What do you want to know about the natural world? For more than two decades, Bay Nature teamed up with the naturalists at the California Center for Natural History to answer readers’ questions about nature in this regular column.
Still have questions? Email letters@baynature.org
The biggest shark in the Bay is the seven-gill--with two more gill slits than the average shark. Why the extras? Well, turns out they’re probably an evolutionary accident, but these are still fascinating animals--up to 10 feet long, and swimming right out there in the Bay!
Bay Nature reader Rich saw a number of dead barn owls along I-5. What's going on? Turns out barn owls may be the most widespread birds in the world -- and they may be the original ghosts!
Michael Ellis declares that ringtails register a 9.9 on the cuteness scale, and they were reputed to shack up with miners during the Gold Rush. Yet longtime field biologist Wendy has yet to see one of these small mammals. They are elusive, but not as uncommon as you might think.
We don’t have fireflies in the Bay Area, but we do have glowworms. What are they and why the heck do they light up?
Q: Rumor has it there might have been a waterfall at the Golden Gate during the last ice age, when sea level was at its lowest. Is there any evidence for this? [Cisco, Oakland] A: Well, there is no incontrovertible … Read more
Q: I recently saw a video of a cloud of birds moving in wild patterns. Then I saw shorebirds doing the same thing. Why do birds do this–other than because they can? [Michael, El Cerrito] A: There are several kinds … Read more
Can a pelican really hold a week’s worth of food in its bill?
The quicksand won't get you, but the quakes might.
Which bird that migrates to or through the Bay Area travels the farthest to get here from its breeding grounds?
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
