In the bleak midwinter

My field site under six inches of snow.

The high tide line becomes easily visible in the snow: it is where the water has washed the snow away. The beach itself looked normal, until I looked closely.

Ice in the intertidal. It wasn't even that cold this morning (right around freezing). The local flora and fauna are frequently affected by ice in this area, which will scour the rocks bare and create new habitat.

It was beautiful this morning, above freezing, sunny, and not windy. A nice break in what is promising to be a very snowy week. Conveniently (since I need the snails), this corresponded to a very low spring tide. Because many of my snails have been frozen off the rocks (see the third picture) I had to venture out into deep enough water that the snails had not been frozen yet this winter.