Brandt’s cormorandts tending to their babies on a sea cliff ledge on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, California, May 2016. Photo: Lauren McEvoy/Mobile Ranger

Brandt’s cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) are back on the sea cliff just west of Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. They started using this ledge in large numbers in 2011 after the breeding habitat was improved by removing the non-native and invasive ice plant. The Brandt’s cormorants do not nest on top of ice plant and are sensitive to human disturbance. To breed, they need open ledges free of predators and safe from people walking, talking, or sitting to drink coffee.

The ledge before ice plant removal in April 2011. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Fellis

In the photo above, you can see one Brandt’s cormorant on a nest (the greenish mound) and one empty nest. In April 2011, as part of the West Cliff Restoration Project, local ecologists Bill Henry, Josh Adams, Ryan Carle, and Jessie Beck cleared encroaching ice plant from this ledge. By the next day, a large group of Brandt’s cormorants started building their nests.

The same ledge one day after ice plant removal, April 2011. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Fellis

The cormorants incubate their eggs for ~30 days, and the chicks leave the nest when they 40–50 days old. When the birds fly from the ledge for the first time, usually in late August, they are not yet strong enough to fly back, so they hang out on the beach below for up to several weeks while the parents still feed them.

The young Brandt’s cormorants on the beach below their breeding ledge. Photo: Courtesy of Alayne Meeks

In 2011, after the ice plant was cleared, 21 nests were counted and 44–45 chicks were documented as hatching (Alayne Meeks, Oikonos). In 2012, the numbers of nests and chicks hatched were practically the same. The ledge was not used again for breeding from 2013 through 2015, but it was used again in spring 2016, with 35 birds and 14 nest sites as of May 17.

The reasons for the three-year hiatus are unclear. Fluctuations in the numbers of mating birds might be related to changes in ocean conditions, disturbances, presence of predators, or simply better habitat conditions elsewhere. In many years, the Brandt’s cormorants nest on the remaining Natural Bridges arch, less than 100 yards away. The same population might even alternate between the two sites.

Native Plant Restoration Is for the Birds

Although Brandt’s cormorants are not a threatened or endangered species, they are vulnerable to the loss of breeding habitats, including the erosion of offshore rocks, such as the remaining arch at Natural Bridges State Beach. Potential mainland breeding sites are heavily impacted by coastal development, coastal armoring such as sea walls, rip-rap (1– to 2–ton boulders placed in a group), invasive vegetation, and predators. Clearing of ice plant on West Cliff Drive provides more places for the birds to breed along the shore.

An example of coastal “armoring” along West Cliff Drive. You can see that both a sea wall and rip-rap were used to protect the coast from wave erosion. Photo: Julia Gaudinski/Mobile Ranger

Bill Henry, a local scientist, has spearheaded removal of ice plant and restoration of native plants along West Cliff Drive since 2012. Henry’s goal is to restore plant biodiversity, increase habitat, and engage the public in stewardship of the coast. An example of this restoration work can be seen just a few hundred feet to the east of the Brandt’s ledge pictured above (just past Chico Avenue).

Native plant restoration between Natural Bridges State Beach and Chico Avenue in January 2013, several months after planting. Photo: Julia Gaudinski/Mobile Ranger

The plot was cleared of ice plant and replanted in spring of 2012. The native species planted include California sagebrush, coast buckwheat, dudleya, lizard tail, seaside daisy, sticky monkey flower, prunella, and yarrow, all grown from locally collected seed. These plants are typical of the northern coastal sage scrub habitat that was here before it was displaced by ice plant. The restoration sites are already supporting increased faunal diversity, including native bees and birds.

The same restored location in May 2016. Photo: Lauren McEvoy/Mobile Ranger

Native coastal sage scrub vegetation in its full glory at 3-Mile Beach (Wilder Ranch State Park, three miles north of Santa Cruz). Coast buckwheat is in the bottom left of this photo, dudleya are the yellow flowers in the center, and California sagebrush dominates the back, toward the right. Photo: Courtesy of Jackie Pascoe

Restored coastal sage scrub vegetation also surrounds the Seymour Center at the Long Marine Lab.

The work was initially the West Cliff Restoration Project of the nonprofit Oikonos. Since 2012, partners and volunteers worked along West Cliff Drive (at Lighthouse Field, for example) and at the entrance to Seabright Beach. The project has since become a separate organization, Groundswell Coastal Ecology. Groundswell enhances coastal resources in Santa Cruz by pairing education, community activities, and science with ecological restoration. Sites include Seabright Beach, Lighthouse Field (across from the surfer statue), and Natural Bridges. Their 2016–17 plans include planting of more than 10,000 native plants along the Natural Bridges headland.

Volunteer for Restoration

If you are interested in participating in the coastal restoration process or want to receive Groundswell updates, please send email to info@groundswellecology.org. Groundswell ecologists are seeking volunteers to assist with seed collection and plant propagation, which will support the 2016–17 restoration season.

Zora Thomas planting native plants at Natural Bridges, January 2016. Photo: Groundswell Coastal Ecology

Groundswell volunteers with California State Parks employee Juan Villarino at a Lighthouse Field Coastal Stewardship Day sponsored by Groundswell Coastal Ecology. Photo: Groundswell Coastal Ecology

The Santa Cruz Chapter of the California Native Plant Society also leads restoration projects at Natural Bridges State Park and various places around the county. If you would like to get involved with them, check the meeting schedules and contact information on the Santa Cruz Chapter of the California Native Plant Society website.

