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Weighing in at almost 5,000 pounds, measuring over ten feet across, infested with scores of parasites, carrying more eggs than any other vertebrate, and shaped like a giant dinner plate, the giant ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is a creature defined by superlatives.
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I. LEARN MORE A. OUR NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES Encyclopedia of the SanctuariesOnline guide to over 100 marine species from each of the marine sanctuaries in the United States. Includes photos, streaming video, and important biological information for mammals, fish, birds, … Read more
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In Schooner Bay, Drakes Bay Oyster Farm grows oysters and clams, producing 85 percent of the shellfish raised in Marin County. Point Reyes National Seashore, the company’s landlord, has long planned to close the farm when its 40-year lease expires … Read more
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In California, local upwelling centers power the extraordinary abundance of marine life at sites such as the Farallones, Monterey Bay, and the Channel Islands.
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This San Mateo coast reserve–home to brilliantly colored nudibranchs, 20-armed sun stars, and pupping harbor seals–has been transformed from a place of collection and plunder to one of exploration and wonder.
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From November to February this past winter, biologists scoured lower Russian River tributaries in search of spawning coho salmon. The fish they were hoping to find were no ordinary salmon, but the hatchery-spawned offspring of wild salmon. The survivors from … Read more
Usually around late April, following spring storms, Northern California beaches are littered with something that looks like gobs of purple-tinted slimy cellophane.
There’s a lot more to the western sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus) than meets the eye. Most people who spend any time at the beach are familiar with the sand dollar’s skeleton, or test—the rigid, white flattened disk that commonly washes … Read more
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Wave-Swept Shore: The Rigors of Life on a Rocky Coast, text by Mimi Koehl, Photographs by Anne Wertheim Rosenfeld, UC Press, 2006, 179 pages, $39.95 www.ucpress.edu This book is not quite what one might expect. The title and the stunning … Read more
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San Francisco’s Fort Funston is perhaps best known for dogs and hang gliders, but its cliffs also host a thriving coastal bank swallow colony.
