Archive for June 1, 2002
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Complementing the wonders of the immense Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is one of the world’s great aquariums and interpretive centers. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, located at the end of the last hike in this book, presents a living representation of the many habitats in and around the bay in more than a hundred innovative…
Read MoreWatch Out for That Wave!
The waves we see dashing against the coast start hundreds of miles offshore. As winds blow across the ocean’s surface, they create waves of various sizes.A wave’s size depends on wind velocity, duration and the distance the wind blows across the open ocean. Waves break, showing a churning crest of foam along their leading edge…
Read MoreThe Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Monterey Bay holds the closest-to-shore deep ocean environment in the continental U.S. and one of North America’s largest submarine canyons, but it was the threat of offshore oil development that in 1992 led to the creation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the nation’s largest. This huge preserve covers 5312 square miles including 360…
Read MoreThe California Brown Pelican
You’ll see them all along the California coast, crashing into the ocean and gracefully gliding just above rolling waves. They, along with the less common white pelican, are the biggest flying critters on the coast. Brown pelicans boast a wingspan up to 6½ feet, with white pelicans reaching an astounding 9½ feet. The browns breed…
Read MoreThe Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989
If you had been walking the Santa Cruz coastline at 5:04 P.M. on October 17, 1989, a powerful earthquake would have jolted you from your revelry with nature. The strong quake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, shook the entire central California coast. It hit during the third game of baseball’s World Series between San…
Read MoreThe Monarch Butterfly
The fragile and beautiful monarch butterfly, brightly orange and black with white spots, makes a journey as long as 3000 miles from the eastern seaboard to wintering sites in central Mexico where they escape harsh winters. The west coast population doesn’t have to make it all the way to Mexico in winter because the central…
Read MoreThe Northern Elephant Seals of Año Nuevo
Largest of the world’s seals, the elephant seal’s name derives from the male’s huge size, up to 22 feet long and four tons in weight, and long drooping nose, or proboscis. The females weigh up to 2000 pounds and grow to 10 feet long. By 1868 the scientific community thought the northern elephant seal was…
Read MoreCoastal Agriculture
Giant thistles and a mustard that looks like a miniature cabbage are two important crops growing along the coasts of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. While walking this stretch of California Coastal Trail, you’ll walk among artichokes and Brussels sprouts which thrive in the cool summer fog and rich, sandy alluvial soils of the…
Read MoreHow To Wreck a Beach
It’s easy to destroy the natural processes of beach formation with enough large rocks and money. That’s what the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers did in 1959 when they built the long planned Pillar Point Harbor breakwater. Before the breakwater, waves from the northwest bent around the point and lost much of their energy, and waves…
Read MoreThe Spaniards Colonize California
In the 18th century, the colonial powers considered the California coast hot property. The Spaniards, English, and Russians all wanted the vast resources of this bountiful land. The Spaniards launched expeditions from their colony in Mexico, claiming California for the Spanish crown. The Spaniards worried about the Russian presence in California, with the czar’s men…
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