STATEWIDE

High Tidings

King tides, the most extreme tides of the year, offer a glimpse of future sea level rise at high tide—and this year’s El Niño could bring record-breaking tides. You can help scientists understand how sea level rise could impact the California coast in the future by submitting photos to the California King Tides Project, a community science initiative. This season’s king tides will occur November 24–26, December 23–25, and January 21–22. More info and submission guidelines at Coastal.ca.gov/kingtides

EAST BAY

Bivalve Boosters 

Oyster reefs support a healthy Bay ecosystem by boosting water quality and protecting wetland habitats and shorelines, but in San Francisco Bay they’ve declined to 1 percent of their historic levels. You can help restore native Olympia oyster reefs by volunteering with the Wild Oyster Project, which collects discarded oyster shells from restaurants and uses them as homes for baby oysters. Volunteers gather at REAP Climate Center in Alameda every second Sunday of the month, 10am to 1pm, to help collect and prepare oyster shells. Register at WildOysters.org/volunteer

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Guananí Gómez–Van Cortright is a writer and science educator and was Bay Nature’s first editorial fellow from 2022 to 2023. She graduated from the UC Santa Cruz science communication master’s program and currently performs puppet shows about singing arthropods, among other things, at the California Academy of Sciences. She enjoys foggy walks, sculpting ceramic skulls, and romping around at the tidepools.