Thursday, September 22, 2022

Some Salty Salps

 

Woke up on the last full day of summer to the realization that my boat hadn't yet been immersed in salt water this season.  Remedied that with a drive to Danversport where I launched into the Danvers River at Pope's Landing.  My trip downriver coincided with a morning high tide and ultimately brought me to Fort Pickering Light (above photo) at the entrance to Salem Harbor.

Skies were cloudy at the start...
...and heading downriver I was surprised at how many boats were still at their slips and moorings along the way...


Passed under the carousel-style Kernwood Street Bridge and got to see it in the open position as a powerboat came through...

Before heading out into Beverly Harbor I decided to visit the Bass River and follow the route a juvenile gray seal, now known in local news stories as "Shoebert", might have taken to his present predicament in Shoe Pond...

These days the river ends at Route 62 where there's a culvert...

...which leads to Shoe Pond named for the former shoe manufacturing facility that operated here in the past.  Presumably Shoebert swam through the culvert under Route 62 in order to reach the pond.  According to news reports he's been in the freshwater part of the pond for a week now and officials are trying to decide whether or not he'll figure out how to return to the sea on his own...or need human intervention. 

Leaving Bass River I headed under the low commuter rail bridge and the much higher Essex Bridge as the promised sunshine began to appear...

Saw this houseboat being towed by a lobster boat in Beverly Harbor...

Soon thereafter I found myself looking at open water...

The aforementioned Fort Pickering Light became my turnaround point...

As I approached Juniper Point on my return trip I put down my paddle and dipped my arms into the ocean waters.  However, in addition to the cool water, my arms felt something else...small objects of some kind.  Cupping my hands I was able to collect some of these translucent objects and place them on my spray deck...

Some were the size of raisins and others the size of grapes. My first thought was that someone had dumped a load of ice cubes in the water and they were slowly melting.  Next I thought they might be tiny jellyfish.  Once home I checked online and found descriptions there leading me to believe the slippery little creatures were salps which are tunicates and not related to jellyfish.  They feed on phytoplankton and can exist in huge numbers.  Also came across the terms "oozooids" and "blastozoids" which like "salp" are terms I'd never before encountered.  

Leaving the salps to continue doing their thing I passed an uncrowded Salem Willows...
...on the last full day of summer 2022.


The return trip saw this inbound train crossing from Beverly to Salem ...

 Trash was light...

Hope Shoebert finds his way home!

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