Tomales Bay Triptych – Preston Point Sheep Grazing

Click an image for a larger version.

Do sheep belong in a wetlands area?

Sheep grazing on wetlands at Preston Point. ~ 400 meters away are millions of oysters growing in the mudflats.

.

Sheep grazing on wetlands at Preston Point. ~ 400 meters away are millions of oysters growing in the mudflats.

.

Sheep grazing on wetlands at Preston Point. ~ 400 meters away are millions of oysters growing in the mudflats.

.

Save our Tomales Bay – Part 23 Bullshitter caught in the act!

Click on the words above “Save our Tomales Bay – Part 23 Bullshitter caught in the act!” to see this entire post.

On 16 May as I walked the shore near Tom’s Point and the oyster leases operated by Hog Island Oysters picking up zip-ties, grow out bags, discarded lumber and the occasional piece of non-oyster related trash, I was startled as this large bull burst forth on the hillside above me.

He snorted and stared at me, making sure I knew whose beach this was.

Then he sauntered off into the water, defecated, continuing on around this very long fence jutting out into Tomales Bay.

When the scent of lady cows in estrus is in the air, no string of wire will keep this bull from his appointed rounds.

Maybe that brownish/yellowish stuff is what give the local oysters their shittoir.

Off in the distance in this video are strings of hundreds of bags of oysters filter-feeding in the nutrient-rich waters of Tomales Bay.

It is not just the guys pooping in our local waters.

Have a look at these ladies that regularly relieve themselves in and around Drakes Estero (image from a few years ago)

RJames.IMG_4541.CC.cwRJames.IMG_4560.crop.cc.cwIs this the secret ingredient of the non-native oysters that were once raised in Drakes Estero?

 

Speaking of bullshit, stay tuned for more images of the steady supply of plastic left in Tomales Bay by oyster farmers of present and past.

Local growers are making efforts to reduce the debris abandoned to the watershed. I applaud and encourage these and more efforts.

Enough of an effort?

Perhaps when the Fish & Game Commission hosts the public meeting in West Marin they promised me is coming, we’ll all find out.

Until then, let the chips fall where they may.

.

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.