Dock Point

Date: June 21 2012

Time: 1:00-4:30 p.m.

Climate: 65F, Sunny with perfect clear sky, rather hot

Beach

Blue Mussel—Mytilus Trossulus

Sitka Periwinkle—Littorina Sitkana

Sea Lettuce—Ulva lactuca

Plate Limpet—Tectura Scutum

Baltic Macoma—Macoma Balthica

Acorn Barnacle—Balanus Glandula

Common Rockweed—Fucus Distichus evanescens

Red Mite—Dermanyssus Gallinae

Northwestern Crow—Corvus caurinus

Harbor Seal—Phoca vitulina

Dock Point Trail

Steller’s Jay—Cyanocitta stelleri

Red Elderberry—Sambucus racemosa pubens

Western Buttercup—Ranunculus Occidentalis

Devil’s Club—Echinopanax horridum

Black Cottonwood—Populus balsamifera trichocarpa

Fragile Fern—Cystopteris fragilis

Salmonberry—Rubus spectabilis

Lady Fern—Athyrium filix-femina

Wild Celery—Angelica lucida

Northern Yarrow—Achillea borealis

Sitka Spruce—Picea sitchensis

Trailing Black Currant—Ribes laxiflorum

Ostrich Fern—Matteucia struthiopteris

Arctic Willow—Salix arctica

False hellebore—Veratrum viride

Arctic Dock—Rumex arcticus

Sitka Willow—Salix sitchensis

Goatsbeard—Aruncus Sylvester

Alaskan Blueberry—Vaccinium alaskaense

Dwarf Dogwood Bunchberry—Cornus Canadensis

Oval-Leaved Blueberry—Vaccinium ovalifolium

Sitka Mountain-Ash—Sorbus sitchensis

Alpine Veronica—Veronica Wormskjoldii

Alpine Forget-Me-Not—Myosotis alpestris asiatica

Grass Of Parnassus, Bog Star—Parnassia palustris

Willow Herbs—Epilobium species?

Star Flower—Trientalis europea arctica

 It was a perfect day for hiking and our field trip! Dock Point is one of my favorite places in Valdez; I‘ve walked around there many times, but I haven’t realized that there are countless marine organisms, plants, flowers, or birds that we observed today. It’s not easy to identify each species since most of them look so similar, but learning their subtle differences is very interesting! I’ve never looked at algae or kelp attentively, so I enjoyed observing them. There is also a different world I’ve never known.