Further Information

• Groundswell Coastal Ecology website
• Oikonos ecosystem knowledge website
• Santa Cruz Chapter, California Native Plant Society website

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Harbor seal on a rock in Monterey Bay. Photo: By Dr. Steve Lonhart, courtesy of NOAA Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary www.sanctuarysimon.org

The waters of California’s Monterey Bay, particularly around the Santa Cruz Wharf, are home to the cute and quite fuzzy harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). The smaller of the wharf’s regular seal visitors, harbor seals can be identified by their ear holes (no flaps) and tiny front flippers that only allow a hauled-out seal to lie flat, like a big sausage. To see them, look toward the waters for what resembles a rounded football floating but then sinks beneath the surface and disappears. This is the typical foraging behavior of the harbor seal as it prowls the bottom for its food and surfaces for a short time to breath and look around.

Harbor seals. These are hanging out on the rocks on the beach at Wilder Ranch, in Santa Cruz, California.

Harbor seals favor coastal waters near shore and are often seen on rocky islands, sandy beaches, mudflats, bays, and estuaries. They normally haul out on sandy beaches and low rock ledges. They don’t climb well and are leery of humans, so you’re likely to see them only in the water and kelp around the wharf. Some of the best places to spot a harbor seal out of the water are at isolated beaches, such as the cliffs at Wilder Ranch, north of Santa Cruz off Highway 1.

This fellow chose what looks like a pretty uncomfortable resting area. Photo: Crystal Birns Photography

Population and Characteristics

Worldwide, harbor seals are found north of the equator in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The total population is estimated to be about 500,000. In the United States, they range from Alaska to Baja California, with a population of about 35,000 along the California coast. They eat mostly small fish, squid, and octopus but are known to be opportunistic feeders, so they eat just about anything they can find in the kelp and on the ocean floor.

Harbor seals resting in a kelp canopy inside Point Lobos State Marine Reserve, near Carmel, California. Photo: Chad King, courtesy of NOAA, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, www.sanctuarysimon.org

The color of harbor seals can range from silver with black spots, to black with gray or white rings, to almost pure white. Males can be up to 6.5 feet long, while females are usually just under 5.5 feet. Female seals give birth about once a year, with pups born in the early spring, a 300-pound mom gives birth to a pup that weighs less than 25 pounds and is able to swim as soon as it is born. Females don’t make sounds. It’s the pup’s bleating call, that sounds like a child saying “maaa,” that bonds the mother to her pup.

A harbor seal with what looks like a shark bite (dark crescent in center of belly) that has healed. Photo: Dr. Steve Lonhart, courtesy of NOAA, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, www.sanctuarysimon.org

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A bottlenose dolphin surfs the wake of a research boat. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Winter is a great time to try and see pods of dolphins within the Monterey Bay in Coastal California. The bottlenose dolphins are year-round residents, but there are also Pacific white-sided dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, and northern right whale dolphins who are winter-only-residents and follow whatever schools of anchovies or squid are present in the bay.

Dolphins are actually a type of whale. Whales, dolphins and porpoises are divided into two groups of whales: toothed and baleen. Dolphins, along with porpoises, sperm whales and orcas are toothed whales that use sharp, pointed teeth to catch fish and other large prey. The name dolphin originates from the Greek delphus or “womb,” and likely meant a “fish with a womb.”

Bottlenose dolphins off Dana Point, California. Photo by Keith Yahl.

Bottlenose Dolphins: Long-term Residents of Monterey Bay

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) range all over the world’s oceans in warm or temperate waters. They are found in both shallow coastal water and the open ocean, with special adaptations for each environment. The coastal dolphins have smaller bodies and larger flippers for greater maneuverability. They are 8-9 ft long and about 400 to 550 pounds when fully grown. In contrast, the ones that live offshore in the open ocean are generally about 12 ft long and 1000 lbs. Males tend to be longer and heavier than females. These dolphins have up to 98 cone-shaped teeth, which are used for grasping pray, not for chewing.

Bottlenose dolphins were first observed in Monterey Bay in the early 1980s but have become year-round residents with several pods that stay in the bay and don’t migrate. They can usually be seen just beyond the breaking waves, within half a mile of shore.

Two bottlenose dolphins playing. Photo taken by Graham Hesketh.

Look for bottlenose dolphins in pods of two to maybe a dozen or more swimming through the kelp forest and occasionally stopping and foraging. They have a blue-gray torpedo shaped body with a sickle shaped dorsal fin and a nose that looks like a bottle. Their underside is almost white and this makes them hard to see in the water, both from above and below. Their color may appear silvery or almost black, depending on the lighting. Although some dolphins migrate with the seasons, our local dolphins stay within the Bay.

Bottlenose, like all dolphins, porpoises, and whales, use echo location to navigate, communicate, hunt, and avoid predators. They produce a wide variety of clicks, whistles, moans, squeaks, and other sounds with their nose and structures that protrude in their nasal passages. They send the sound out using a special dome, called a “melon,” on their forehead and receive the echoes in oil-filled jawbones, that send the nerve impulse to the brain.

They can be very friendly and interact with swimmers and divers and are famous for riding on the bow waves of boats and even occasionally come into the breakers close to shore to body surf waves. Caution is always prudent however, as they can also be very aggressive and possibly dangerous, especially during the mating season.

A pod of playful bottlenose dolphins surf some waves! Photo by Brian Ralphs.

