IN THIS ISSUE

Thank You

Ocean Acidification

Tomales Bay Mooring

Wildlife Spotlight: River Otter

 

 

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Take our OceanFest Survey and win a trip to the Farallon Islands!

 

October 16 Academy Lecture: Exploring the Sierra Nevada as a Naturalist and an Artist, at 2pm and 7:30pm.

 

October 23 California Ocean Protection Council Public Forum on Wave Energy, 6-9pm, at Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA.

 

October 27 Join us on a whale watching trip to the Farallon Islands for the amazing seabirds, whales and wildlife!

 

November 2 Bolinas Lagoon Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study. Working Group Meeting #2 at Audubon Canyon Ranch, Volunteer Canyon, from 9am to 2pm.

 

November 15th Last day to take our online survey.

 

Donate to FMSA today!

 

 

 

 

Thank You for Supporting OceanFest

Thank you all for joining us at OceanFest!  We want to hear how you enjoyed the festivities. 

Please take our survey. 

A quick two-minute response enters you into a raffle for a whale watching trip to the Farallon Islands!

The sunshine gods were smiling on us and we were blessed with a beautiful, clear day.  Children were dancing, wine was flowing and our taste buds are still tingling from the delicious delights served to us by some of the Bay Area’s top restaurants.

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Climate Change and the World’s Ocean
Acidification and its Effects on Marine Life

The oceans, which cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface, play a fundamental and complex role in regulating climate. The effect of climate change on the world’s ocean is irrefutable and signals a profound transformation of the fragile marine ecosystem that nurtures our world.

Scientists are beginning to understand just how vast these changes will be and how quickly they are occurring. Among them: rising ocean temperatures that lead to species migration or extinction, the melting of artic sea ice that endangers polar bears and other species, rising sea levels that threaten our coast, significant changes in the manner in which the ocean’s currents transport water around the globe and the acidification of the ocean.

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Boats in the Bay
Protecting Tomales Bay by Managing Vessel Usage

There are a lot of boats in Tomales Bay and many of them are not going anywhere – they’re just parked in the bay.

The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the California State Lands Commission are jointly leading a multi-agency effort to develop and implement strategies to improve ecosystem protection in Tomales Bay.  The eleven agencies that are collaborating to identify best strategies to manage vessels issued a document for public input on August 31st that kicked off a three month public input period.

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Wildlife Spotlight: River Otter (Lutra canadensis)

A member of the weasel family, the river otter is one of the most skillful and adaptive predators in the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary.

Their adaptations for aquatic life include tiny ear and nostril flaps that close when underwater, long whiskers to feel out for flatfish and other food in murky water and a luxuriant warm waterproof fur coat.  They can stay under water for up to three minutes and have a swimming speed of up to seven miles an hour.

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