Despite the fact that the salt marsh harvest mouse is the only mammal that scrapes out its existence exclusively in tidal marshes, no one has ever bothered to seriously study its physiology.
A Mouse Surprise
March 24, 2020 •
The Bay
The San Francisco Bay is our region's dominant geographic feature.
As the Sea Rises and Climate Changes, a Bay Area City Approves 469 Single Family Homes On a Bayshore Flood Zone
November 14, 2019 •
Update Nov. 15, 2019: This story has been revised to reflect the city’s vote on Thursday, Nov. 14 to approve the project. Planners, climate scientists, and environmentalists generally agree that two of the most critical measures California should take to … Read more
What’s That Fish Jumping at the Shallow Bay’s Edge?
October 29, 2019 •
Yesterday afternoon I went for a jog along the Bay Trail and saw a bunch of little fish flipping around near the surface right at the edge of the beach. What were they? Were they being chased by something?–A.J., Alameda … Read more
Want to Prevent California’s Katrina? Grow a Marsh
September 16, 2019 •
These islands in the Delta aren’t really islands at all anymore.
Eat an Oyster, Restore a Reef
September 16, 2019 •
Linda Hunter pulls up to Bay Natives Nursery in Bayview-Hunters Point and opens the rear hatch of her gray Prius. Inside are several white plastic buckets full of shells. They come from oysters eaten the previous day by customers at … Read more
Open Space Park or Hotel? The Future of the Burlingame Shoreline Could Set a Precedent for Climate Adaptation
September 3, 2019 •
For perhaps the first time in 80 years the California State Lands Commission, which negotiates and hands out leases for state-owned shoreline property, faced a decision this summer between competing ideas for the same parcel. The commission staff announced at … Read more
A New Plan for Saving the Bay’s Recently Thriving Herring
August 27, 2019 •
As recently as five years ago, it was great to be a herring in the San Francisco Bay. Populations of the small silver fish had declined up and down the West Coast but boomed in the Bay at levels not … Read more
Meet the Bay’s Incredible Swimming Worms
August 6, 2019 •
I think I saw a worm swimming in the Bay, what is it? It was mid August in 2015 when I first held one, its long thread like body rolling and pulsing in my hand. Tickled by the anticipation of … Read more
The Endangered Species Next Door: the California Ridgway’s Rail
June 23, 2019 •
Perhaps it’s their contradictions that makes seeking Ridgway’s rails so exciting.
Walking the Entire Bay
June 23, 2019 •
Thirty years after the project officially began, the idea for the San Francisco Bay Trail seems both delightfully obvious and considerably difficult. To link Bay Area communities across nine counties and 47 cities with one multiuse, 500-mile trail is an … Read more