IN THIS ISSUE

Tarballs Wash up on Sanctuary Beaches 

Northern Fur Seals Rebounding in the Farallones

Entangled in Debris: Marine Animals Threatened by Human Trash

Wildlife Spotlight: Cookie Cutter Shark (Isistius brasiliensus)

 

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March 17

St. Patrick's Day Canoe at Arrowhead Marsh.  Check out the many Save the Bay events!

 

The California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative has scheduled five public workshops in the MLPA North Central Coast Study Region. The workshops are to introduce and discuss the second phase of the MLPA Initiative and invite public questions and input on the initiative process.  For more info contact: Melissa Miller-Henson at 916.654.2506 or Melissa@resources.ca.gov

All five workshops are scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Monday, March 19
Gualala Arts Center
Mohr Mezzanine
46501 Gualala Road
Gualala

Tuesday, March 20
Marin Civic Center
Manzanita Room
10 Avenue of the Flags
San Rafael

Wednesday, March 21
Grange Hall
Main Hall
1370 Bodega Avenue
Bodega Bay

Monday, March 26
Harbor House Conference Center
107 Broadway Avenue
Half Moon Bay

Tuesday, March 27
Golden Gate National Recreation Area Headquarters
Fort Mason, Building 201
(use main entrance at Franklin and Bay streets)
San Francisco

 

March 21

Emma Moore will be presenting an overview of the Bird Entanglement research project at a potluck, 6:30 pm, at the Sanctuary headquarters on Wednesday.  Please contact slyday@farallones.org for further information.

 

April 5

Please join us for the following lunchtime presentation at Point Reyes National Seashore: "The effects of disturbance and non-native species on California oyster communities" - David Kimbro (Ph.D. Candidate, Bodega Marine Lab - UC Davis).  TIME & PLACE: 12:00 - 12:45 in the Red Barn Classroom at Point Reyes National Seashore. All are welcome.

 

April 11

Public Symposium on Climate Change at the Pallace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

 

April 12

Discover Your Marine Sanctuary  Free Evening Lecture 7-9 pm.  The Intertidal Drama: Life and Death, Love and Sex.  Pt. Montara Lighthouse, Montara, San Mateo.  Tom Niesen, Marine Invertebrate Biologist

 

April 14

Tidepooling at Fizgerald Marine Reserve, 1–3 pm.
Explore life on, underneath and between the rocks with Marine Invertebrate Biologist Tom Niesen

 

April 29

The Gray Whales are coming! Murres are prospecting for nests. Join our whale watching trip to the Farallons.

 

Jennifer Stock, Education and Outreach Coordinator for Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, is the host for Ocean Currents, a new radio show on KWMR 90.5 FM (Point Reyes Station), 89.3, Bolinas and live on the web at www.KWMR.org.  The show is once a month (every fourth Thursday) from 5:30 - 6:30PM. and will reveal the amazing science and mysteries that marine biologists are discovering.

 

All Spring Long

Learn about our amazing Sanctuary through the Point Reyes Field Seminars. 

 

Got Raffle Prizes?

FMSA is now taking donations for the annual OceanFest raffle. In past years, raffle winners have won weekend get-aways, meals at great local restaurants and even a trip to Baja with Blue Waters Kayaking. Please contact Susanna Beck at 415-561-6625 x.315 or sbeck@farallones.org with any donations.

 

Donate to FMSA today!

 

To write a letter to the editor, just reply to the Upwelling email.

 

 

 

Tarballs Wash up on Sanctuary Beaches

Nothing can ruin a beautiful walk on the beach like coming across a dead bird covered in oil. In the beginning of February, Beach Watch volunteers started noticing tarballs and oil-covered birds during their monthly beach surveys.  Sarah Lenz, a Beach Watch volunteer and ranger at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve noted, “All along the wrack line were continuous tarballs, ranging from the size of a pencil eraser to over 5 inches.  I have never seen so many tarballs in the three years I have worked at Fitzgerald.”

Tarballs are dark, sticky remnants of oil that can be as small as a coin or weigh many pounds.  As oil floats on the surface of the ocean, its physical characteristics change, a process called “weathering”.  In some instances, tarballs can remain buried on a beach and be re-exposed after storms.  This is especially the case at two beaches in Point Reyes National Seashore, Drakes East and Limantour West, where surveyors constantly encounter old, weathered tarballs. 

Continued >>

 

 

Northern Fur Seals Rebounding in the Farallones

Two centuries ago, hundreds of thousands of northern fur seals lived, bred and reared their young in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.  Then, in the early 1800’s, British, Russian and American hunters discovered their thick luxurious pelts—with over 350,000 hairs per square inch—and within a few decades all of the seals were either slaughtered or had fled.

In the early 1970’s, after almost a century and a half absence, a handful of male fur seals returned to the Farallon Islands.  In each of the following years, a few more seals arrived, and in 1996, the first northern fur seal pup was born in the sanctuary in over 150 years.  “It is an amazing sight,” says GFNMS Research Coordinator Jan Roletto, “to see northern fur seals return after so many years.”

Continued >>

 

 

Entangled in Debris: Marine Animals Threatened by Human Trash

Biodiversity in the marine world is under threat by five factors: over-exploitation, physical alteration, pollution, invasive species and climate change.  One very visible impact of pollution is entanglements observed in marine species, from large whales to tiny seabirds.  A beached animal caught in plastic or fishing gear can be an appalling sight.

Entanglement is defined as “an interaction between marine life and discarded material whereby the loops and openings of various types of debris entangle animal appendages or entrap animals.”  Animals can be injured or killed by the human debris.  If not killed directly, an animal can die indirectly if the material causes the animal to incur wounds and infections, weakens its ability to catch food, or creates aberrant behavior patterns that place it at a competitive disadvantage. 

Continued >>

 

 

Wildlife Spotlight: Cookie Cutter Shark (Isistius brasiliensus)

Imagine you are a seal or a dolphin. You are swimming in the ocean depths when you spot a glowing something near the sea bottom. You’ve been looking and listening for prey and here it is. You dive down near the creature which is less than two feet long, a slow swimmer, and a perfect meal.

Then it hits you, literally, and bores a doubloon size hole in your flesh. You’ve just had an encounter with the cookie cutter shark.

Continued >>