California has lost roughly 60% of its coastal dunes since the mid‑1800s, according to a newly published statewide analysis that used historical maps, aerial photography, and LiDAR to track dune change over time titled “Significant Coastal Dune Loss Challenges California’s Climate Resilience and Biodiversity Goals.” Researchers found that more than 440 square kilometers of dunes have disappeared, largely replaced by roads, neighborhoods, and other development. Remaining dunes are increasingly fragmented, reducing habitat quality for species that depend on open sand, including the western snowy plover and least tern.Along the North Coast, those pressures are visible today as steep sand scarps form along Samoa and other beaches, carved by powerful winter waves and long‑term erosion. Danny O’Shea, who recently retired after 10 years as a lecturer in the oceanography department at Cal Poly Humboldt, said the sharp cliffs now lining parts of the shoreline are a direct result of seasonal storm energy.“That’s caused by winter storm wave erosion,” O’Shea said. “It’s got nothing to do with the beach grass or anything else. Everything to do with the storm wave erosion.”Humboldt County’s dunes, including the Lanphere, Samoa, and Ma‑le’l complexes, are among the largest intact systems left in the state. They exist only where three conditions align: a low‑lying coastline, steady onshore winds, and a reliable sediment supply from the Eel and Mad rivers. O’Shea said those factors make the region’s dunes both dynamic and ecologically significant.“These are large, dynamic dune fields,” he said. “They’re constantly responding to wind, waves, and sediment movement.”Suzie Fortner, executive director of Friends of the Dunes, said Humboldt County’s coastline contains roughly 30 miles of dunes. The region has experienced far less dune loss than other parts of the state, she said, making its conservation value especially significant.“We have one of the largest intact dune systems on the California coast,” said Fortner. “And our dunes here in Humboldt County are even more unique because our vegetation type is much different than other dunes in California.”“What recent research has found is that a restored dune system is more resilient to these erosional events. It doesn’t mean that erosion doesn’t happen. Erosion is going to happen no matter the type of vegetation we have,” said Fortner. “But when we have native plants dominating the foredune rather than the invasive beach grass, that foredune can recover more quickly from the erosional events. Sometimes two years faster than a dune dominated by European beach grass, and that allows sand to re-enter the system and replenish the dune system, which is what we want to see. Our restored dunes are filled with diverse vegetation. They’re blooming, full of pollinators; it’s not a bare landscape.”Read Original Article
One hundred and fifty gray whales have washed up dead on the West Coast this year, with an unusually high number of strandings taking place in the Pacific Northwest, federal scientists report.According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s most recent data, 11 of the stranded gray whales have washed up in Oregon and 30 in Washington.This year’s West Coast stranding total has already surpassed the records from 2021-24, though it still remains below last year’s 179 reported strandings and the 216 recorded in 2019, according to NOAA data.While this year’s stranding numbers are high, scientists aren’t stumped by the cause of the deaths.The organization’s officials say this year’s elevated deaths appear to stem from the same food-supply issues, due to changes in Arctic conditions where gray whales typically feed, that have plagued the species since 2019.The whales that have washed ashore continue to primarily appear malnourished and emaciated, according to Michael Milstein, a NOAA spokesperson.“We certainly recognize the strandings continue to be elevated in number, and we are watching that carefully,” Milstein said. “We’re continuing the counts every year to keep as close track as we can to be able to detect if something new is at play.”Keep Reading
Northern California’s kelp forests have been in steep decline, with an estimated 95% loss of canopy since 2014. NASA and USGS Landsat analysis shows Northern California’s kelp canopies’ rapid decline was driven by a marine heatwave, El Niño conditions, and the loss of sunflower sea stars to wasting disease. With the region’s primary urchin predator gone, purple urchins surged across the seafloor and converted once‑productive kelp forests into persistent urchin barrens.The disappearance of sunflower sea stars caused the ecosystem’s resilience to plummet, leaving little capacity for kelp to recover under current ocean conditions. Along the Klamath River shoreline, the Yurok Tribe’s marine program is documenting the same pattern NASA identified offshore. Unlike the towering bull kelp farther south, benthic kelp, which grows as a thin, fuzzy layer on rocks, has also been threatened.“The benthic kelp is in threat of decline because the system’s out of balance with no top‑level predators anymore,” said McKernan. “Sea otters and sunflower sea stars kept purple urchins in check, and without them, urchins have wiped out large kelp forests.”The Yurok Tribe relies on several species of kelp for food, cultural materials, and regalia. Benthic kelp supports abalone, a culturally important species used for both subsistence and ceremonial dress. The loss of kelp also affects rockfish, crabs, and other nearshore species that depend on kelp for shelter and feeding.“The tribe uses kelp directly…there are several different species of kelp that are harvested and used directly as food. Also, that kelp feeds an ecosystem that’s important to other culturally important species, both for food and for regalia, those primarily being abalone,” said McKernan. “Abalone depend on benthic kelp for food, and abalone is an important food source, as well as cultural material for regalia. In tribal regalia, both jewelry, as well as dresses, and other parts of their cultural ceremonies, and then everything else that the kelp supports is also impacted.”Kelp loss varies along the North Coast, with larger kelp beds historically found near Trinidad and Crescent City. Recent monitoring has documented that benthic kelp has been grazed down north of the Klamath River, raising concerns for tribal harvesters and marine programs working to track changes along the coastline.