West Pier dock rep Tristan Thomas passes along a reminder that humans feeding geese and other waterfowl can have unintended negative consequences. Says Tristan: “Before reaching for that loaf of bread and soaking in that joy and excitement of feeding the fowl, remember that over feeding results in more poop...
As we approach the summer solstice, the combination of lunar phase and the solar aphelion (when earth is most distant from the sun) generate especially high tides. Tides that exceed 6.5′ can cause flooding on Gate 5 Road in Sausalito, in low-lying areas of Marin City and in some floating...
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I was surprised and pleased to see lots of folks working on our shoreline. They turned out to be volunteers from Marin Audubon Society removing an invasive plant from our environment. The pesky intruder is Algerian sea lavender, which can set thousands of seeds and...
We don’t notice much of the life in the water around our floating homes because the individual organisms are too small. Diatoms fit that description; they range in size between 2 and 200 microns (0.002 to 0.2 mm). Anything 2 microns long, about 4 wavelengths of light, is well below...
East Pierians Wilford Welch and Terri Thomas presented a climate change symposium at the Sausalito Library in February. Wilford acknowledged the challenges of getting people to focus on these issues and move from concern about the climate crisis, to actions that individuals can take to solve it. He stressed that...
Last week Michael Konrad of South 40 Pier provided a primer on eel grass, a key component of the ecology of Richardson’s Bay. This week he examines threats to eel grass and what is being done about them. The damage that anchored boats can inflict on eelgrass is often mentioned...
Biochemist and marine biologist Michael Konrad of South 40 Pier sends along the following natural history of one of our most important neighbors, eelgrass: Life began in the ocean. Then continents generated by tectonic plate movements gradually became hospitable to life, and some living organisms migrated onto this new dry...
This poster announces a Climate Change symposium featuring East Pier residents Wilford Welch and Terri Thomas, along with ex-Mayor Janelle Kellman. It is being held at the Sausalito Library on Friday, February 9 at 6:00 p.m.
Tides of 6.6’ or higher are expected through the rest of this week. Rain is also predicted for Tuesday and Saturday, which may swell the tides to even greater heights. If a high tide coincides with a significant storm, a tidal surge can occur, causing higher than predicted water levels....
According to the Southern Marin Fire Protection District, tides of 6.5 feet or more will occur every day through Friday. They will peak in the mornings through Thursday, and at 12:14 p.m. on Friday, December 15. Although no rain is forecast for the week, these tides are high enough to...