Bay Nature magazine ◦ Spring 2023

Bay Nature

How the South Bay Salt Ponds Got So Rainbowy

March 22, 2023

An aerial image of salt pond E6C by Cris Benton, annotated with information about the South Bay Salt Ponds, their brilliant colors, and their restoration. — Salt pond photo by Cris Benton. Inset photo credits from top: Ingrid V. Taylar via Flickr, CC BY 2.0;
Terry J. McGenity et al via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that not all 11 ponds addressed in the next phase of the project will be restored to tidal marsh; some will be managed as other habitats.

About the Author

Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright

Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright started as Bay Nature’s first editorial fellow in July 2022 and is a recent graduate of the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication master’s program. She loves to cover living fossils (like sturgeon!), people working toward environmental solutions, and the tiny but mighty microbes that control the world. GuananiGomezVanCortright.com