With Bay of Life, Frans Lanting and Christine Eckstrom wanted to go past Monterey Bay’s natural beauty to explore its past, present and possible futures.
Water
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.
A Former National Parks Director’s Guide to Not Wasting Your Precious Greywater
August 23, 2022 •
Jonathan Jarvis installed his own laundry-to-landscape system, and with a little elbow grease, you can, too.
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
Meet An Ancient, Amazing Fish in Need of an Image Makeover
April 20, 2022 •
Cape Horn is a concrete and earth-filled dam on the upper Eel River in Mendocino County. About 140 miles north of San Francisco, the dam was built in 1907 and blocks the waters of the Eel to form the Van … Read more
Annotated Nature: a Vernal Pool in Spring
March 29, 2022 •
Wildflowers bloom like fireworks as winter water dries up in the vernal pool ecosystems of Jepson Prairie.
Capturing the Flood in California’s Ancient Underground Waterways
January 4, 2022 •
Ancient and buried riverbeds can move and absorb excess stormwater, storing it for future droughts.
We Can’t Rely on Drought-Busting Atmospheric Rivers Anymore
December 16, 2021 •
Atmospheric rivers are nothing short of a miracle for California. But climate change is altering their character.
How Birds Help Keep the Pajaro River Levees Safe Without Poison
December 6, 2021 •
Rodents can weaken critical river levees. Instead of poisoning them, leading to ripple effects up the food chain, levee managers on the Pajaro River are encouraging raptors to patrol the area.