Sea-level rise is threatening San Francisco’s shores. Vegetating the sand dunes is part of the city’s answer.
Tag: beach
The Bay
That Foam on the Beach Is (Probably) Fine
Storms on the California coast whip up sea foam, especially in winter and spring. Here’s a frothy dollop of the science behind how this stuff forms (it’s kind of a planktonic meringue).
Fall Issue 2022
The Living Drill Bits That Grind Holes in Beach Rocks
The piddock clam makes its mark on the world at the rate of one millimeter per month.
Nature News
Encountering an Alien on a Point Reyes Beach
Its face might have inspired the monster Alien Queen. Phronima lives like it.
Ask the Naturalist
Naturally, 2019 Closes with Thousands of 10-Inch Pulsing “Penis Fish” Stranded on a California Beach
I saw thousands of these on Drakes Beach on Dec. 6, after the recent storm. What happened? -David Ford You could be forgiven for being offended by the above photo: thousands of 10-inch wiggly pink sausages strewn about Drakes Beach. … Read more
Summer Issue 2012
Point Reyes: On the Edge
You always know essentially where to find it: just aim yourself toward the western horizon, and go. At the road’s end, the trail’s end, the far end of that last dune-trudge or bluff-scramble, it’s there: a great conjunction of land, sky, and sea. North America meets Pacific Ocean.
Summer Issue 2011
Hidden Life in the Sand
It turns out the sand at your local beach is not as simple as it seems–it’s full of little creatures. From sand crabs and beach hoppers to tiny water bears, there really is a world in a grain of sand, or at least between the grains of sand.
Winter Issue 2011
In the Third Kind of Fog
For San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll, it all happened at Limantour.
Summer Issue 2009
Naturalist’s Notebook: A Worm Ties Together Crabs, Otters and Scoters
Find out how a little worm ties together the lives, and deaths, of several ocean animals, from sea otters to surf scoters to common sand crabs.
