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Bulletin Board
NO TREASURE LIES at the foot of Blossom rock in San Francisco Bay. Nor are there any wrecked Gold Rush ships scattered around nearby Arch, Shag or Harding Rocks, or next to the geologic structure known as the Golden Gate Mound. The Army Corps is proposing to lower the rocks, all of which are considered potential navigation hazards, and as part of the required environmental documentation, it had to conduct a cultural/historic resources survey. Archeologists ran magnetometer and sonar scans of the five sites. Even though a dozen wrecks had occurred in the vicinity of the rocks, their remains had disintegrated or disappeared over time. Instead, the researchers located an unidentified 125-foot sunken barge near Blossom Rock, which was most likely sunk "not much before" the mid-1980s. On Arch Rock, they found an anchor "probably lost sometime after 1932, when the rock was last blown up." The archaeologists noted dryly that neither the anchor nor the barge appear to be likely candidates for a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
A spartina invasion survey, done with GIS by the Coastal Conservancy, pinpoints the extent of the spread of this Atlantic cordgrass throughout the Bay. Hybrid S. alterniflora, a hybrid of the native S. foliosa and S. alterniflora from the East Coast, now covers 469 net acres within the Bay (acres counted as if there were no gaps in coverage). S. densiflora, transplanted from Humboldt Bay, covers approximately 13 net acres, while S. patens, from the East Coast, totals half an acre. S. anglica, originally from England but introduced to the Bay Area from Washington State, was mapped at .09 acres. "The major—and unsurprising—finding is that the densest areas are closest to the sites of original introduction," says project manager Debra Smith. In the East Bay, non-native spartina species have spread as far north as Point Pinole, and in the West Bay, to northern San Rafael, says Smith. In November two new populations were discovered, one in Bolinas Lagoon and the other in Tomales Bay. A draft EIS/EIR for an eradication project is now being completed, and control will likely begin as soon as NPDES permits are obtained. Although spraying with glyphosate is one method being proposed, manual and mechanical removal are also in the works. "We’re planning a full toolbox of treatment methods," says Smith. Methods also include more monitoring and education (see Now in Print for info on a new field guide to recognizing the different spartinas). Contact: Debra Smith (510)526-4628
A secretive shrimp and a fierce fish from Asia—the shokihaze goby—are among the latest invaders to turn up in scientists’ nets. Not much is known about the mysterious shrimp, says Tom Greiner of Cal Fish & Game, other than that it is similar to another non-native shrimp, Palaemon macrodactilus, that’s been seen in the Estuary for decades. So far, the unidentified shrimp has only been found upstream of the Delta, and it is too early to tell whether it presents a serious problem, according to Greiner. The shokihaze goby, on the other hand, is very aggressive in captivity and has the potential to harm native gobies, sculpin and shrimp. The goby somewhat resembles a sculpin but has pelvic fins that have been modified into a suction cup device and a wide head covered with barbels, which also distinguishes it from the other, previously introduced gobies—the chameleon and shimofuri. All three gobies have rows of trilobed teeth on their upper and lower jaws. The shokihaze probably entered the Bay in ballast water and has been found from San Pablo Bay to the Western Delta. In the total catch for the year 2000, the shokihaze goby outnumbered both of the other introduced gobies. Contact: Tom Greiner (209)942-6080
A BAY-DELTA SCIENCE CONSORTIUM was launched via Memorandums of Understanding signed by 20 different agencies and research institutions in 2001. The consortium represents CALFED’s new effort to create an interdisciplinary, multiagency approach to science and monitoring, without asking everyone to come under one new umbrella. "Each existing monitoring program is designed around a different question, and we can’t suddenly ask them all to focus on something else," says CALFED’s Kim Taylor. "What we need is a switchboard between institutions already conducting the research. We not going to force coordination, we’re going to foster it." Initial tasks for the consortium include, among other things: hiring an executive director; identifying more ways to pool the strengths and resources of all existing research institutions and facilities; developing master contracts between institutions to facilitate coordination; and creating post-doc CALFED fellowships to take on the job of analyzing the backlog of environmental data collected in recent decades. "We want to match each fellow with an academic mentor and an agency scientist," says Taylor. Contact: Eddie Hard, (916)278-3197
Do you need native plants for your restoration project or school garden? Are you concerned about the preservation of native habitats in your wetlands and watersheds? Do you want to beautify your garden or solve an erosion problem while restoring native habitats? Hands-On Native Plants is a Richmond/San Pablo-based, youth operated contract business dedicated to the enhancement of native vegetation in the Estuary watershed. It propagates a variety of native plants, offering a wide range of vegetative options from deciduous or evergreen species to colorful varieties of shrubs and wildflowers. Services provided include assessment of your site or garden to determine the best plants for your setting and to protect local biodiversity; propagation of native plants for school or small-scale restoration projects; landscape design; help with growing your own plants in a greenhouse or your site; plant installation; and maintenance of your newly enhanced habitat or garden. Hands-On Native Plants is a program of Friends of the San Francisco Estuary. Call (510)215-2539 or 622-2337 for more information.
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