There have been reports of sea kayakers and surfers who are approaching and possibly harassing, a small number of gray whales that have been feeding in nearshore waters off Pacifica for several weeks. The group of whale includes at least one calf.

Gray whales and other marine mammals are federally protected against harassment or other disruption by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

The gray whale population has been declining. They are experiencing a depletion of their normal food in their Arctic feeding grounds due to the changing ocean conditions, and are being forced to find other feeding locations along their migration route. Approximately one third of the gray whale population died during 1999-2000, many of them emaciated. Any activity that might drive them away from a newfound foraging area, or cause them to dive more frequently or deeper, seeking safety from harassment, could constitute a violation of the MMPA.

NOAA’s guidelines to avoid harassing whales, is to remain at least one hundred yards away from whales.

Anyone seeing someone approach whales or other marine mammals within 100 yards is asked to notify the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Enforcement Hotline 1-800 853-1964 and provide details of the incident.

Mary Jane Schramm
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

On the 100th anniversay of the Farallon Island National Wildlife Refuge, the islands are full of life, reports the County Times.

The islands were created 10,000 years ago as the Ice Age ended. The Pacific Ocean, fed by melting glaciers, spread eastward by 35 miles and turned foothills on the continent’s edge into islands at sea.

In the early 19th century, Americans and then Russians came to the islands, hunting northern fur seals, prized for their pelts. By 1838, hunters had killed the last fur seal on the islands. Northern elephant seals, hunted for their blubber, met the same fate in the 1880s throughout California waters, according to the book, "Farallon Islands; Sentinels of the Golden Gate." Then the 1849 Gold Rush, which drew hoards to San Francisco, spurred demand for common murre eggs from the Farallon Islands and elsewhere to feed the exploding population, as the eggs were considered as good as hens’ eggs. By the time the practice was banned in 1896, the population of common murres on the islands had plummeted to several thousand.

But since 1909, wildlife has slowly rebounded. Most management has been hands-off, said Gerry McChesney, acting manager of the 211-acre Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, letting the wildlife return on its own. The effort is helped along by restoring native plants, creating boardwalks for the handful of researchers working on the largest island, Southeast Farallon Island, as well as building blinds so they don’t disturb wildlife while studying them. They are also trying to eradicate the non-native house mice that arrived after years of human habitation by military personnel and lighthouse keepers on the southern island.

Northern elephant seals returned to the islands in 1959, and to scientists’ delight, northern fur seals reappeared in 1996. Common murres rebounded, and now 350,000 seabirds representing 13 species crowd the island, creating a cacophony that greets visitors.

Visitors aren’t allowed on the islands, but boat tours circle the site. And the California Academy of Sciences has set up a web cam on the tallest hill on the southern island.

Pacifica city council members Julie Lancelle, Sue Digre and Jim Vreeland (and two other candidates) have been nominated for the seat currently occupied by Dave Potter, a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Potter received a pro-conservation voting score of 24 percent in an annual ranking of the votes cast by coastal commissioners in 2008, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

Julie Lancelle, Sue Digre and Jim Vreeland were all nominated in late May by both the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and the San Mateo Council of Cities. If appointed, the lucky candidate would serve a four-year term on the commission, replacing Dave Potter, a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors who has served on the commission since 1997. He represents Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. ...

The fact that the seat is open at all is unusual. After being appointed in 1997 by then-Speaker Fabian Nuñez, Potter was reappointed twice without opposition. Potter is again running for reappointment, but a campaign by environmental groups across the state took issue with Potter’s environmental record and persuaded Bass to consider other candidates, according to Burlingame City Councilwoman Terry Nagel, chair of the San Mateo County City Selection Committee. Other people are simply pushing for more local representation.

What follows is a letter from the California State Parks Foundation.

June 12, 2009 5:58:18 PM PDT

Dear Friends,
 
As you know, the Budget Conference Committee took up the issue of the state parks budget on Thursday, June 11, but did not take action and held the item "open" until next week.  At this time, we believe they will be revisiting the issue and possibly taking the item up for a vote on Monday.
 
WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Please send a message to the budget conference committee members, urging them to take actions to provide funding that will save our state parks.  I realize this is crunch time, and late notice, but hope you can help contact the Conference Committee members.  Please visit http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_june09 to send a message directly to all conference committee members, and spread the word to your members, networks, and friends.  
 
To keep the drumbeat of action going, the SOS campaign (along with the help of many organizations throughout the state) is also hosting the SOS Weekend of Action, next weekend, June 20-21.  Please check out our web site athttp://www.calparks.org/takeaction/sos-weekend.html for information about park events in your area or ways to get involved online.  If you’re hosting an event that you’d like included on our site, please email the information and we’ll post it up on our site.
 
Thank you for your continued hard work and participation with the Save Our State Parks campaign.  
 
Traci Verardo-Torres
Vice President, Government Affairs
California State Parks Foundation 

Pacifica is considering dropping its contract in 2012 with Coastside Scavenger which owes the city up to $450,000 in fees, reports the County Times.  Coastside shares ownership and facilities with Seacoast Disposal, which collects trash in the Montara Water and Sanitary District.

According to the city’s calculation, Coastside Scavenger Co. — along with its sister trash hauler, Sea Coast Disposal — owes the city up to $450,000 in monthly franchise fees, late fees and other fees dating back to August 2008. The city has sent a series of letters to Coastside Scavenger’s president and owner, Louis Picardo, in recent weeks with demands including payment of $648,341 in outstanding fees and immediate submittal of audited financial statements from the company, for which two years were overdue.  ...

Pacifica residents pay the highest rates for garbage collection in San Mateo County. Coastside Scavenger has raised its rates almost every year since 2000, and the City Council approved another rate increase of 7.8 percent in 2007 (the company had asked for a 12 percent increase). At the time of the audit, many city officials admitted they had approved the rate increases without conducting a thorough financial review. ...

