Animals

A Seal Mom’s Lullaby

May 1, 2026 | Adventures, Animals, Environment, Marine science, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans, Outdoors

Their sleek, torpedo-shaped bodies dive deep and glide gracefully through the sea. On land they “galumph,” rolling back on their hind flippers then belly-flopping forward. Although harbor seals and other pinnipeds (fin-footed animals, including sea lions and walruses) may seem more at home in water, their distant ancestors once walked the earth.

Like us, harbor seals are warm-blooded, air-breathing mammals with hearts and lungs. The first time I observed a breeding colony, I realized that I have something else in common with females of the species: We are Moms, fiercely devoted to and protective of our children.

Dressed to Impress: Seabirds in Springtime

Apr 17, 2026 | Animals, Birds & Birding, Coast, Nature, Ocean Life, Seabirds

Forget Fashion Weeks and designer salons. Every Spring, seabirds along the Northern California coast stage their own spectacle of high-flying couture—with stakes far higher than any catwalk. These oceanic aviators dress, not for success, but for the survival of their species.

Bringing an Endangered Sea Snail Back from the Brink

Mar 20, 2026 | Abalone, Animals, Bodega Marine Lab, Ecology, Marine science, Ocean Life, Oceans, UCDavis

On a sunny January afternoon in Bodega Bay, some 70 miles north of San Francisco, the White Abalone Culture Lab is humming with activity.

It’s spawning day. Alyssa Frederick, the lab’s program director, invites me into an industrial room full of troughs and tubs of bubbling seawater. The abalone program is tucked away in the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, a research facility devoted to studying ocean and coastal health. The goal is to bring the endangered sea snails, known for their iridescent shells and delicate meat, back from the brink.

What’s A Sand Dollar Worth?

Mar 6, 2026 | Animals, Beach, Coast, Ecology, Environment, Marine science, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans

On a blustery March morning, I crouch at the Pacific’s edge to inspect a delicate white disc tossed onto the beach by the surging tide. Suddenly a passer-by shouts:

“They call them ‘dollars,’ but they aren’t worth anything!”

The naturalist in me bristles. I want to run after the stranger and make him look—really look—at the remarkable creature in my hand. Even in death, the intricate skeleton of a Pacific sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus) retains its elegance and beauty.

The Amazing Journey of Modern Whales

Feb 6, 2026 | Adventures, Animals, Coast, Ecology, Environment, Marine science, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans, Whales

“Do you think whales ever walked the earth?”I thought the captain of a whale watch boat in Monterey Bay was asking a trick question. But it’s no riddle—it’s a scientifically documented, evolutionary fact.

The largest creatures on the planet, whales are classified, along with dolphins and porpoises, as cetaceans, from an ancient Greek word for sea monster. However, they descended from rather humble four-legged mammals that hunted and fished along the riverbanks of what is now Pakistan and India.

In one of evolution’s most dramatic U-turns, these land dwellers returned to the ocean from which their ancestors had emerged. In a geological blink—roughly 10 million years—they reshaped their bodies for an aquatic life. Fur thinned. Limbs flattened. Tails strengthened. Nostrils began their slow migration to the top of the head. Hooves gave way to flukes

Being Crabby

Dec 12, 2025 | Adventures, Animals, Beach, Coast, Ecology, Marine science, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans, Outdoors

As I jog along a local beach, a raucous skirmish brings me to a full stop. In a furious duel for possession, two squawking gulls are tugging a Dungeness crab into the air. When their grip loosens, the hapless victim plummets—upside down, legs flailing---onto the sand....

The Secret Life of Mudflats

Oct 31, 2025 | Adventures, Animals, Bodega Marine Lab, Coast, Ecology, Environment, Marine science, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans, Outdoors

Mud sucks—literally. On land, it squishes underfoot and slimes your shoes. In seaside shallows, it clutches your feet and tugs with the ferocity of an angry alligator.

I know. Wading back to shore after fieldwork with Bodega Marine Lab scientists in Tomales Bay, I lost my balance and plunged into what felt like slow-hardening concrete. Every time I tried to pry my foot loose, I lurched back into the sludge. A graduate student reached out to help—only to skid into the ooze next to me.

Fly like a Raptor

Oct 17, 2025 | Adventures, Animals, Birds & Birding, Birds of Prey, Coast, Ecology, Environment, Nature, Outdoors, Raptors, Seabirds

Once again they are on the wing. Along the Pacific Flyway—a 4,000-mile corridor stretching from Alaska to Baja— millions of birds of many feathers and forms are flying south to warmer climes. But none dazzle the eye and stir the soul more than raptors, meat-eating birds of prey that include falcons, hawks, vultures and eagles.

The Season of the Shark

Oct 3, 2025 | Adventures, Animals, Coast, Ecology, Environment, Fish & Fishing, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans, Outdoors, Sharks

‘Tis the season, not just for spooky ghosts and goblins, but far scarier creatures that prowl along the California coast. During Sharktober, which extends from September to November, great white sharks, the largest predatory fish on the planet, are on the hunt.

Every year these lords of the deep migrate more than a thousand miles from a zone east of Hawaii known as the “White Shark Cafe.” Their destination: the Red Triangle, a swath of ocean stretching from Bodega Bay in the north to the Farallones Islands in the west and Monterey Bay in the south. The cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary nourish a rich array of marine life, including seals and sea lions that lure great whites eager to feed heavily and build strength and stamina for the winter months.

The (Brown) Pelican Brief

Sep 19, 2025 | Animals, Birds & Birding, Birds of Prey, Coast, Ecology, Environment, Nature, Ocean Life, Oceans

The streets where I live are named for California birds: Heron, Gull, Osprey, Loon, Kittiwake and, in my case, Pelican. When asked if I ever see real pelicans on their namesake block, I am delighted to say “Yes!”. From early summer into fall, briefs–—also called squadrons, pods and scoops—of Brown Pelicans glide majestically overhead.

Animals

A Seal Mom’s Lullaby

Dressed to Impress: Seabirds in Springtime

Bringing an Endangered Sea Snail Back from the Brink

What’s A Sand Dollar Worth?

The Amazing Journey of Modern Whales

Being Crabby

The Secret Life of Mudflats

Fly like a Raptor

The Season of the Shark

The (Brown) Pelican Brief

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