South Beach Marina Walkabout - May 2, 2010

Spending time walking the docks at the South Beach Marina situated below the Yaquina Bay Bridge yielded clear examples of an invasive bryozoan new to our surveys-Cryptosula pallasiana. Readily accessible on the bottom of floats, it competed for space with Botrylloides violaceus.

B. violaceus demonstrates remarkable resilience to adverse environmental conditions with mature colonies two feet up in the air at low tide here on pilings and on rocks at the first jetty finger west of the bridge. A later recreational dive much further west, beyond the turnaround along the south jetty, showed the botryllid to be common not only in the crevices subtidally but out on the rock faces as well, despite the swell and surge in this exposed location. Colonies could also be found on suitable substrate out on the river bottom.

Yaquina Bay Invasive Tunicate Survey - May 7, 2010

A scientific diving team from the Oregon Coast Aquarium conducted a survey for invasive tunicates at Yaquina Bay, Oregon on May 7th, 2010. The target for the day: South Beach Marina. Five divers examined the west breakwater, the brewery dock and docks A, D, and G.

Botrylloides violaceus was found to be pervasive. An invasive sponge, Halichondria or Haliclona, was also noted. The two invasives were more abundant at A dock than the other locations.

Yaquina Bay Invasive Tunicate Survey - April 19, 2010

On Monday, April 19, 2010 a team of divers from the Oregon Coast Aquarium conducted an invasive tunicate survey at Yaquina Bay, Oregon.  Three buddy pairs dove at the Embarcadero Marina.  Two pairs surveyed docks and boat hulls while the third pair examined the breakwater jetty wall.  On the breakwater an invasive bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata was found at 18 to 25 foot depths.  The Watersipora was strongly present at the east end of the breakwater and lightened westward.  Perhaps a 100 foot section of the breakwater wall was surveyed.  The invasive tunicate Botrylloides violaceus was also noted at the breakwater.