 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
April 2007 |  |
|
Protecting Our Ocean Wilderness Through Public Stewardship www.farallones.org |  |
|
|
||||
|
IN THIS ISSUE SF Supes Vote to Ban Plastic bags in Stores Discovering Our Sanctuary: Gazos Creek Beach Wildlife Spotlight: 
Sanctuary Explorers Camp enrollment now open! Explore the hidden treasures of our coast, become a junior marine scientist, and help protect our local marine sanctuaries – all in one exciting week. Camp Sessions: For more information call Sara Heintzelman at 415-561-6625 x304
April 25 Wild Places, Wild Things! San Francisco Zoo Conservation Lecture, 6:30-8:30pm, Great Hall of the Lurie Education Center.
April 29 Come Whale Watching with us to see the migrating gray whales!
May 5 SnapShot Day. Are you interested in your communities water quality? Here is your opportunity to participate in a state wide water quality monitoring event along the coast. Duxbury Reef Water Testing San Mateo County Water Testing
May 16 Spring in the Sanctuaries' Wetlands. Free Lecture, 7pm, Bay Model, Sausalito, CA. Joe Mueller, Marine Biologist.
The World Wildlife Fund is currently offering a $30,000 grand prize and two $10,000 runner-up prizes to inspire innovative, practical, cost-effective ideas that allow fishermen to "fish smarter" - to better target their intended catch while reducing bycatch. The competition is open to all - fishermen, professional gear manufacturers, teachers, students, engineers, scientists and backyard
Are you creating or revising your will? FMSA welcomes you to leave a legacy of environmental stewardship through a bequest. For more information, please contact Susanna Beck at 415-561-6625 x.315 or sbeck@farallones.org.
|
|
|
SF Supes Vote to Ban Plastic Bags in Stores
Our Executive Director, Linda Hunter, sat down with Supervisor Mirkarimi to discuss his seminal legislation banning plastic bags in San Francisco. LH: Congratulations, Supervisor Mirkarimi, on the passage of this wonderful new law. Can you give us a short history of the effort to make this legislation law? RM: The idea had been percolating among disparate groups that I've been working with over the years. When I was elected as District 5 Supervisor in 2005, I sought to advance a similar version of this legislation. The City entered into an agreement with the supermarket industry in 2006 to institute a voluntary effort to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags by 10 million bags per year. Not only did the agreement fail, but the California Grocer Industry disingenuously engineered the passage of legislation in Sacramento designed to prohibit California cities from instituting a bag tax as well as impeding cities from requesting "bag data" (inventory is treated with high level intel).
Discovering Our Sanctuary: Gazos Creek Beach
Fifty miles south of San Francisco, along the majestic Highway 1, lies Gazos Creek Beach. This beautiful stretch of coastline is home to over a hundred species of birds. Chinook salmon and steelhead trout run up the creek each season and harbor seals haul out on the rocky shores. It is a beach that we need to protect and a place that every ocean lover should visit.
Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd
1) Visit a tidepool. The rocky intertidal zone where land and ocean meet is a window into the sea and a chance to discover some of its unique and complex life up close. The rocky intertidal on the west coast of North America is one of the richest and most diverse habitats in the world. The plants and animals living in the rocky intertidal are well adapted to the waves, tides, and other harsh conditions that make this environment unique.
Wildlife Spotlight: By-the-Wind Sailor (Velella velella) Velella velella, commonly known as “by-the-wind sailor,” is a hydroid polyp—a jelly-like invertebrate. It is bluish purple in color with a clear oval-shaped float and a triangular sail projecting vertically out of its body. The sail is uniquely S-shaped (looking down on it), so the organism can catch wind on both sides of its “sheet.” Like with the sail on a human craft, the pressure gradient will propel the animal on its journey across the ocean.
|
|
|
|
||||
|
© 2005-2006 Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
||
Whether it’s a sea otter cracking open a clam on its belly or a flock of pelicans gliding over a rising swell, there is so much to explore in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. In this and upcoming issues of Upwelling we will visit some of the wonderful places in our Sanctuary, so you in turn can go out and discover our ocean wilderness.
This Earth Day, consider giving back to our marine environment and connecting with your marine sanctuary. Adapted from 50 Ways to Save the Ocean by David Helvarg, founder of the Blue Frontier, here are 10 things you can do. 
Imagine you are scuba diving in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you surface and become a tiny blue boat with a lone sail. Weeks go by, months, as you drift with the winds, until one day you spot dry land on the horizon. The final gusts and waves toss you to shore where you tumble onto the beach to die and disintegrate. Well, you have just lived the life of Velella velella.