Timing of reproduction varies in different parts of the world. Along the Pacific Coast, adult male dolphins mature at 10-12 years old and females at 5-7 years. In California, bottlenose dolphins have sex year-round, but mate for reproduction in the spring and fall, with most births in the fall. Gestation lasts about a year and a half and a calf nurses for up to a year and a half, but can stay with its mother for up to three years. Females can give birth every two years, but the average is three years. In the fall or spring, be on the look-out for mothers with incredibly cute calves.

Mom with her baby calf. Photo by Pat McGrath via.

Is it a shark?

Because of their sickle-shaped dorsal fin they are sometimes mistaken for sharks. If the dorsal fin moves up and down it’s a dolphin. Dolphins swim by arching their back up and down (often called porpoising) while sharks swim in a straight line with the dorsal just above the surface. Sea Lions can also swim in a similar porpoise fashion, so look for the dorsal fin to make sure it’s a bottlenose dolphin.

They can travel over 18 miles an hour, or just leisurely move along, occasionally stopping and either feeding, playing a bit, or mating. They commonly eat anchovies, sardines or rockfish and will dive for bottom-dwelling fish, crabs, eels, or other morsels.

A bottlenose dolphin with a great view of its dorsal fin. Photo courtesy of NOS/NOAA/MBNMS.

Pacific White-sided Dolphin

wo Pacific white-sided dolphins. Photo by Chad King, courtesy NOAA/MBNMS www.sanctuarysimon.org.

Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) are the second most common dolphin in Monterey Bay after bottlenose dolphins. They can be seen year-round but especially during the fall. They are very playful, highly social and large schools are often seen — sometimes numbering in the thousands.

Risso’s Dolphin

Two Risso’s dolphins. Photo by Michael “Mike” L. Baird.

Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) are relatively common off the coast of California, and are often seen in small groups of 10-30 animals.

Northern Right Whale Dolphin

Two northern right whale dolphins. Photo courtesy of NOS/NOAA/MBNMS.

Northern right whale dolphins (Lissodelphis borealisare) are typically found in schools of 100-200 individuals but the groups can be as large as or larger than up to 2,000-3,000 individuals.

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Surf Scoter in Morro Bay, CA, March, 2007. Photo by Mike Baird.

Surf scoters are named for their propensity to forage in ocean surf and dive through the foam of breaking waves. A flock of surf scoters will often dive in unison to confuse the gulls waiting on the surface to steal their catch. They eat mollusks, mussels, and crustaceans. They also feed along rocky shores and shallow-water inlets.

If you’re in Santa Cruz, California, look for these birds from the wharf – out beyond the kelp forests near the breaking surf. They can be seen sitting on the surface, diving for food or flying in disorganized flocks in a straight line with steady wing-beats.

A male and female surf scoter in Santa Cruz. Picture courtesy of and © Paul Babb 2013.

The adult male surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) can be easily spotted by its large bright orange and white bill. The female, as is typical in the bird world, has no orange and is generally much less flashy. The bill is oddly-shaped and has earned the scoter nicknames such as goggle-nose, horse-head coot, and mussel-bill.

Their range is along the Pacific Coast. They nest and breed in the summer from Alaska to northern Canada and can winter along the coast anywhere from Alaska down to Baja.

A surf scoter in November at Arrowhead Marsh Oakland, California. Image by Len Blumin courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Appearance Details

The males are about 17 inches long with a short wing-span, a velvety all-black body with white patches on the forehead and the back of the neck, a whitish-gray eye, and orange feet and legs. The female has a plain, dark grayish body with a dark top of the head and pale white patches under the eye, on the side of the head, and on the back of the neck. The bill isn’t as large as the male’s and is a dark green. The legs are an orange-red, not as bright as the male’s, and the webs on the feet are black. An immature male scoter looks much like a female.

A young surf scoter in Moss Landing, California. Photo by Dr. Steve Lonhart, courtesy NOAA MBNMS, www.sanctuarysimon.org.

Breeding Behavior

Male scoters are well-known for their aggression toward other male scoters. They bicker, peck and splash to discourage rivals. They breed in wetlands and areas of sparsely-wooded small trees or shrubs, or on the tundra. In late May-early June they build hidden nests on the ground. They are so well-hidden in vegetation that they weren’t even studied until the early 1900s. The pair scoops out a depression under cover, fills it with down, and the female lays 5 to 8 pinkish-brown eggs. Both parents sometimes leave before the chicks are fully fledged.

Conservation

There was a sharp decline in the population into the early 1900s, due to pollution and oil spills. An oil spill in San Francisco Bay in 2007 also caused a large die-off. The current population numbers are not well-known but are generally believed to be on the decline.

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Seal or sea lion? What do you think? Photo: Lauren Salazar/Mobile Ranger

California’s Santa Cruz Wharf is a common resting place of the oft-noisy sea lion (Zalophus californianus). You may also see harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) but they are much less common on the wharf. The two animals are often confused. I was amazed at how many pictures and videos on the web have sea lions from the Santa Cruz Wharf mislabeled as seals!

Harbor seal on a rock in Monterey Bay. Photo by Dr. Steve Lonhart, courtesy NOAA MBNMS, www.sanctuarysimon.org.

The confusion is compounded by the name of our local “seal rock”. It is a small island located to the right of the Santa Cruz Lighthouse just off the point. Despite its name, you’ll never see a harbor seal there. It is, however, a regular haul-out for sea lions. In case you are not sure which is which:

A group of sea lions off of the Santa Cruz Wharf. Picture © Ian Hunter.

Size Matters

In general their sizes are very different. Full-grown sea lions are much bigger than harbor seals, with a full-grown harbor seal weighing about 300 pounds, compared to a full-grown bull sea lion at over 800 pounds. However, size can be deceptive for the youngsters. Yearling and juvenile sea lions are roughly about the size of a harbor seal.

