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Oodles of nudibranchs showed up in Lake Merritt after the harmful algal bloom of August 2022. These sea slugs appeared in record breaking numbers, taking Oakland’s beloved tidal lagoon by storm.
Science & Nature
Art & Design | Botany | Climate Change | El Niño | Fire | Fungi | Geology | History | The Bay | The Ocean | Urban Nature | Water | Weather | Wildlife
These Fabulous Flowers Are Spring’s Final Encore
May 17, 2023 •
When other plants start hunkering down, clarkias send up a dazzling array of purples and pinks.
Don’t Blame the Bark Beetles
May 9, 2023 •
While walking in the woods, you’ve likely encountered a dead log engraved with maze-like squiggles. These natural carvings are known as beetle galleries, and the grooves are munched out by the larvae of bark beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae.
How the DNA We Leave Behind Can Help Conservation
May 3, 2023 •
Bits of DNA linger on the forest floor, in the ocean, and even in the air—and these strands have stories to tell, back at the lab. Here’s how environmental DNA (aka ‘eDNA’) is starting to transform how ecologists work in the Bay Area and beyond.
Here Comes the 2023 City Nature Challenge, A Global Competition You Can Join This Weekend
April 25, 2023 •
What’s your plan for this year’s City Nature Challenge, April 28-May 1? Here’s what it’s all about, plus a map of Bay Area bioblitzes you can join.
Dungeness Crab Fishery Is Closed Early Again to Prevent Whale Entanglements
April 19, 2023 •
Dungeness crabbers finished the season without a single whale entanglement, unlike past years, but they paid a price.
Avian Flu Claims at Least 7 California Condors—and a Beloved Bay Area Peregrine Falcon
April 13, 2023 •
Avian flu is hitting close to home, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. California condors and a beloved San Jose falcon are the newest victims of this epidemic that is sweeping through domestic and wild bird populations worldwide.
The Lyrids Are Our First Chance to See Some Shooting Stars This Year
April 13, 2023 •
The story of how Earth came to be graced with this meteor shower starts at the birth of the universe, with a dirty snowball.
Is The Western Drought Finally Ending? That Depends On Where You Look
April 4, 2023 •
After three years of extreme drought, the Western U.S. is finally getting a break. Mountain ranges are covered in deep snow, and water reservoirs in many areas are filling up following a series of atmospheric rivers that brought record rain and snowfall to large parts of the region.
Many people are looking at the snow and water levels and asking: Is the drought finally over?
There is a lot of nuance to the answer.
Why State Wildlife Officials Took a Mountain Lion Cub From the Wild … Then Put It Back
March 29, 2023 •
It’s the first time a cub has ever been successfully reunited with its mom. But some local residents say it shouldn’t have been taken in the first place.