January 18th, 2012
Some FFMR volunteers have recently been trained to monitor and report activity within the Montara State Marine Reserve of which FMR is a part. (See page 11 of our December 2011 newsletter for more about our local monitors.) They and other citizens all along the California coast have signed up to help protect the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established over the past few years. Observing through binoculars, the monitors will track and report activities such as fishing, setting crab pots, and other illegal harvesting.
Enforcing the no-take law falls to the extremely understaffed California Department of Fish and Game. The department has just one large vessel plying the waters along the Central and Northern California coast, and fewer wardens per capita than any other coastal state. Poachers take advantage of wardens being spread so thin; recently crab traps were set within the boundaries of Montara State Marine Reserve. The low fines meted out by judges for poaching, set against the current price of crab, makes the gamble worth taking for some fishermen. Read more about the challenge of protecting MPAs in this San Jose Mercury News article.
Posted in Volunteers, conservation, sea life | No Comments »
January 12th, 2012
The Tohoku tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 swept untold tons of material ranging from personal belongings to entire buildings into the Pacific ocean. As we reported in May, researchers using computer models of ocean currents predicted that the debris would take several years to arrive on the west coast of North America.
But as early as December 2011, beachcombers in Neah Bay, WA and on Vancouver Island began reporting tsunami debris washing up on their coastline. While most debris is expected to move at about 7 mph, larger items pushed along by the wind may reach 20 mph. But there is debate over whether the reported flotsam and jetsam, which ranges from lumber to bottles, is linked to the tsunami, since debris from Japan frequently washes up along west coast beaches. (Generations of beachcombers have collected glass Japanese fishing floats, for example.) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in conservation, marine debris | No Comments »
January 4th, 2012
Compared to the sculpted, fractured, and life-laden rocks of the intertidal at FMR, the sand you walk on to get to them may seem pretty boring. Maybe the KQED Quest blog entry Sand: Hold a Mountain in Your Hand will change your perspective.
And Playing in the Sands is a site based on an educational poster (available for purchase on the site) that shows you close-up photos of sand from different locations around the world. Click on the small images in the lower pane to see them magnified in the upper pane. There is an amazing variety and some are quite beautiful.
Posted in geology, science | 1 Comment »
