At Point Pinole, 21 sturgeon carcasses––some more than seven feet long––lay strewn along a mile-long stretch of beach in late August 2022, baking in the relentless heat. It was the peak of the largest harmful algal bloom on record in … Read more
The Bay
The San Francisco Bay is our region's dominant geographic feature.
How a ‘Sturgeon Surgeon’ Tracks the Bay’s Giant, Stealthy Living Fossils
December 8, 2022 •
Researchers are investigating the secrets of our two resident sturgeon species, which have razor-sharp armor and shlorp up clams with their vacuum-shaped mouths.
The Nearly Unkillable Eucalyptus Meets Its Match
October 20, 2022 •
Eucalyptus trees on Albany Hill are wasting away from blight. Some people may cheer—but these trees are also home to endangered monarchs.
Can We Have More Whales and Fewer Whale Strikes?
September 23, 2022 •
Anchovies sparkled and seawater sprayed from the crusty maws of gray whales as they burst through the surface, again and again, off the coast near Pacifica, fifteen miles south of San Francisco. Groups of up to six gray whales devoured … Read more
On the Enigmatic ‘Flying Potato,’ Neither Plant Nor Animal, That Caused the Bay’s Biggest Harmful Algal Bloom in History
September 21, 2022 •
Heterosigma akashiwo can photosynthesize like a plant and wiggle like an animal, and it’s here to stay — but it’s still something of an enigma.
Largest Tidal Restoration Project in California Will Make Way for Wildlife & Mitigate Floods
August 16, 2022 •
Two landscapes stand divided by the hundred-year-old Yolo Bypass West Levee in Solano County. To the south of the levee’s U shape, canals tangle toward the sprawling Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, which teems with wildlife. North of the levee, former … Read more
Life Beneath the Bay Surface
June 27, 2022 •
San Francisco Bay ropes, docks and pilings provide a home for abundant, colorful marine life.
Naturalist’s Notebook: Whale, Dolphin and Porpoise ID Guide
June 23, 2022 •
How to identify individual cetaceans in the San Francisco Bay.
Solving Problems With Eelgrass and Oysters
October 14, 2021 •
Giant Marsh’s $3 million restoration and enhancement is the first large-scale endeavor of the Coastal Conservancy’s San Francisco Bay Living Shorelines Project.
Scientists Resurface a One-of-a-Kind, 50-Year-Old Record of San Francisco Bay Life
August 18, 2021 •
There used to be a pattern to species distribution in the Bay. Is there still?