“Down in the Sonoma-Mendocino coast, the tribes down there, the Pomo and others, have uses of bull kelp, as well as Tolowa up in Del Norte County, as well as Yurok, but kind of more localized around, the Klamath River, and any tide pools between, Trinidad and Crescent City, a lot of those areas, the rocky kelp, is the more commonly used,” said Kevin McKernan with the Yurok Tribe.Scientists say community awareness of benthic kelp loss remains low despite the scale of the ecological shift. The absence of sea otters for more than a century and the recent collapse of sunflower sea stars have allowed purple urchin populations to explode, creating “urchin barrens” where kelp once thrived.“I think there needs to be a greater awareness by the community about the system being out of balance, meaning the lack of predators,” said McKernan. “A lot of people don’t think much of sea stars or starfish, but they’re critical predators. Hopefully (they) make their way back here, you know, in the next several years.“Reintroduction of sea otters is being explored as a long‑term restoration strategy. Tribal scientists say otters could help restore ecological function in the nearshore environment, similar to recovery seen along the Central Coast.“One main predator that we’ve been missing for the last 100-plus years is the sea otter on the North Coast of California. There are perceptions and realities, and you know all the things that usually go around the introduction of new species that the community may or may not embrace,” said McKernan. “Anywhere where sea otters currently exist or have come back (and) have shown to help increase kelp bed populations, primarily down in the Santa Cruz and Monterey area, we’d expect the same up in this area.”Keep Reading
A quick heads-up for people interested in offshore wind development on the North Coast — the Humboldt Bay Harbor District is hosting a public meeting in Arcata next week to discuss next steps for the Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal slated for the Samoa Peninsula.If you haven’t been following the project up to this point, now is a good time to tune in.Why now? The Harbor District is preparing environmental documents for the heavy lift marine terminal, and the agency needs community input to ensure the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) thoroughly addresses concerns surrounding the project. The June 24 meeting will be one of several opportunities the public will have to share their thoughts on the proposed project before the district recirculates the notice of preparation later this summer.Keep Reading
Humboldt Bay is one of the only places left on the West Coast where oyster seed can be grown and shipped across state and international lines, a distinction that has become the backbone of the region’s shellfish economy. Local growers say the bay’s rare disease‑free status is what keeps the industry alive as climate change, ocean acidification and fast‑moving pathogens reshape oyster farming from California to Alaska.“It’s kind of a hidden gem, Humboldt Bay,” Justin Mojonnier, the director of science and technology for Hog Island Oyster Company, said of Humboldt Bay’s importance in the oyster and shellfish industry. “People don’t really realize it, but we’re a huge shellfish nursery; we produce a ton of shellfish seed out of this bay, we have a long history of producing shellfish seed out of this bay. It’s a really big part of the whole West Coast industry. I think last year we produced over 400 million shellfish seeds, so that’s both oysters and Manila clams. A big chunk of the West Coast supply chain has lived part of its life in Humboldt Bay, and the only reason that we could do that is the disease-free status.”Hog Island entered the hatchery business decades ago after climate‑driven stressors such as warming waters, low pH and ocean acidification made seed unreliable elsewhere. That disease‑free certification is what allows seed to move legally across state lines. It also makes Humboldt Bay one of the only places on the West Coast where an oyster can complete its entire life cycle in the same water.“55%-60% of California’s total oyster production comes out of Humboldt Bay, so it’s not just the seed, it’s not just the nursery, but we were a huge portion of California’s total market-ready shellfish production,” said Mojonnier. “Humboldt Bay is really unique in the way that the bay is, so just its geography and hydrology, we have a ton of mud flats, but we also have a ton of flushing, and this creates a really unique environment where we have a diverse phytoplankton assemblage in the bay, and phytoplankton are what oysters eat. If you go out and you kind of look at an aerial shot of the bay, especially during summer, it’s green, it’s just teeming with life. It’s truly a unique ecosystem.”But growers warn that the system is fragile. Increased vessel traffic from increased ship traffic or proposed industrial projects poses the greatest risk of introducing pathogens like Ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1), a highly contagious, viral disease that specifically affects bivalve shellfish, most notably the Pacific oyster.“Any kind of ships coming into the bay is a promise of economic activity. You see it with the heavy lift terminal proposed by the Harbor District, cruise ships coming in, ships, but they’re all a risk or a vector for disease introduction, and that’s a big concern with the shellfish industry,” said Mojonnier. “Ballast water, hull fouling, we don’t control where these ships come from. Once that bell is rung, you can’t unring it.”Terry Sawyer, a founder of Hog Island Oyster Co., said the value of Humboldt Bay’s shellfish industry is far greater than what shows up in state production numbers. Hog Island entered the hatchery business decades ago because climate‑driven stress of warming waters, low pH, and ocean acidification had made oyster seed unreliable across the West Coast.Keep Reading
