WorldNomads Scholarship Travel scholarship 2012 entry

Tomales Bay: Below high tide

USA | Tuesday, 8 January 2013 | Views [540] | View Larger Image

All is not idyllic splendor on Tomales Bay. Wildlife are not the only ones to take advantage of its tides. The east shore has been farmed for oysters since 1850, and the farmers, descending with the tides to tend their “fields,” use chunks of PVC pipe to lift the bags the oysters grow in off of the muddy bottom, transforming the landscape.

Tags: oyster bed, aquaculture, mud flat, tomales bay, marine life, oyster, bivalve, kayak photography

When low tide coincides with dawn or dusk Raccoons (Procyon lotor) and similar species descend on the shores to scavenge the tide’s leavings and to hunt crabs and mollusks. Larger species such as this Bobcat (Lynx rufus) stalk the shores in search of them and resting birds. I was able to position my kayak to photograph this male as it hunted the narrow, exposed band of rocky shore between cliff and sea.

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The lowest tides of all bring rowdy mobs of clammers out to the exposed sandflats to dig deeply for the prized Geoduck Clam (Panopea generosa) and several smaller species. Over the years the methods of digging change, but never how deep clammers like this one have to reach down for their bivalves. After busy weekends of digging, much of the larger wildlife (such as Bobcats) will disappear for several days after the onslaught of people.

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WorldNomads Scholarship Travel scholarship 2012 entry

Tomales Bay: Below high tide

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