Coastside Scavenger declared a net loss of $325,000 for the fiscal year ending July 2008. It declared $847,249 in franchise fee expenses owed to the city. It has borrowed substantial sums of money from its employees and from its "stockholder," presumably the company owner, Picardo. And it is waiting for payment of more than $2.5 million by Sea Coast Disposal, with which it shares a recycling yard and maintenance crew. Sea Coast never submits its financials to the city.

Workshop: 1 to 2:30pm

Back by popular demand after his previously sold-out event, Alvaro Jaramillo will present an entertaining workshop on the seabirds and songbirds found on the Coastside. Learn about their behavior, field marks, ecology, and migratory patterns. Light refreshments will be served.

Cost: Suggested donation is $15. Seniors $5. Under 18 years old free.

Location: Ocean Shore Train Depot at the foot of the Johnston House, 110 Higgins Canyon Rd, Half Moon Bay

Bird Walk: 3 to 5pm

Participants will walk through beautiful bluff top open space looking for birds and applying the knowledge learned in the workshop. Dress in layers, wear sturdy shoes and bring binoculars or scopes if desired. Snacks and beverages will be served after the walk.

Cost: Free

Location: Meet at Smith Field, Wavecrest Road, Half Moon Bay.

Both the Workshop and Walk are suitable for beginning to expert birders, as well as families.

Click to donate to CLT.

We spotted this sea lion pup on Friday afternoon at Dunes Beach.  The Marine Mammal Center picked up a pup at Dunes Beach on Saturday.  The MMC is being "inundated" with calls right now, with 10 to 12 individuals reported per day and three to five deaths a day.  "We’re experiencing the remnants of an El Niño year. The resources are shifting and little sea lions don’t shift well with the resources", the Center says. The phone was ringing every couple of minutes while we talked to the folks at the MMC on Sunday.

The usual procedure is to allow seal lions to rest 24 hours on the beach before rescuing them. After that, they will be rescued, fed, and examined by a vet before release. 

Seal lions are born around mid-June and weaned after nine months, so this pup no longer needed to be with its mother.

If you see a sea lion in distress, contact the Marine Mammal Center at (415) 289-SEAL.

OceanHealth.org and Surfrider San Mateowill celebrate World Ocean Day,  Monday, June 8, at the Point Montara Lighthouse ( 16th St. & Cabrillo Hwy, Montara) by screening a variety of short ocean films. We hope you will join us in this great location to share our love and respect of the oceans. The event is free, but an $8 donation for World Oceans Day appreciated. Your donation will help support local ocean nonprofits.

Reception: 6:30-7pm
Films: 7-8:30pm
Discussion: 8:30-9pm

RSVP: Please RSVP by email to [email protected] as there is a 50 person maximum for this event.

For More Information:
Ellen Gartside,
Surfrider San Mateo Chapter  
World Ocean Day Event Coordinator,
650.726.3728,
[email protected]

Eli Saddler
OceanHealth.Org
Ocean Health is Our Health
www.oceanhealth.org

Bill Mott,
The Ocean Project,
401.709.4071,
[email protected],
www.WorldOceansDay.org

The San Mateo County Department of Parks will host a neighborhood informational meeting on the proposed Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Interpretive Plan from 10 am to 11:30 am on June 6, followed by a public meeting from noon to 1 pm.

The public meeting will receive final comment regarding a proposed Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Interpretive Exhibit.  The proposed actions, including the Interpretive Exhibit, are based on the Conceptual Plan for Interpretation at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve [link]. 

The informational meeting will involve a walking tour to visit a number of proposed project sites including the education center, parking lot , ramp to the reef, signage, interpretive exhibit, coastal trail, Seal Cove stairway and bridge over San Vicente Creek. 

The Interpretive Exhibit will represent the low, medium and high tide zones of the Moss Beach reef using models of the typical plants and animals that visitors to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve can often observe. The model (1/20 scale of the future exhibit) will be on display in its proposed location for public comment. 

Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is located at 200 Nevada Avenue, Moss Beach, CA. 

For more information, contact David Holland, Director at (650) 599-1393 or [email protected].

The governor is proposing to cut state funding to the state park system.  The California State Parks Foundation says that this could close more than 80% of the state’s 279 parks. There are 17 state parks in San Mateo County, including Half Moon Bay and Montara State Beaches, reports the Daily Journal. Furthermore, the closure of parks on the Southcoast could have a significant effect on the economy of Half Moon Bay.

But State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, cautions that no decisions have been made yet on park closures by the Legislature.

"Just because it’s tough times doesn’t mean you have to use bad judgment," said Yee, who indicated he would continue to fight for resources for San Mateo County. ...

The park system receives about $150 million from the state’s general fund and the public could be barred from 223 of the state’s 279 parks, according to park officials. ...

County Supervisor Rich Gordon represents coastal communities where many of the state parks are slated to be closed.

"It’s unclear whether the state will stop providing staff for the parks or just padlock them," he said.

The CSPF says "state parks receive less than 1/10 of one percent of the entire state budget". The Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee will consider this proposal on Tuesday, June 2. There’s a form for sending messages to your state representatives on the State Parks Foundation site.

State Parks in San Mateo County, from Daily Journal:

Año Nuevo, natural reserve
Bean Hollow, beach
Big Basin Redwoods
Burleigh H. Murray Ranch (park property)
Butano
Castle Rock
Gray Whale Cove, beach
Half Moon Bay, beach
Montara, beach
Pacifica, beach
Pescadero, beach
Pigeon Point Light Station, historic park
Point Montara Light Station (park property)
Pomponio, beach
Portola Redwoods
San Gregorio, beach
Thornton, beach