Save our Tomales Bay – Part 4

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As always, to see a larger version of an image below, click on the image.

Last week while kayaking on Tomales Bay I came upon this grow out bag floating in the hot, bath-like water and mud south of Inverness Park – nearly to White House Pool. It had gotten loose from the area the commercial operation had placed it to grow and drifted a few miles south.

These bags get loose by the hundreds each year and drift all over the ocean, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces of deadly plastic, one day to be eaten by a hapless bird out looking for food.

One idea that could address employment as well as ocean debris problems is for the oyster farms to hire more people to keep a closer eye on things.

Depending on the outcome of the seemingly never-ending dance of the liars, err lawyers, we may soon have many very experienced oyster-workers looking for work. And, as can be seen by anyone that takes the time to visit the waters of Tomales Bay, we have a never ending supply of feral plastic that needs tending to.


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No matter which side of the fence you stand on the oyster issue, there is no denying that the view is sublime, and one which we all need to be doing our utmost to protect from degradation.


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I shall not tire in my efforts to ameliorate the impact of humans on this most sacred of places, earth.

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Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Tomales Bay Triptych – Western sandpiper style

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As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

Put in at Chicken Ranch and paddled south nearly to White House Pool. Since I usually see these birds on a background of sand, they really look out of place on this large log in the bay.

Poetry in motion fairly describes their winged wandering.

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A day on the bay, SF that is

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On my way to get a haircut, a neighbor suggested I come along on a boat trip to SF Bay and watch billionaires play with their toys (America’s Cup).

Me, my shaggy hair and camera went along.

We had a grand time on a grand boat as one very large boat raced around for a few minutes. I think it won. Meanwhile, dozens of America’s Cup patrol boats zoomed around protecting the course. The SFFD, SFPD, NPS and USCG rounded out the effort with their own patrol boats. I may have seen a Russian submarine briefly surface with what looked like Edward Snowden atop the sail. Or was that a harbor porpoise off in the distance.

Some images from the day follow (most all of them are straight out of the camera and not at their best (due to time constraints).

 

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Malala Yousafzai’s address to the UN

Nature provides us with both truth and beauty.

Watch this 17 minute video to see both, along with great courage.

Yesterday this young woman celebrated her 16th birthday.

Last year a Taliban (student of Islam) shot her in the head because she was speaking up for the right of girls to go to school.

Happy Birthday Malala!



The banner image shows The Swat Valley in Pakistan, the home of Malala. It is from Wikipedia and used under the creative Commons license.

Transgenic salmon egg floats ashore in Tomales Bay

Click on the words “Transgenic salmon egg…” above to see this post as it was intended to be seen.

While out foraging for plastic today, I was witness to a rare event.

A giant salmon egg from a newly developed transgenic salmon floated ashore.

https://youtu.be/hVEQIHV63H8

Click on the image above to see rare transgenic salmon egg in Tomales Bay.

From the looks of the label, it appears to be one of the exciting new products from Monsanto, “Roundup ready salmon®” Oncorhynchus glyphosatii

This fish is completely resistant to the effects of herbicides in the environment, while tasting mostly like a fish, and not very much at all like a toxic chemical. An assortment of food dyes are provided with each steak so you can ensure it matches the rest of your meal.

In other exciting news, Monsanto is reportedly working in conjunction with the makers of bisphenol A (Bayer, Dow, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, SABIC Innovative Plastics (formerly GE Plastics), and Sunoco) to release a new fish that can survive while being exposed to the plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA).

It is not known what effect, if any these laboratory creations have on naturally spawned, wild salmon. Actually, it is not known if there are any wild salmon left to give a damn about.

Speaking of dam(n)s, have a look at these videos to learn one sure-fire way to help wild salmon thrive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD4QHkN57FM



Condit Dam removal on White Salmon River, Washington State.

Learn about the effort to restore 300 miles of spawning habitat on the Klammath here

Send a letter to your senator urging them to un-dam The Klammath, it’s easy. Please do it.

Gosh, don’t we have the last of the Central Coast Coho Salmon fighting extinction right here in West Marin? What could we do to ensure they don’t go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger or Stellar’s Sea Cow?

Ahhhh, who gives a damn about these animals anyhow? There are apps for each and every one of them at the itunes store. Besides, real animals smell. Yuck!

Save our Tomales Bay – part 3

Click on the words “Save our Tomales Bay” above to see this post as it was intended to be seen.

For the many thousands of you that wait on the edge of your recliner for my next batch of images showcasing the worrisome ways in which humans lay waste to the watersheds of the world, I apologize.

Today while visiting the shore of Tomales Bay, as I have the past few weeks in search of debris to remove from the shore and water, I found that much of it had been removed.

Woo hoo!

Last week I opined that with the volume of oyster grow-out bags still littering the shore (hundreds), either the people that put them there would need to pack them out, or I’d need lots of help.

I’m, not sure who did it, but thank you!

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The above bundle of bags is gone, Hopefully retrieved and no longer poised to explode and spread plastic all over the bay. Thank you.

Today the tide was higher and I was on land, not in my boat. So I had no easy way to see if the piles of iron and dozens of submerged, gravel filled bags buried in the bottom have been removed. I hope they were. I’ll come back again to see.

I did find fewer than ten bags on shore and only a few in the water.

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Location -     38.119608° N   -122.864715° W   Datum WGS84

Location – 38.119608° N -122.864715° W Datum WGS84

This work site still had the fifteen or so bags laying about I saw weeks ago. I left them then, and I left them today. The wind can easily take these bags into the water where the tides can carry them out to sea. Surely this work area can be kept cleaner!

Location -  38.128490° N   -122.864172° W   Datum WGS84

Location – 38.128490° N -122.864172° W Datum WGS84

Location -  38.128490° N   -122.864172° W   Datum WGS84

Location – 38.128490° N -122.864172° W Datum WGS84

The sad new discovery was the anchors shown in the banner image and again above. Ten to twelve large plastic trash cans or barrels filled with concrete. Who left these here? This is 2013, not 1950. We have known for a long time that we can’t simply extract resources and leave our mess behind for others to deal with. Our planet is buckling under the damage caused by that out-dated thinking.

Who amongst you has an idea on how to get this blight out of Tomales Bay?

Location -   38.125753° N   -122.862869° W   Datum WGS84

Location – 38.125753° N -122.862869° W Datum WGS84

I could have had a V8!

Location -    38.125670° N   -122.862855° W   Datum WGS84

Location – 38.125670° N -122.862855° W Datum WGS84

Still more rusty oyster infrastructure from days gone by, littering the bay.

Location -    38.125670° N   -122.862855° W   Datum WGS84

Location – 38.125670° N -122.862855° W Datum WGS84

Next I plan to visit the area around Walker Creek and Preston Point to see what sort of monuments to the human madness are mired in the mud up that way.

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Here are a few images showing what a healthy shoreline looks like, plastic free!

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Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Drakes Estero

Click on the words “Drakes Estero” above to see this post as it was meant to be seen.

Today I had hoped to record some video of life on the estero.

The wind and the chop said otherwise.

I did get a heck of a workout. Picked up a little trash too.

Saw the largest bat ray I have ever seen, nearly four feet from tip to tip.

Only one shark.

Many loons.

What follows are some scenes from the day.

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Oyster racks with eel grass

Oyster racks with eel grass

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Hmmmm, this is not food, only oyster spacers and discarded plastic water bottles.

Hmmmm, this is not food, only oyster spacers and discarded plastic water bottles.

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