Plants and Animals
On this page you with learn about the plants and animals that live in Mackerel Cove. My group has worked very hard to get information. We would like to thank to thank Steve Walker from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for coming into our classroom and talking about kinds of plants and animals which live in Mackerel Cove. This part of the site was created by Erica.
In this group there was Emma, Shyanne, Ben, Hunter, Kelly, Sam G
Great Blue Herron
The great blue heron mostly eats fish, crabs, and sometimes mussles. The largest and most widespread heron in North America, the great blue heron, can be found along the ocean shore or the edge of a small inland pond or even in a marsh. The great blue herons' size (3.2 to 4.5 feet/1 to 1.4 meters) and wide wingspan (5.5 to 6.6 feet/1.7 to 2 meters) make them a joy to see in flight. They can cruise at some 20 to 30 miles (32 to 48 kilometers) an hour. Though great blue herons hunt alone, they typically nest in colonies. They prefer tall trees, but sometimes nest in low shrubs. Females produce two to seven eggs, which both parents protect and incubate. Chicks can survive on their own by about two months of age. The all-white color morph found in the Caribbean and southern Florida is often called the great white heron, but it is in fact the same species.
Starfish
Starfish are star-shaped animals that live at the bottom of the sea. Their is name is ”Echinoderm” which includes: Brittle star, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and sea stars. Its mouth is in the middle of its body and it’s eyes on the end of its legs. They walk with small tube-like sticky pads which help it walk up rocks and on sand. Starfish can grow up to 10-30 cm in diameter. Starfish eat mostly mollusks but it eats sponges, coral, and even seaworms. If a starfish finds a piece ot food, such as a mussel, it sends off food signals. Soon, all the starfish that got the message come and start fighting over the food, like a flock of seagulls with a fish or mussel.
Crab
The crab is one of the oldest species on earth. The horseshoe crab dates back over 200 million years and is literally a living fossil. It's easy to tell the difference between a male and female (she-crab) by looking at the underside of the shell (see photos). The female has a broad, triangular-shaped area in the center of the shell, whereas the male has a distinctive, elongated spire in the center.
Eel Grass
Eelgrass is a rooted submerged plant often found in flowing weight long, thin, ribbon-like leaves 1/2-3/4 inches wide that are commonly three to four feet long. The vein pattern in the leaves of eelgrass is very distinctive and resembles celery. Eelgrass has a vast rhizome system that allows it to form dense colonies and usually excludes other submerged plants. This particular plant will grow along the bottom of the cove.
Long-tailed Duck
The Long-tailed Duck is one of the deepest diving ducks, and can dive as deep as 60 meters (200 feet) to forage. Of all diving ducks, the long-tailed duck spends the most time under water relative to time on the surface. When it is foraging it is submerged three to four times as much as it is on top of the water. Unlike most ducks, which molt twice per year, the long-tailed duck has three distinct plumages each year. achieved in a complex series of overlapping partial molts. The definitive basic plumage is never worn in its entirety, as portions of Alternate are retained through the summer and elements of the Supplemental are acquired before all of Basic Plumage is obtained. Therefore change in plumage seems continuous from April to October. Unlike other waterfowl, the Long-tailed Duck wears its "breeding" or Alternate Plumage only in the winter. It gets its "nonbreeding" or Basic Plumage in the spring and wears it for the breeding season. Most other ducks wear the nonbreeding plumage only for a short period in the late summer.
* Size: 38-58 cm (15-23 in)
* Wingspan: 72 cm (28 in)
* Weight: 500-1100 g (17.65-38.83 ounces
Sea Anemone
A sea anemone usually attaches itself to rocks or coral. They have a central mouth which is surrounded by tentacles with nematocysts, which are stinging cells that paralyze and entangle small marine animals. A few sea anemones have symbiotic relationships with some hermit crabs; they attach themselves on the shell of the hermit crab (or they are attached by the hermit crab). There are theories that this is beneficial to the hermit crab for protection since the stinging cells on certain sea anemones can be quite potent, and the sea anemone may benefit from scraps of the hermit crab's food that it did not eat. They may eat what ever gets tangled in there nematocysts.
Periwinkles
Periwinkles are widely distributed shore (littoral) snails, chiefly herbivorous, usually found on rocks, stones, or pilings between high and low-tide marks; a few are found on mud flats. Of the approximately 80 species in the world, 10 are known from the western Atlantic. The common periwinkle, littorina. Littorea, is the largest, most common and widespread of the northern species. It may reach a length of 1 1/2 inches, is usually dark gray, and has a solid spiral shell that readily withstands the buffeting of waves. widespread along the rocky shores of northern Europe, the common periwinkle was introduced into North America at Halifax, It is very common on the rocky shores of New England and also occurs on shallow muddy bottoms, along the banks of tidal estuaries, and among the roots and blades of marsh grass where the water is only moderately salty. Periwinkles are known to eat algea and some even little bits of gravel..
Harbor Seal
Adult harbor seals eat squid, crustaceans, molluscs, and a variety of fish; including, rockfish, herring, flounder, salmon, hake, and sand lance.
A harbor seal's diet varies seasonally and regionally and often is subject to local prey availability.
Harbor seals also known as common seals, hair seals, and leopard seals, they enter rivers, and are even found in the Great Lakes. Small seals, they reach a length of up to 6 ft and a weight of up to 250 lb
Group members: Hunter, Ben, Sam, Shyanne, Emma, Kelly, Erica