Author Dianne Hales

Outdoors

Fogust

Aug 7, 2026 | , , , , , , , , ,

On the  Northern California coast, Fogust is the cruelest month.  After March winds and April showers, we’ve endured May Gray, June Gloom and No-Sky July.  Once again, fog—dense  in the morning, wispy in the afternoon, ghostly at night—has overstayed its welcome. I miss not just the sun, but the stars and the moon and the annual meteor showers I’ve never glimpsed. 

But while I measure summer in sunshine, nature keeps its own calendar.  So in this alleged summer month, I try reframing my dreary thoughts.

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The Sexiest Tenants of the Tide Pool

Jul 24, 2026 | , , , , , , , ,

They are the rock stars of marine invertebrates.  Fabulous and flamboyant, they live fast, reproduce furiously and die young.   But they are also evolutionary marvels:  chemical wizards, crafty thieves, sly poisoners—and the sexiest of intertidal residents.

Beachcombers call them sea slugs. Marine biologists categorize them as nudibranchs (rhymes with swanks and translates as “naked gills”), relatives of snails that shed their shells early in life. While many aquatic creatures rely on camouflage, nudibranchs flaunt eye-popping colors—regal purple, hot pink, electric blue, neon yellow—and exuberant patterns.

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Summer School for Seabirds

Jul 10, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , ,

There’s a baby boom on the northern California coast.  

Cliffs and offshore rocks that seemed almost lifeless through winter are teeming with seabird families. Through my binoculars, I watch tiny Western Gulls wobbling on spindly pink legs, secretive Pigeon Guillemots ferrying fish into invisible nests, and Common Murres preparing their youngsters for one of the most astonishing leaps in the bird world.

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Tracking the Wild, Paw by Paw

Jun 12, 2026 | , , , ,

I was tying my shoelace on a seaside path when I sensed something nearby—a paw pressed lightly into the dirt. A dog’s, I assumed. But then I noticed its hefty size and the soft blur of fur at its edges. Glancing upward, I found myself staring into the golden eyes of a bobcat.

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A Nest to Call Home

May 29, 2026 | , , , , , , ,

The mission: Construct a home for soon-to-be-born offspring.

The rules: Use only scavenged materials.  Carry them to the site in your mouth. Employ nothing but your appendages as tools.  Ensure shelter from wind, water, and roving bandits.

The seabirds in love introduced in a previous post set to work. As monitors for the Seabird Protection Network on the Northern California coast, we watch and wonder: Where can these parents-to-be, who spend much of the year over open water, find safe haven on our rugged shore?

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A Seal Mom’s Lullaby

May 1, 2026 | , , , , , , ,

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.

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Star Power

Feb 20, 2026 | , , , , , , , ,

In the galaxy of shimmering sea stars, none shone brighter than the spectacular sunflower star. Bigger, bolder and hungrier than any of its kin, Pycnopodia helianthoides could unfurl as many as two dozen arms, rocket across the ocean floor and devour a purple sea urchin in moments. As an apex predator—dubbed the “Death Star” by awed divers—it feared none and was feared by all.

Then, almost overnight, it vanished.

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