When I visit the San Juans, I always make a little extra time before getting on the ferry to go explore the marina. My husband likes to poke around and admire the sailboats there. I, on the other hand, delight in poking around under the piers looking for invertebrates.
Apparently, there is a group of folks who do this frequently and they refer to it as “dock fouling” Traditionally, dock fouling refers to the animals who settle on piers and docks, “fouling” the structures with their settlements. In this case, it is more of a verb, referring the activity of looking at all the animals who have fouled the docks. If you like tide pooling, you may very well enjoy the activity called dock fouling. I certainly do.
I met Luan on Instagram and was really intrigued by all the interesting animals she found while out at various marinas around the Seattle area. I asked her to take me with her and she agreed (thanks, Luan). And, btw, I truly love Instagram. It has connected me with so many wonderful, creative humans like Luan.
The highlights of our adventure were witnessing tons of feather duster worms spawning, seeing ctenophores and a red eye medusa jelly (that I failed to get a good shot of) and handful of beautiful nudibranchs. I look forward to more time out on the docks!
You can visit Luan at her website to learn more about dock fouling : https://www.naturelookings.com
The Bremerton Marina
Thick Horned Nudibranch
Leopard Dorid Nudibranch and Colonial Tunicate
Northern Feather Duster Tube Worm
Scaleworm
Mussels feeding
Sea Gooseberry
Plumose anemones
Split branch feather duster worm and plumose anemones
White and orange tipped nudibranch
Plumose anemone amidst the feather duster worms
Dock fouling looks a lot like this.