Here you see the final falls of Patten Stream delivering cold, clear, fresh water into salty Patten Bay yesterday. The fulsome stream is a significant passageway for a number of fish species, including American eels. (Yes, eels are fish.)
Usually starting in March, the eels wiggle their way upstream as tiny transparent babies (commonly called “glass eels”), trying to avoid being caught in fishermen’s nets. Some of these migrants will return downstream years later as opaque adults that are longer than a yardstick and ready to begin their long, slithering swim to the Sargasso Sea. They’ll breed and die there.
You may have noticed the orange growth on some of the rocks in this image. That appears to be common orange lichen (Xanthoria parietina), which also is known as maritime sunburst lichen. It often grows on walls, hence it has the scientific epithet “parietina,” which means “on walls.” This lichen has been the subject of much scientific inquiry. If fact, it was chosen as a model organism for genomic sequencing. (Image taken in Surry, Maine, on February 3, 2024.)