Credit: André Karwath

Tens of thousands of jellyfish have been discovered washed up on the shores of Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

The jellyfish covered a section of the beach about three miles in length and twenty feet wide.

George Durgerian, a spokesman for the National Park Service, has commented that this strange event was much like “a huge, cobblestone walkway made of jellyfish.” he added that he has not seen anything like this before.

Durgerian reported the incident right away to the Ocean Beach Bulletin. He commented that this amazing thing can be seen by many residents of San Francisco from Pacheco to Lawton streets.

He went on record stating that the cause of this phenomenon could be the tides.

“There was a large swell overnight that may have been responsible,” he explained.

The jellyfish were identified by Durgerian as a common species known as moon jellyfish.

“There were jellfish like you think they look like – large, circular, translucent and gelatinous,” he continued.

The only other time that Dergerian was witness to such an event was around seven years ago on Ocean Beach which involved by-the-wind sailor jellyfish, more commonly known as Valella jellyfish.

‘They kind of look like a windsurfer,’ Durgerian commented..

Durgerian has commented that he can not explain just why the jellyfish beached over the weekend, but said that a park service biologist would be looking over some specimens.

He also mentioned that there is no planned cleanup for the jellyfish, as high tide will just sweep them back out to sea.

Green sea turtle - Picture by: Mila Zinkova

– BP is in some very hot water over their practice of burning sea turtles, while trying to clean up their mess in the Gulf of Mexico. The initiative is being headed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

They officially notified the U.S. Coast Guard and BP of their intent to launch a lawsuit for them to stop burning endangered sea turtles alive, and have given an ultimatum of 60 days in order to do so. If the action is not stopped a lawsuit will be filed under the Endangered Species Act.

Todd Steiner, biologist and executive director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network has this to say on the subject “BP is burning turtles alive and it is cruel, heartless and a crime we can’t and won’t allow to continue, sea turtles were critically endangered before BP created America’s worst environmental catastrophe, and every effort possible must be taken to rescue endangered turtles from this oil spill. BP needs to reverse course and help double our efforts to rescue sea turtles, not prevent their recovery.”

The spill really did happen at an inopportune time, as the rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtles started to nest in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP wound up in this mess, as they started a burning process, as they didn’t allow enough time for rescue boats to make a search, and get the sea turtles out of harms way.

Throughout December, hundreds of sea lions vanished from the San Francisco bay area only to show up later in the Oregon Sea Lion Caves. The Oregon Sea Lion Caves are a connected system of sea caves and caverns located along the Pacific coast of Oregon and a popular hangout for sea birds such as the tufted puffin, pigeon guillemot, Brandt’s cormorant, and various types of gulls. The caves are also an important wintering home for the Stellar Sea Lion and – to a lesser extent –the California Sea Lion.

“We’re seeing the sea lions coming up this way from California because of the feeding. If the cold water fish move north to find colder waters, the sea lions have to eat and they follow the fish wherever they go,” says Sea Lion Caves General Manager Dan Harkins.

So, how can the cave staff know for sure who’s a visitor from California and who isn’t? Apparently, sea lions have dialects; just like us humans.

“We can identify them by the sound of their voice. They have a barking noise rather than a grumbling or a growling that Stellers do,” says Harkins.

The Sea Lion Caves were first explored in 1880 by local resident Captain William Cox. On a calm day, the captain entered the grotto through the western channel in his small boat. During a later expedition he was reportedly marooned due to stormy weather and had to survive by shooting a sea lion and eating its flippers. In 1887 Captain Cox purchased the land from the State of Oregon and the cave system has been privately owned and managed ever since.

The invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida is has now spread from Los Angeles to San Francisco Bay, despite eradication efforts.

Earlier, the northward spread of this sea weed – which can grow an inch a day and forms dense underwater forests – was believed to have been stopped at Monterey Bay, but this assumption turned out to be wrong when a biologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center happened to notice a six-foot long piece of kelp attached to a boat in a yacht harbor in San Francisco Bay.

“I was walking in San Francisco Marina, and that’s when I saw the kelp attached to a boat,” said Chela Zabin, biologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Tiburon, California. “It was six-foot long, and there is nothing here in the bay that gets to that size. I didn’t want to believe what it was, it’s depressing.”

Further investigation showed U. pinnatifida clinging not only to boat hulls in the marina but to docks and pier pilings as well.

U. pinnatifida was discovered in Los Angeles Harbour in 2000 and within a year reports of its presence had arrived from Catalina Island and Monterey Bay. A federal eradication program was put in place, but the funding dried up last year. Since then, volunteer divers have been the only ones combating the kelp.

Five quick facts about Undaria pinnatifida

• Undaria pinnatifida is a fast growing kelp native to the waters of Japan, China and South and North Korea.

• Within its native range it is an appreciate source of food and if you’ve ever tasted miso soup, this is what you were eating. The Japanese name for this species is wakame.

• U. pinnatifida has managed to establish itself in many different regions outside its native range, such as the Atlantic coast of Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Argentinean coast. By attaching itself to vessel hulls it can hitchhike across the globe in search of new suitable habitats. This kelp can also enter ecosystems via imported oysters, and some people deliberately or accidently introduce U. pinnatifida to local ecosystems by cultivating it for cooking purposes.

• When U. pinnatifida spread to ecosystems not used to its presence, it can grow uncontrolled and prevent native kelp species from getting any sunlight. This can disturb the entire ecosystem.

• U. pinnatifida has been nominated to the list “100 worst invasive species in the world”.

Four Pacific Angel sharks have been born at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco, USA. The pups weighed between 115 and 120 grams at birth and measured 21-24 cm.

“We’re thrilled to have these rare births at Aquarium of the Bay,” said Christina Slager, Director of Husbandry at the Aquarium. “Very little is known about the reproductive behavior of these beautiful sharks, so the information we gather from these pups will be really valuable.”

The Pacific Angel shark (Squatina californica) is found from South Eastern Alaska to the Gulf of California and the San Francisco birth coincides with the pupping season for many local shark species.

The newborns have been moved from the exhibition to more secluded nursery tanks where they will be able to enjoy some peace and quite while being monitored by the husbandry team.

The Aquarium of the Bay is the only nature centre to consistently exhibit, study and care for Pacific Angel Sharks. The Aquarium of the Bay Foundation is currently funding a research project related to Angel sharks, where the collected data on breeding patterns and migration will be made available to government agencies, with the hope of protecting the animals’ habitat.