Harbor WildWatch
harborwildwatch.bsky.social
Harbor WildWatch
@harborwildwatch.bsky.social
85 followers 5 following 45 posts
Inspiring stewardship for the Puget Sound and Greater Salish Sea through education. Visit our Marine Life Center in downtown Gig Harbor, attend one of our many free programs, or follow along on social media to Learn and Have Fun. (The HWW motto!)
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Have you decorated for Halloween? This sharp nosed decorator crab is decorated to help them blend in with their chosen habitat. This one has decorated itself with tunicates and sponges. These crabs have Velcro-like hooks on their carapace which helps things to stick. #crab #docktober
PLANKTON: WANDERERS OF THE SALISH SEA🌊

From diatoms to Lion’s Mane Jellies, come learn all about the organisms that keep our ocean ecosystem running!

The Marine Life Center is located in Downtown Gig Harbor, and is open Wed-Sun 11-6pm. FREE ADMISSION. We’ll “sea” you soon!🦀

#plankton #salishsea
Happy World Octopus Day! Our Pacific Red Octopus, Roomba, came out and put on a show this morning. We’re open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11am-6pm and we’re located in the heart of downtown Gig Harbor. You can’t miss it, it’s the building with octopus arms! #worldoctopusday #marinelofecenter
Roomba has found a new den!🐙

Octopus live in “dens”, secure places that they can hide their soft bodies from would be predators. These dens can often be identified by their “gardens”, decorations made from the parts of past meals!

Stop by the Marine Life Center Wednesday-Sunday 11-6pm to see her!👀
We’re forever curious about tidepools!
Join us for Salish Sea Storytime! 🐙📖

Every Wednesday at 11:30am, join one of our naturalists as we dive into different stories about our waterways!

After the story, we have a short activity for kiddos to show their creative side! Join us on Wednesdays for this FREE weekly activity! 🦀

#storytime
What wonderful creatures will we find during the next round of extreme low tides? Join us to learn more about flatworms and other amazing sea life that calls the Salish Sea home. More details for each beach tour can be found on the Harbor WildWatch website including where to meet. #beachtour
Roomba, our current Pacific Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens), was out and about today exploring her habitat! Here is a great example of how these octopuses can change the color and texture of their skin. Roomba went from bright red, to a tawny brown, and then a white shade within seconds. 🐙
This weekend we walked the Maritime Gig Festival Parade as a “smack” of jellies!

One of the biggest events in Gig Harbor, our Harbor WildWatch crew and volunteers designed their own jelly costumes to walk in the parade with🪼

All that hard work paid off, we won Best Costume in the parade! Woohoo!
On Wednesdays we wear pink.
Talk about texture! This is the arm of an ochre star, Pisaster ochraceus. Sea stars belong to the phylum Echinodermata which means “spiny skin” clearly seen here. The skin is covered with gills and to keep them clear of any debris they possess tiny pinchers called pedicellariae #seastar #salishsea
Join Harbor WildWatch for a fun, educational and FREE public tour along the stunning shorelines of the Salish Sea. Please check the website calendar for program details such as where to meet, what shoes to wear, Discover Pass needs for State Parks, etc: Harborwildwatch.org #learnhavefun #lowtide
Happy volunteer appreciation week!
There is absolutely no doubt about it, we could not do what we do without our AMAZING volunteers!
Please join us in saying a big and heartfelt THANK YOU to our amazing volunteer team!🦀
Happy Fry-Day! 208 of these little chum salmon fry were released last week by students from Minter Creek Elementary. By now, they are out in the estuaries adjusting to the salt water. In 3-5 years and luckiest of them will return to spawn.
It’s a good thing geese are waterproof! Today’s weather really was all over the place.