California beaches ‘slimed’ by purple sea hares

Unlike “The Blob” in the 1958 science-fiction classic, the sea hares are quite harmless, and they are plant eaters, and not “purple people eaters.”

But the size and abundance of the purple sea hare has been sparking a great deal of curiosity along the shorelines at Crab Cove in Alameda and Miller Knox Regional Park in Richmond, as well as Lake Merritt in Oakland and Tomales Bay in Marin County, according to ABC News.

Carolyn Jones, a spokeswoman for the East Bay Regional Park District said, “We are getting calls from the public asking what the heck is this big weird purple blob.” She explained, “It’s native to our area. It’s not endangered, but they are rarely seen other than an occasional one here or there.”

Wildlife and park officials don’t have an exact count of the sightings, but the first sea hares were seen last fall. But the sightings in May and June have really increased. Dozens are being spotted on some beaches, and last month, one man counted two dozen at an inlet going into Lake Merritt in Oakland.

The slugs can get to more than 15 pounds in size and more than 30 inches in length. Most of the ones being spotted are about the size of a human heart, though. They are called sea hares because their antenna resemble rabbit ears.

Morgan Dill, a naturalist at the Crab Cove Visitor Center in Alameda says warmer water temperatures along the California coast may be the reason behind the sighting of the sea hares. “We can’t say for sure why we’re seeing so many, but the Bay temperatures are definitely warmer this year,” Dill said.

The Hopkin’s Rose Nudibranch. You have to study this nudibranch to see which way it is gong. The nudibranch is having a bad Cerata day as they are going everywhere, but the rhinophores give the anterior anyway.

Jerry Kirkhart

Terry Gosliner, senior curator at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco adds that the warmer temperatures are also being blamed for the appearance of the Hopkin’s rose nudibranch in Northern California waters. The small sea slug is normally seen further south, in the San Francisco Bay area.

“We’re seeing more of these kinds of warming events, and I suspect it may be part of long-term global change,” Gosliner said. “These are signals.”

Aplysia californica, the California sea hare.

Nordelch

Here are some fascinating facts about the California sea hare, Aplysia californica:
* A species of mollusk found on the Pacific Coast that can grow up to 15 pounds.
* They feed on algae and sea plants in shallow waters of the intertidal zone.
* If disturbed, it will release a reddish-purple ink as a defence mechanism.