the good little children. #Humboldt 🐟

A cluster of about 40 stalked barnacles. Each barnacle is made up of triangular white plates of varying sizes. The opening of each barnacle looks like vertical bright red lips. From inside of each barnacle a series of long thin banded brown and white projections reach out like fingers attempting to grab food. The stalks, which are mostly not visible, are leathery looking with a fine texture resembling sandpaper.

A cluster of goose barnacles in a #Humboldt tide pool for #Crustmas. 🤿

A fish resting on a bed of pink coralline algae with thin fronds of reddish brown algae scattered around and some gravel in brown white and grey under the fish's tail. It is facing toward the left and is shot so the back and left side are visible. Over all, the fish is gray with some brown patches on the body. The head from just behind the eyes to the snout is mottled brown and gray, and there's a large almost white saddle-like patch behind the eyes. Behind the saddle is a brown band that goes over the back and is the same mottled brown as the fish's face. The fish has a large head relative to its body. Its eyes sort of bug out, and are gray with two pairs of dark brown starburst-like lines extending out from the black pupil. There is also an orange, red, blue and white sea slug in the algae next to the fish's pectoral fin.

For #Fishmas a smoothhead sculpin, I believe, in a #Humboldt tide pool with a bonus Hermissenda nudibranch. 🐟🤿