A group of sea lions sleeping on the dock. Note the few full grown male bulls.

Sea Lions

A lone sea lion in the water. Note the ear flap. Picture © Ian Hunter.

Harbor Seals

Harbor seals. These are hanging out on the rocks on the beach at Wilder Ranch

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A humpback whale breaching. Photo courtesy of NOS/NOAA/SBNMS.

In May marine mammals are reproducing and/or still migrating. Some have already given birth but are still heading north towards summer feeding grounds. May is typically a time of upwelling nutrients along the California Coast and this feeds the food chain creating dense schools of small fishes, squid, and krill that attract migrating gray, humpback and blue whales.

Whales You can See in May

Thanks to two Bay Net volunteers, Patrick Wilkinson and Bob Palero, who hang at Lighthouse Point most afternoons, I have a great report of the whales that have been going by Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz for the past few weeks. They are currently seeing gray whales almost every day and humpback whales fairly often. In both cases they see mothers with calves. The grays are in close, just beyond the kelp forest, while the humpbacks are usually farther out, sometimes over a mile. The Humpbacks however are often breaching, so they put on a better show. Patrick and Bob keep a yearly count of whales seen from Steamer Lane and since January 1, 2015 Patrick has seen 84 and Bob seen has over a hundred whales.

The Gray Whale migration should be winding down soon, but can stay into early June. The Humpbacks will be here all summer and for the last three years, they have put on a great show just off the Wharf in fall. From the Santa Cruz Wharf, you are only likely to see humpbacks and grays. Patrick, who has logged thousands of hours at Lighthouse Point, says “I’ve never talked to anyone who’s seen a blue from shore and very rarely have I talked to anyone who’s seen orcas.”

In the greater Monterey Bay, Monterey Bay Whale Watch is reporting primarily humpbacks with a few grays and a few groups of killer whales.

Know Your Whales

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are divided into two groups: toothed and baleen. Baleen whales, such as gray and humpback whales, have hundreds of comb-like plates with stiff bristles growing from the upper jaw. The baleen strains small food from huge mouthfuls of water. Famous for long, annual migrations, most baleen whales migrate to winter breeding grounds in the warm waters of low-latitudes and then move to summer feeding areas with cool water in the high-latitudes.

A blue whale fluke. Photo by Michael “Mike” L. Baird via Flickr Creative Commons.

Gray Whales

Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) are a common sight from the Wharf from about mid-February to late May. You stand a good chance of seeing them just about every day, often close to shore, just beyond the kelp forest — close enough that you can see the growth of whitish barnacles and pink “whale lice” on their skin – even without binoculars.

A gray whale. Photo courtesy of NOS/NOAA/MBNMS.

Big as a School Bus

A full grown gray whale can be 45 feet long and weigh 40 tons but, even so, are often surprisingly hard to see. They are a mottled gray, with white patches of barnacles over their bulky body and a narrow, V-shaped head. The shape of the spouts gives you the first clue grays are around. The water tends to make a heart-shape: different from the more straight-up spout of blues and humpbacks.

A heart-shaped gray whale spout. Photo by Linda Tanner via Flickr Creative Commons.

A blue whale spout. Photo courtesy of NOS/NOAA/MBNMS.

You usually get a quick couple of spouts, a roll of the back, and then they’re down for 5 or 6 minutes or more. Just long enough for you to get bored and look away. Occasionally, individuals or small pods will linger off the Wharf for awhile.

Mud, Migration and Mating

Grays feed in a very unusual way. They dive to the bottom, lay on their sides and scoop up great gobs of mud which they filter through their baleen. The bristles of the baleen trap inch-long, fat-rich amphipods that get whisked down their throats using their huge tongue. Grays spend the summer in the Bering Sea or the Chukchi Sea, between Russia and Alaska feeding on the food rich muds.

The gray whale migration route. Photo courtesy of NOS/NOAA Fisheries.

Starting in November they are off on their 11,000-mile trip to the bays and lagoons of Baja California for the calving and mating season, and then back to the Arctic by June. This is thought to be the longest mammal migration on earth. But check out the sooty shearwater page for an amazingly long bird migration story.

Blue Whales

During summer and fall, blue whales are often found along the entire coastline of California. They are searching for their prey — large swarms of phytoplankton (krill). They especially like the Monterey Bay as it often has great swarms of krill. Blue whales were significantly depleted by commercial whaling. They are still considered an endangered species.

Blue whales in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Photo by Dan Shapiro courtesy of NOAA photo library via Flickr.

Humpback Whales

Humpback whales are commonly seen in Monterey Bay: mostly during summer and fall. They dive for schools of small fish such as anchovies and sardines and can eat as much as 3,000 pounds per day. They often use a unique hunting method called “bubble net feeding.” A group of humpbacks swims in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles below a school of prey. The whales then swim quickly upward through the circle, and swallow thousands of fish in one gulp. This is called lunge feeding.

Humpback whales lunge feeding. Photo courtesy of the Minerals Management Service via Wikimedia Commons.

Humpbacks, when around, are often kind to whale watchers because they tend to feed in the same spot for several days and frequently perform fantastic aerial displays, such as breaching, or slapping the surface with their pectoral fins, tails, or heads. These whales are thought to winter in the coastal waters of Mexico and Central America. Like blue whales, they are still an endangered species.

Minke Whales

Minke whales are common in the nearshore waters of the Sanctuary. They usually travel alone, don’t jump up and create a show, and are easily overlooked. They can be seen year-round, but less commonly in winter.

