Plants and Animals that live on and around Sandy Beaches
Plants
Coastal Panic Grass
Coastal Panic Grass can grow to 3 to 6 feet in height. Panic Grass can sustain ocean spray, wind, heat, winter, but cannot withstand a lot of sand.
American Beach Grass
American Beach Grass is found in the front of dunes. The stems grow under the sand and allow for many new plants to grow in that environment. Beach grass can withstand heat, sunlight, and winds.
Seabeach Sandwort
Seabeach Sandwort is a white/yellow flowered plant that is commonly found on sandy coastal beaches and dunes. It can withstand salt spray.
Bearberry
Bearberry is a popular shrub that grows on sand dunes and sandy beaches. It can grow to be 3 to 6 feet wide and can be 6 to 12 inches high. Bearberry shrubs produce fruit in August and the winter that provide food for many animals.
Animals
Kelp Flies
Usually the bugs that are swarming the seaweed at the beach are Kelp flies. Kelp flies, or Coelopa vanduzeei, are a type of housefly. These flies swarm seaweed because they like the rotting seaweed and depend on the seaweed as a source of food. Kelp flies prefer bladder kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, over other types of seaweed so that they can lay their eggs and rest.
Red Mites
Kelp flies are not the only type of animal that clings to seaweed at the beach. Red mites, or Neomolgus littoralis, can also be found in the seaweed. Similar to the kelp flies, the red mite is attracted to the dried and rotting seaweed.
Beach Hoppers
The holes that can usually be found around seaweed and certain areas on the beach can be attributed to beach hoppers. Beach hoppers dig a hole under the seaweed to escape the heat and dryness of the day. To distinguish the beach hopper from other bugs, beach hoppers will be found hopping around the sand. Beach hoppers are related to the shrimp and are a type of crustacean. A beach hopper has a flat body, but does not have a shell to cover their head and thorax region. In order to dig holes in the sand, they have special legs. The beach hopper starts by digging the whole head first, using its antennae, and then uses its abdomen to finish the hole until their body plugs the holes.
Beach Pillbugs
Beach pillbugs look almost identical to the beach hopper and are also related to shrimp. They have a body that is flattened from the top to bottom and appear flat from the side. Beach pillbugs usually dig in the sand and are not bothered by heat, dryness, or the waves. Usually beach pillbugs search the sand and beach for anything they can eat.
Blood Worms
Blood worms can be found in the mid intertidal area of a sandy beach and they get their name due to the red coloring of their bodies. Blood worms can be found in the sand to up to 8 to 13 inches because past 12 inches there isn’t enough oxygen for them to live. They ingest the sediments and extract the nutrients and microscopic species from the sand, which is called deposit feeding. Deposit feeding is a type of feeding that cleans the sediments.
Ghost Crab
Ghost crab is a type of crab that burrows in sandy beaches on the east coast. They eat other crabs, clams, insets, and vegetation. Ghost crabs tend to feed at night and burrow close to the water. However, older crabs will burrow farther away from the water.
Herons
Herons are wading birds. They can be found in trees, on the beach, or by the water during the day.
Some types of Herons are Great blue herons, little blue herons, yellow-crowned herons, green-backed herons, tri-colored herons.
Some types of Herons are Great blue herons, little blue herons, yellow-crowned herons, green-backed herons, tri-colored herons.
Herring Gulls
Herring Gull is also referred to as the “seagull”. The herring gull drinks fresh water, but will drink seawater if they have too. They eat fish, birds, eggs, garbage, insects, and marine invertebrates. Young gulls are more migratory than adults and adults tend to stay near breeding grounds.