Exploring Nature in the San Francisco Bay Area

  • Raising the Dead: Bringing Ghosts to Life, October-December 2007

    Raising the Dead: Bringing Ghosts to Life, October-December 2007

    How do you commission portraits of species the world has dismissed as extinct, species no one has seen in decades? That was the conundrum we at Bay Nature faced when it came time to solicit illustrations to accompany Presumed Extinct: Lost Species of the Bay Area. To reanimate these lost species, Bay Nature tapped the…

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  • San Francisco Bay Oil Spill Resources

    San Francisco Bay Oil Spill Resources

    The November 7 oil spill in San Francisco Bay has us all looking for information on how to help. At this point, most of the immediate clean-up work is done, but there are still a number of reources available online, as well as important opportunities to get involved with training and restoration programs all over…

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  • The Biggest Bony Fish in the Oceans Swims in the Gulf of the Farallones

    The Biggest Bony Fish in the Oceans Swims in the Gulf of the Farallones

    Weighing in at almost 5,000 pounds, measuring over ten feet across, infested with scores of parasites, carrying more eggs than any other vertebrate, and shaped like a giant dinner plate, the giant ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is a creature defined by superlatives.

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  • The Cattle Baron and the Elk

    The Cattle Baron and the Elk

    The 19th-century cattle baron Henry Miller (not the noted California author of the same name), who once had an estate on Mount Madonna (the subject of our July-September 2007 On the Trail feature) is not generally remembered for his conservation efforts. In fact, he was at the forefront of the endeavor to drain and plow…

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  • The Gopher Underground

    The Gopher Underground

    Years ago, in my mother’s garden, an ominous mound appeared: a volcano- or horseshoe-shaped pile of earth with an off-center hole, plugged with loose dirt. Her response, echoing the response of generations of frustrated gardeners, was to reach for a shovel and try to destroy the burrow, but a season’s worth of bulbs fell prey…

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  • Fire Ecology Resources

    Fire Ecology Resources

    Organizations The California Fire Safe Council (CFSC) fosters the creation of local and county Fire Safe councils; they provide information and resources to help protect communities from wildfires. The CFSC also maintains a comprehensive website (www.firesafecouncil.org) that serves as a clearinghouse for fire prevention education materials for homeowners and local Fire Safe councils. The information…

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