A minke whale. Photo by Michael “Mike” L. Baird via Flickr Creative Commons.

Changing Numbers

In the 1970s, whale sightings were few because their populations had been depleted due to world whaling practices. Thanks to anti-whaling laws that began in the 1940s, but were really given teeth in the US and internationally in the 1970s, many species have made a strong recovery. Gray whales have been taken off the endangered species list, while the numbers of humpback and blue whales have increased.

Many thanks to Patrick and Bob for all their great volunteer work. They are out at Lighthouse Point most afternoons, wear red Bay Net jackets, and have logged hundreds of hours explaining the wonders of Monterey Bay to curious locals and visitors alike.

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A sea otter mom and her newly born pup. Photo by Steve Choy, courtesy NOAA MBNMS, www.sanctuarysimon.org.

As land dwellers we think of springtime as the time of year when animals mate and have babies. In the sea, many mammals birth their young in the thick of winter. Elephant seals arrive at breeding grounds up and down the west coast in January and give birth within a week. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) can give birth year-round but most are born between November and March with January and February the best months to see females floating in kelp beds with babies on their tummies.

During winter, the kelp forests, home to the sea otter, are severely beat up and reduced by storms. With reduced habitat, storm swells and large breaking winter waves, it seems a strange time to give birth. Nevertheless they do! Perhaps its because the pup fur is so buoyant they cannot dive for 3-4 months until their regular fur comes in. So if they are born in winter, come spring when the kelp forests have recovered, and food is fairly abundant, they are set to dive and get solid food for themselves.

A near-shore kelp forest in Monterey Bay. Photo by Dr. Steve Lonhart, courtesy NOAA MBNMS, www.sanctuarysimon.org

Living In Bone-Chilling Water

A member of the weasel family, this sea otter is the only marine mammal that doesn’t have a layer of blubber for protection against the cold water. Instead it has the thickest fur of all marine mammals: up to one million hairs per square inch. It can pack so much air into its fur that its skin is perfectly dry. You can often see them rolling in the water, grooming and filling their fur with air before starting a forage session.

To survive, otters must eat a huge amount of food, 15 to 20 pounds or more a day (about 20% of its body weight), to keep up a high metabolism. Female sea otters are no exception and cannot, like many marine mammals, give up eating while nursing their babies. Before diving for food—almost anything on the sea floor made of meat— a female otter will wrap her pup in the kelp. Young pups may let out a squeaky, high-pitched cry if mom is away too long. Pups nurse from nipples on the lower part of the mothers body for up to ten months though they start eating solid food when they are 3-4 months old.

Sea otter mother with nursing pup in the Morro Bay harbor, Morro Bay, CA. Oct. 2008. Photo by Michael “Mike” L. Baird.

Where To See Them

The kelp forests seen off the Santa Cruz Wharf and along West Cliff Drive are home to the California sea otter. They are often seen swimming, diving for food, grooming, or wrapped up in kelp fronds sleeping. Perfectly adapted to live in the cold, arctic California Current that flows into Monterey Bay, they rarely leave the water. Another good place in Santa Cruz county to see otters is the northern part of Moss Landing Harbor close to Moss State Beach.
When looking for otters, listen for the tell-tale click-click-click of an otter lying on its back and pounding at a clam or snail with a rock. The sea otter is one of the few animals known to use a tool.

A California sea otter. Picture courtesy of and © Paul Babb 2013.

A Keystone Animal

The kelp forest is a major nursery to thousands of kinds of marine animals. Like any forest, it is itself an ecosystem and needs balance among the animals that live and breed there. If the sea otter is taken out of the kelp forest ecosystem, the kelp-eating animals like sea urchins and abalone, would grow unchecked and destroy the kelp forest. Thus the sea otter is called a “keystone animal.”

A Well Kept Secret

Prior to hunting in the 18th and 19th centuries there were as many as 300,000 sea otters worldwide and about 18,000 along the California coast. By the end of the fur trade in the early 1920s the California sea otter was thought to be extinct. In the 1930s, a few remaining animals, less than 100, were discovered hidden in coves along the Big Sur coastline. Their existence was kept a secret until they were finally given federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1977.
Sea otter numbers in California counted at 2,941 in 2013. In 2009 they were counted at 2,811 and dropped to 2,711 in 2010. Since being protected in 1977 the numbers have not rebounded as fast as was anticipated. They have struggled for years with diseases, parasites, and even the occasional collision with boats. Recently, they are increasingly facing another threat: shark attacks.
Twenty years ago, about 10% of sea otter deaths along California’s coast were from shark bites. In 2012 it was about 30% and growing. In fact, shark attacks are probably the main reason the otters are not close to being removed from the endangered species list. The mystery is that the sharks do not eat the otters but seem to just be tasting them. The phenomenon is being studied.

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Sea foam at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, 2009. Photo by Lee Coursey.

Storms and high winds along coastlines can produce large masses of sea foam. It can form foamy rafts on the water and pile up on beaches, rocky shores, and cliffs. Sea foam often looks like whip cream on an ice cream sundae, a resemblance that is not exactly a coincidence.

Sea foam is typically generated by strong winds, large waves, and the presence of brown seaweed. During storms, the seaweed is battered and macerated releasing a chemical called algin (pronounced AL-jin). When energetic seas whip up algin, it froths up into the foamy marine delight. Differing regions have different types of brown seaweed and the characteristics of the foams vary. Along the west coast of the U.S., much of our sea foam is caused by extensive offshore forests of brown seaweed called giant kelp (Macrosystis pyrifera). Foam made from giant kelp is typically a sign of healthy kelp forests and a healthy ocean.

