This story was updated on March 1, 2017. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is home to some of the most diverse and accessible tidepools in the state, but there are many other good tidepooling destinations along California’s more than 1,000 miles of … Read more
Art & Design | Botany | Climate Change | El Niño | Fire | Fungi | Geology | History | The Bay | The Ocean | Urban Nature | Water | Weather | Wildlife
Deep Water Corals in Monterey Bay
Thriving in cold, dark waters 4,265 feet below sea level, communities of large, ancient, and colorful corals grace the peaks of Davidson Seamount, a 7,546-foot inactive volcano 75 miles southwest of Monterey. Courtesy 2006 MBARI/NOAA, www.mbari.org “Coral reefs are charismatic … Read more
Growing a Greenway in Hunters Point
On San Francisco’s southeastern waterfront, Heron’s Head Park hosts nesting avocets, nature education programs, and the seeds of a revitalized city Bay shore.
Earthquake Resources
Plate Tectonics And Earthquakes National Earthquake Information Center USGS website providing current data on earthquakes worldwide. USGS Earthquake Hazards Program-Northern California Website providing general and latest quake information, hazard maps, sources of preparedness information, synthesis of current research, and resources. … Read more
In the Fault Zone
On April 18, 1906, a massive earthquake centered just west of San Francisco ruptured the earth from Humboldt to San Juan Bautista. While the more dramatic traces of this 7.8 temblor may be hard to find one hundred years later, the tectonic forces that moved the earth that day are still relentlessly shaping our young and active landscape, carrying us towards another cataclysm in the near future.
On The Move
All of the familiar landforms we see here in the Bay Area—ridges, cliffs, lakes, and even San Francisco Bay itself—are products of the same titanic encounters between tectonic plates that produce our frequent quakes. Through a geologist’s trained eye, we learn to interpret the signs these forces have left on the land around us.
Letter from the Publisher
I was working at my computer at the Bay Nature office in Berkeley the other day when I was interrupted by a short, sharp jolt. I looked around at the others working in the office: “Did you just feel that?” … Read more
Poolside Beauties
Vernal pools are havens for specialized species, including the endangered Contra Costa goldfield and the native solitary bee that pollinates it.
Squawk of the Auklet
Not many people get to visit Año Nuevo Island—you need a rubber boat, a strong stomach, and a research permit. But sea lions haul out here in droves, and hundreds of seabirds—including rhinoceros auklets—come to breed on its few wind-swept acres. Today, erosion is threatening the auklets’ deep burrows, so researchers are working to restore this critical breeding site for these strange-looking seabirds.
Hunters Point Power Plant Controversy
On Wednesday, March 15, the San Francisco Public Power Commission voted unanimously to close the aging Hunters Point power plant as early as this April. This might sound like a victory for the Bayview Hunter’s Point community, but they’ve heard … Read more