Huge crowds are harvesting mussels and other invertebrates. Could this damage the much-beloved reef?
Timely news, art, ideas and science from the natural world of Northern California.
Volunteer Divers Hope to Restore Kelp from the Ground Up
Can volunteer scuba divers start a turnaround for Northern California kelp forests?
Editor’s Letter: Twenty Years
Upon the publication of our 20th anniversary issue, editor-in-chief Victoria Schlesinger reflects on the past twenty years and looks forward to the next twenty.
Bay Nature in 2020
Bay Nature’s top stories from an unusual year.
Wildfire Smoke Changes Dramatically as it Ages, and That Matters for Downwind Air Quality – Here’s What We Learned Flying Through Smoke Plumes
Smoke changes as it ages, with implications for human health.
Reflections from Inverness Ridge on a Strange 2020
It started as a low rumble and proceeded to get louder and louder. Curious, I stepped out onto the deck just as a large white and red twin-engine propeller plane thundered directly overhead, descending to the northeast. Ten seconds later … Read more
Encountering an Alien on a Point Reyes Beach
Its face might have inspired the monster Alien Queen. Phronima lives like it.
With Fewer than 2,000 Butterflies Counted So Far, Western Monarch Takes an Astonishing Step Closer to Extinction
After dipping below its potential “extinction threshold,” the beloved butterfly population crashed again in 2020.
California Commits to Conserving 30 Percent of its Land and Water by 2030. What Does That Mean?
On October 7 California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state to create a new California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserve 30 percent of its land and coastal waters by 2030. Conservationists have celebrated the enshrinement of biodiversity preservation among the state’s … Read more
On Quiet Beaches, Snowy Plovers Reclaim Their Territory
Fewer human visitors this spring and summer allowed snowy plovers to relax on California beaches.