Sea foam blown onto Druridge Bay beach, Northumberland, by a strong onshore wind, 2006. Photo by Akuppa John Wigham.

Algal blooms are another source of organic matter that can produce thick sea foams. If a storm occurs after an algal bloom runs its course, great amounts of decaying matter can be frothed up. Sea foams formed this way can cause really huge and impressive foam events like the one pictured here after an algal bloom by phaeocystis in Northumberland, UK, in 2006. These are natural occurrences but happen when there is some sort of nutrient imbalance−often from upwelling of nutrient-rich waters. Depending on the type of bloom, the foams and their associated aerosols can be irritating to human skin and eyes. These blooms have also resulted in bird deaths when the decaying algae had qualities similar to detergent. The foam can matt down the birds’ feathers, allowing cold seawater to reach their skin. The birds then die from hypothermia.

Formation of sea foam is a bit unpredictable. Not all high winds and surf produce significant sea foam events. Sea foam can even form away from the coast, with no crashing waves. In these cases it apparently takes winds blowing fast enough to break the surface tension of water: about 6 meters per second.

Algin from brown seaweed is edible. It has significant commercial use in thousands of products as a thickening, stabilizing, or emulsifying agent. You will find it in many products like cosmetics, paint, ice cream and prepared whipped products! It’s entirely likely you eat some product made of seaweed on a regular basis. Ice cream sundae any body? Pudding?

Brown seaweeds cannot typically be cultivated. They need to go through a reproductive cycle involving an alternation of generations. This makes it more expensive than harvesting and transporting wild seaweeds. As such, seaweed is harvested from the ocean in many coastal areas around the world.

The idea and much of the research and writing of this article was done by Bay Net volunteer Patrick Wilkinson. Thank you Patrick!

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Pacific brown pelican with full mating plumage. Port San Luis, California, January, 2008. Photo: “Mike” Michael L. Baird CC BY 2.0.

If you have been to the beach along the west coast of the US lately, you will have seen a brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). You might see them flying in large V-shaped squadrons, long chains, smaller groups, or alone. At more than 4 feet long with a wing span of more than 6.5 feet, they are the largest bird around. They look like prehistoric pterodactyls with their long beaks and big heads with crests on top.

Brown pelicans range all along the Pacific coast, from Vancouver, Canada to central Mexico, with major populations in California on the Channel Islands. If food is plentiful in Monterey Bay, you’ll see large flocks of them, sometimes 50 or more, flying overhead from mid-summer to late fall.

Brown pelicans in Santa Cruz with typical non-mating plumage. Photo: Courtesy of and © Paul Babb, 2013

In late summer, an adult pelican has a white neck and belly, a pale yellow head, brown eyes, a reddish-orange throat pouch, and a yellow-tipped bill. But brown pelicans undergo a dramatic change in coloring for mating season. Surprisingly, it happens to females — not just the males in this species get to look pretty.

As the breeding season approaches, in late fall, the end of the bill turns reddish and most of the throat pouch brightens to a poppy red, with a white stripe down the neck. The irises of their eyes even change from a yellowish white to light blue.

Colors start to fade during the onset of incubation, in March, and the yellow feathers on the head are replaced with white feathers.

Kamikaze Divers

The amazing pelican dive team. November 26, 2010. Photo: Anita Ritenour CC BY 2.0.

Brown pelicans do a spectacular crash dive to get their food, usually diving from 10 to 30 feet or more above the water. When a pelican sees food below, it stops flying, hovers a moment, tips tail-up, and makes the commitment. Tucking its wings close to its body, beak pointing straight down, it slices into the water with a big splash. A moment later, it surfaces and tilts its head forward to empty up to 2 gallons of water from its pouch. Then, it tilts its head back and swallows the catch, which is usually anchovies, sardines, or mackerel.

To avoid crushing their internal organs from the force, just before they hit the water, they tuck their heads in and turn their bodies to the left to protect their throats from the impact. If you dissected one, you’d see the chest filled with subcutaneous air sacs that resemble bubble wrap. Theses structures are built-in shock absorbers that protect the keel bone from being broken. It doesn’t always work, and a misjudged dive can seriously injure or kill.

Standing on Eggshells

In California, brown pelicans breed in colonies, mostly on two isolated islands in the Channel Island group.

They incubate their eggs by standing on them and warming them with the webbing of their feet. This requires strong eggs! In the ’60s and ’70s, they were almost extinct due to exposure to pesticides (mostly DDT), which weakened the eggshells and made them break easily. Pelican populations plummeted to the point that they (and several other bird species) were put on the Endangered Species List in 1970. Thanks to the banning of DDT and other pesticides, the pelicans rebounded and were removed from protected status in 2009.

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Whales, dolphins and porpoises are divided into two groups: toothed and baleen. Baleen whales, such as gray and humpback whales, have hundreds of comb-like plates with stiff bristles growing from the upper jaw. The baleen strains small food from huge mouthfuls of water. Famous for long, annual migrations, most baleen whales migrate to winter breeding grounds in the warm waters of low-latitudes and then move to summer feeding areas with cool water in the high-latitudes.

Within the greater Monterey Bay you are likely to see gray whales, blue whales, humpbacks and minke whales. Peak times are during spring and summer because northwest winds push the surface water offshore, replacing it with nutrient rich cold water from greater depths. This “upwelling” fuels the growth of plankton which are the basis for the Sanctuary’s rich marine food chain. The richest waters are centered along the submarine canyons that come close to shore.

