Well Saturday afternoon I got back on Dauphin Island to finish the
sampling I had started the week before.  This time I proceeded further down the
west end.  The storm surge from Hurricane Ivan was so intense the island was
literally covered with a couple of additional feet of sand.  The roads are now
being cleared.  The sand is piled high by bulldozers along both sides of the
road; upwards of six and seven feet high, much high than the top of my van.  As
I was driving along I had to remind myself I was in coastal Alabama. The
sight of these sand mounds reminded me of huge snow drifts from Minnesota and
other points north.

        As I was told last week the houses on the extreme west end took a
heavy beating; mostly those occupying the dune zone.  I lost count of the empty
lots (nothing remaining) where houses once stood.  Some lots at least had the
pilings remains.  Some house were mostly intact, but appear as if they would
fall at any moment and yet many others appeared to have little or no damage at
all.

        Of the molluscan treasures the storm washed ashore were several
Busycon perversum, a few Busycotypus plagosus, Stramonita haemostoma floridana in
abundance (many still alive), Crepidula fornicata, Crepidula depressa,
Distorsio clathrata, Pisania tincta, Cantharus cancellarius, many intact freshdead and
living specimens of Anadara brasiliana, Anadara ovalis, Anadara transversa,
and Noetia pondersosa.  A very few Oliva sayana were found.  The most unusual
find of the day was a large incomplete (ca. 30 cm) specimen of what appears to
be the internal pen of a squid.  If that is indeed what it is the must have
been at least one meter in length (estimating from the size of the pen).  I have
emailed photos to Dr. Clyde Roper at the U. S. National Museum in hopes he
may be able to identify it.

        Of the ever present Donax variabilis was out in abundance, digging in
the surf and well as cast upon the beach past the high tide line.   I began
to hunger for clam chowder.  The absence of any operational seafood restaurant
on the island made the craving even worse.  No I did not make any clam
chowder.  After the collections I was much to tired to do anything but sleep.  Many
other species were represented by single valves or broken shells.  It wasn't
Sanibel, but unless you go diving or dredging this is about as good as it gets
in Alabama (except for Little Lagoon, but that's another story).


Doug Shelton
___________________________________________________________
Douglas N. Shelton, Malacologist
Alabama Malacological Research Center
2370 Hillcrest Road, Suite G, PMB 236
Mobile, AL 36695-3838 USA
(251) 533-6383

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------