The otter population is holding its own, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  Between Half Moon Bay and Santa Barbara, the population is down slightly from last year, but the more significant three-year average population is still rising.

This year, researchers counted 2,375 otters, down a little from 2,825 last year.  The count in 1983 was 1,277, according to the Chronicle.

“It’s too early to tell whether or not the decrease this year marks the beginning of a new downward trend,” Hatfield said, “and it will take fresh counts next year and the year after before we know what the state of the animals really is.”

The target three-year average is 3,090 for removing southern sea otters from “threatened” designation under the Endangered Species Act.

In writing the earlier story of live Web pictures of the common murres at Devil’s Slide Rock, I found this picture at Jim Rosso’s Birdcentral site. I just got his permission to use the photo and wanted to share it with you.

You can observe the murres on Devil’s Slide Rock without risking your life on Highway 1. Video cameras are no beaming images of the murres to a monitor at Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel, and to a web page.  You can also visit the project’s home page.

The Chronicle also tells the story of the penguin-like murres, ravaged by human populations and by fishing and wiped off of the rock by a 1986 oil spill. Scientists lured new birds with decoys and mirrors until the population grew from six nesting pairs to 190 last year. 

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) voted to buy the 676-acre Miramontes Ridge property from Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) as an addition to the District’s Mills Creek Open Space Preserve. Miramontes Ridge is located in the foothills west of Skyline Boulevard and north of Burleigh Murray State Park.

“Miramontes Ridge is important because the property’s roads and trails may provide future opportunities to establish a regional trail connection between the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the Coastal Trail,” said Craig Britton, the District’s General Manager in the District’s press release.

Click “read more” to see the press release.

This afternoon, a prescient friend sent me a link to a Santa Cruz Sentinel story about Steven Ward, a UC Santa Cruz researcher who models tsunamis caused both by earthquakes and by meteorites. Ward researches possible tsunamis in Asia as well, but he has been modeling earthquake-induced tsunamis on the coast of California. Ward says a 7.5 magnitude quake could send a 15-foot tsunami to the Santa Cruz shoreline in minutes.

In 1946 an elderly man was killed by a wave while walking around the point from Cowell Beach from a 7.5-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska. A Santa Cruz restaurant located at the entrance of the Municipal Wharf reported that water levels rose up to its floorboards.

There’s a ton of information, simulations, and presentations at Steven Ward’s Web site.

UPDATE: The warning was cancelled at 9:09pm.

A tsunami warning is in effect for the coastal areas from the California-Mexico border to the north tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Estimated time of arrival in the San Francisco area is approximately 9:23pm.

There has been an earthquake of magnitude 7.4, 90 miles NW of Eureka and 300 miles NW of San Francisco at 7:51pm.

It is not known if a tsunami exists. But a tsunami may have been generated.  Therefore persons in low lying coastal areas should be alert to instructions from their local emergency officials. Persons on the beach should move to higher ground if in a warned area. Tsunamis may be a series of waves which could be dangerous for several hours after the initial wave arrival.

Source:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
830 PM PDT TUE JUN 14 2005

The Midpeninsula Open Space District (MROSD) has agreed to manage Rapley Ranch, a 151-acre property owned by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). The ranch is adjacent to MROSD’s 1,827-acre Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.

This is the first POST property that MROSD has agreed to manage on the Coastside and this announcement follows last week’s that the District is looking to buy two other POST properties on the coast.

For two year license the District will patrol, manage, clean, and secure the property—and plan for future use of the property as part of Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. MROSD will seek grant funds to purchase the property from POST. 

The property be closed to public access, except for neighbors and docent-led activities with special permits.

Click “read more” to see the press release.

The Chron has a nice story on the return of the San Francisco garter snake to its eponymous city.  It covers some of the same territory as the press release Coastsider ran earlier, but it’s a lot more fun to read.  The reporter also goes to Mori Point in Pacifica to see some restored habitat, where one endangered species (said snake) dines on another (the California red-legged frog).

This article is reprinted from the May 2005 issue of California Coastwatcher.

Two very large homes—more than three times the size of the average existing home—have been approved by the Coastal Commission for agricultural land on the southern San Mateo County coast. The Commission’s decision-making process regarding the two proposals was marked by aggressive concern for protection of agriculture, aggressive disregard for imposing any limits on the size of mansions and the adverse impact those monster homes have on rural agricultural land values, and a flagrant decision to allow a private driveway through ESHA that is patently illegal under the Coastal Act.

Michael and Ana Polacek want to build 6,787-sq. ft. of residential development on an 18-acre farm along Bean Hollow Road. The coastal staff report for the Polacek project is at [url=http://www.coastal.ca.gov/sc/5-2005-Th13a.pdf]http://www.coastal.ca.gov/sc/5-2005-Th13a.pdf[/url] and you can see Bean Hollow State Beach at [url=http://www.cacoast.org/6281]http://www.cacoast.org/6281[/url]

Keith and Cindy Waddell proposed to build 7,650-sq. ft. of residential development on a 153-acre ranch along Highway #1 at Tunitas Creek. The Waddell staff report is at [url=http://www.coastal.ca.gov/nca/Th13b-5-2005.pdf]http://www.coastal.ca.gov/nca/Th13b-5-2005.pdf[/url] and a 1972 photo of the Waddell property is at [url=http://www.cacoast.org/7218028]http://www.cacoast.org/7218028[/url]

The positive step taken by the Coastal Commission to protect agricultural lands on the California coastline required the use of affirmative, permanent agricultural easements that were required to be established to insure the long-term viability of the agricultural operations on the properties. Thus, even if Polacek and Waddell do not wish to continue farming themselves, they are required now, by law, to lease their lands to other farmers to insure the agricultural lands outside the residential building area on each parcel remain actively farmed. Such requirements had never been included in a coastal development permit before.

The second important step taken by the Commission was to require that all residential development on each property be contained within a 10,000 sq. ft. “development envelope” insuring that the vast majority of each farm will remain solely for agricultural purposes. The limited residential building envelope for agricultural lands was also a precedent established by the Commission that will enhance future protection of agricultural lands throughout coastal California.

Click “Read more” to see the rest of the article.