A very close encounter with a blue whale! Photo taken in Monterey Bay, July 23, 2014 by Matt Walker, NRB Photography.

Humpback whales are commonly seen in Monterey Bay: mostly during summer and fall. They dive for schools of small fish such as anchovies and sardines and can eat as much as 3,000 pounds per day. They often use a unique hunting method called “bubble net feeding.” A group of humpbacks swims in a shrinking circle blowing bubbles below a school of prey. The whales then swim quickly upward through the circle, and swallow thousands of fish in one gulp. This is called lunge feeding.

Humpback whales lunge feeding. Photo courtesy of the Minerals Management Service via Wikimedia Commons.

Humpbacks, when around, are often kind to whale watchers because they tend to feed in the same spot for several days and frequently perform fantastic aerial displays, such as breaching, or slapping the surface with their pectoral fins, tails, or heads. These whales are thought to winter in the coastal waters of Mexico and Central America.

In the 1970s, whale sightings were few because their populations had been depleted due to world whaling practices. Thanks to anti-whaling laws that began in the 1940s, but were really given teeth in the US and internationally in the 1970s, many species have made a strong recovery. Gray whales have been taken off the endangered species list, while the numbers of humpback and blue whales have increased. Go whales!

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Sooty Shearwaters in front of the Santa Cruz Harbor, July 27, 2014. Photo: V. Vaughn Visnius.

We are lucky in Santa Cruz to be visited annually by sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) as they make their spectacular circum-global migration of 40,000 miles: the longest recorded migration of any bird. Each year, they spend about 5 months breeding and rearing their young and the rest of the year they are migrating!

All sooty shearwaters breed on small islands in the south Pacific and south Atlantic oceans, beginning in October. Their population is estimated at well over 20 million. They incubate their young for 2 months, and raise their chicks for 3 months. They then fly north up the western side of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in March–May. They reach sub-Arctic waters in June–July where they cross from west to east and return south down the eastern side of the Pacific or Atlantic ocean in September–October. All to arrive back at their breeding colonies and start the process over again.

Amazingly, they do not migrate as a flock, but rather as single individuals. They associate in groups only as the opportunity arises. When they are here you can see them stream by in what seems like an endless chain.

Tracks of 19 sooty shearwaters during breeding (light blue) and subsequent migration pathways (yellow and green, start of migration and northward transit; orange, wintering grounds and southward transit). Image courtesy of Dr. Scott Shaffer and Copyright (2006) National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. (see “Sources” below for full citation)

Research Brings Understanding

It was once thought that the migration was a fairly neat figure eight, with each bird covering the entire Pacific Basin from the Alaska area to the Antarctic. Now, thanks to electronic tagging research done in the mid-2000s, we know this is not true. Instead, individual birds go to either, Japan, Alaska or California and stay there until it is time to return south to breed.

This work also shows that the birds that travel to different regions do not represent distinct shearwater populations; two birds from the same nest can end up going to opposite sides of the Pacific, and birds from different breeding colonies can end up in the same place.

A sooty shearwater in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, California. Photo: Sophie Webb, courtesy NOAA, www.sanctuarysimon.org.

The Name Fits

The “sooty” part of the name is appropriate as the entire bird is a dusty, dark ash-gray color. They have long narrow wings with a silver sheen on the under-wing. The bill is also dark and has what looks like two short pieces of soda straw attached to the top near the head. These “straws” are highly sensitive to the smell of fish, squid, and krill: their main food. The “shearwater” part of the name comes from their flying style: a few fast flaps followed by a stiff glide just inches above the water.

Sooty Shearwaters and seagulls near Sunny Cove just east of the Santa Cruz Harbor, July 27, 2014. The seagulls apparently surround one sooty shearwater to get its food. They will even jump on its back. Photo: V. Vaughn Visnius.

Feeding Frenzy

If you are lucky, you might see them encounter a school of fish. It is quite a sight to see hundreds, perhaps thousands, of shearwaters crash-diving into the water. They may be joined by pelicans, cormorants, terns, gulls, and even sea lions. The water looks as though it’s boiling from the activity that goes on until the food is decimated.

If food isn’t near the surface, electronic tags on shearwaters have shown that they often dive up to 50 feet, while they are capable of diving to well over 200 feet.

Conservation

In spite of the shearwater population being over 20 million, there is concern because the numbers are declining. During the last 20 years the number of sooty shearwaters on the California coast has declined 90%. Reasons for this are many. A nesting pair hatches only a single chick per year, and the birds do not breed until about 8 years of age, which is unusually old for birds.

Their long migration pattern makes them susceptible to predation and bad weather anywhere along the migration route. They are often killed by modern fishing practices because they dive for freshly baited longline hooks and get caught in trawl nets. More research on their physiology, mating, and migration is essential to ensure their long-term survival.

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A mature herring gull. Photo: Courtesy of and © Paul Babb 2013

Seagulls are by far the most common bird along the coast near Santa Cruz, California. There are dozens of different seagull species, and you need a keen eye to tell them apart. To make things even more challenging, gulls change color with age and with the season. It’s almost impossible to identify the species of a juvenile gull because they all look very similar.

Sometimes called “sky rats,” seagulls are omnivores. They are opportunistic feeders who will eat just about anything, alive or dead. They keep the beaches from piling up with rotting matter and are an important part of the marine ecosystem. The three most common gulls in the Santa Cruz area are the California gull, the western gull, and the Heermann’s gull. You might see others, too, such as the pink-footed herring gull (Larus argentatus).

