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Elusive winter diatom covers much of upper intertidal	Now I see it
	The light brown color is the diatom in its showy mode – dried by the wind or sun—the green is Prasiola

THEMES

Winter coverage of intertidal –

• Colors
• Bloom & growth

Animals seem to like eating it – potential?

Sunshine and ‘summer tides’ remove its habitat -- disappears

ARROWS: limpets, algae and ‘wet’

Yellow arrows are ‘clearings’ made by limpets --- the lower arrow points to a single limpet (covered by diatom) the upper yellow arrow points to a group of limpets characteristically found in a ‘crevice’ The greenish arrow is made by a small seaweed clearing (‘whisking’) off the diatom as it waves back and forth with the waves The bluish arrow may be a cleared area – or just has not dried sufficiently to ‘see’ the diatom (Enlarged left—from another photo) ‘Finger Limpets’?

	Bleached by the SUN
	The diatom “blooms” in winter when most algae are in survival mode – but when the sun comes back from its winter repose the diatom is seen to bleach out quickly when exposed even for a few hours of direct sunshine

Created by LG Wednesday, March 12, 2003