On our first low-tiding visit to the beach last year, Rowan brought me this little string of translucent green beads she had found. I had never seen anything like it and wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. I figured it must be an algae of some sort, and looking through my copy of A Field Guide to the Seaweeds of Alaska, I saw an evocative name in Jade Necklace (Urospora wormskioldii). The name certainly seemed apt for what Rowan found, although the photo in the book didn’t show a single strand (which was all I had seen), so I wasn’t sure.
I passed on the photos and was able to get confirmation that this was Jade Necklace, a species that’s apparently not very common (or perhaps just doesn’t last long enough in its most visible form), and is infrequently found. I hope to find it again sometime, and am glad Rowan’s sharp eyes allowed me to see and photograph this one.