California Gull

The California gull (Larus californicus) is a medium-sized gull, less than two feet long, with a wingspan of four feet. It is distinguished by its yellow bill, which has a black ring near the tip with a red spot on the underside.

A California gull, June 30, 2010. Photo: Courtesy of Dick Daniels, CC BY-SA 3.0

This seagull ranges along the West Coast, from southern British Columbia to southern Mexico. It also goes inland as far north as northern Canada and east to North Dakota and Kansas, where it likes to breed and nest in the spring, especially on lakes. The female lays two or three eggs in a shallow depression lined with feathers and vegetation. Both parents take turns feeding the young and guarding the nest.

Western Gull

A large gull, the western gull (Larus occidentalis) is over two feet long, with a wing span of over four feet. A common sight from Canada to Mexico, they rarely go inland. If there is food available, they might stay year-round, or they might migrate south in the winter.

A western gull. Photo: Courtesy of and © Paul Babb 2013

You can tell a western gull by its yellow bill, which has just an orange spot on the end of the lower beak (no black ring like a California gull). Although the male is larger than the female, they have similar plumage.

Colonies of nesting pairs establish a territory on an isolated island or on rocky cliffs and build nests on the ground. The female lays three eggs, and the male and female take turns incubating them for a month.

Heermann’s Gull

The Heermann’s gull (Larus heermann) is easier to identify than most gulls. It has darker, sooty-gray plumage, a white head, and a bright reddish-orange bill with a black-tipped beak. It can be confused with the parasitic jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) and, like the jaeger, will steal the catch of other birds.

A Heermann’s gull. Photo: Courtesy of and © Paul Babb 2013

They are coastal birds, ranging from southern British Columbia to Central Mexico. They migrate south in December. The majority (about 90%) nest on an island, Isla Rasa, in the Gulf of Mexico. They are the only gull that breeds south of the US-Mexico border.

An immature gull. Gulls are hard to identify at the species level when young. Photo: Courtesy of and © Paul Babb 2013

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The final Seasons in the Sanctuary poster. Image © by and courtesy of Doug Ross and Crystal Birns.

“When you talk about the seasons, most people think of spring wildflowers, autumn leaves, winter storms… But the ocean, too, has its seasons, which are at least as dramatic as those on land. The difference is that changes in the sea are often invisible to us land dwellers.” Kim Fulton-Bennett author of the website “Seasons in the Sea.”

Students of the O’Neil Sea Odyssey program learn navigation basics. Photo courtesy of and © O’Neil Sea Odyssey.

In 25 days in late 2012 their Kickstarter campaign raised $4,808 dollars. Their target goal was $4000- pretty much all for printing costs. The thank you gifts ranged from a simple thank you to a framed and signed special print edition of the poster.

View Their Kickstarter Video: Seasons in the Sanctuary

Since funding, 500 posters have been delivered to O’Neill Sea Odyssey. They’ve distributed one to each classroom that goes on the tour. They are a huge hit with teachers and kids. The poster will also be used as an interpretive aid in kiosks at the Santa Cruz Harbor and on the Santa Cruz Wharf. Design for the pocket guides is currently being mocked up by a local printer. Posters can be purchased at Bookshop Santa Cruz, The Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center and Seymour Center. Net proceeds from posters sold at Bookshop Santa Cruz benefit O’Neill Sea Odyssey.

For the funders of the project, they can be happy that this project delivered. It is helping connect thousands of kids and tourists to the Monterey Bay.

The success rate for a Kickstarter project as of October 5th, 2013 is 44% and most funded projects are less than $10,000. If you have a great idea and a few volunteers to help, crowd source funding is definitely something to consider. Here is a link to a post that discusses 10 crowd-funding websites. 10 Crowdfunding Sites to Fuel Your Dream Project

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Brandt’s cormorants at Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz, California, May 2013. Picture © Robin Stone, 2013.

Want to know how things change in the ocean throughout the year? Seasons in the Sea is a website all about whats going on in the ocean on the central coast of California, month by month. It is a project by Kim Fulton-Bennet. He hopes someday to make it a book.

If you go to his website, here is some of what you will learn about the happenings on California beaches in September:

Moving Sand

As northwest winds and wind-generated waves subside, sand on continues to build up exposed beaches. This process will continue until the first winter storms (typically in late October).

Migrating Birds

Large numbers of migrating shorebirds appear on Central Coast beaches. Western sandpipers and sanderlings return after nesting in Alaska to feed on mole crabs, beach hoppers and sand-fly larvae. Marbled godwits and willets arrive or migrate through in large numbers after nesting in Canada and Alaska.

Vast flocks of sooty shearwaters move close to shore to feed on schools of anchovies, especially in the inner parts of Monterey Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones. Their feeding frenzies often attract other diving birds, including pelicans, cormorants, gulls, and alcids, such as murres and murrelets. During their summers on the California coast, sooty shearwaters stock up on food, increasing their body weights by up to 40 percent. They will need this food when they fly across the Pacific to their nesting areas in New Zealand in early October. A few shearwater will stay on the Central Coast until November or even December.

Sea Life

Burrowing sea urchins known as Sand dollars broadcast spawn all summer, with a peak in August and September.

Pismo clams spawn mostly between August and October (larvae need warm water and dinoflagellate blooms for survival)

Sanddabs (a common flatfish off sandy beaches) spawn.

Fall is peak mating season for beach hoppers (amphipods), when sandy beaches are at their widest and most stable.

Take the Self-Guided Mobile Tour

This piece is part of the Marine Life Guide. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond.