Orca whales are familiar residents of West Coast waters. The black and white marine mammals are often seen swimming in groups, diving and slapping their tails against the water’s surface. Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) believe that a group of 49 killer whales seen hunting sperm whales and other marine animals in […]
The powerful atmospheric river storm that arrived in California on Sunday continued to bring heavy rain, flooding and mudslides to the southern parts of the state Monday. Parts of California and Arizona were under high wind, flood and winter storm warnings yesterday, with residents encouraged to limit driving, authorities said, as Reuters reported. The storm […]
Sea otters started recolonizing their former habitat in a central California coastal estuary several decades ago, and erosion has since slowed by as much as 90 percent, according to a new study. Elkhorn Slough is an estuary dominated by salt marshes. Its marsh edges and creek banks had suffered from erosion, but when the sea […]
In California, more than 20 million residents were under flood alerts on Wednesday as the first of two atmospheric river storms hit the northern part of the state, reported CNN. The “Pineapple Express” storms were expected to bring warm, moist air with gusty winds, heavy rain and snow in the highest elevations. “An atmospheric river […]
Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California have linked sea otters to healthy kelp forests off the West Coast. According to a new study published in the journal PLOS Climate, the recovery of Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) in central California happened at the same time that kelp forests in the same […]
The first large-scale study of mountain lion numbers in California has been completed by scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW); the nonprofits Audubon Canyon Ranch and the Institute for Wildlife Studies; University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of California, Davis. The population estimate of between 3,200 and 4,500 cougars is […]
Researchers completing the first dive survey of Lake Tahoe have found an accumulation of plastic litter in a small section of the lake. Lake Tahoe, which lies on the border of California and Nevada, is the 10th deepest lake in the world. Last year, researchers from the Desert Research Institute and University of California Davis […]
In a unanimous vote, the California State Water Resources Control Board has approved its first standards for converting sewage waste into drinking water that can be piped directly into the taps of households and businesses. It’s a historic moment for a state plagued by drought and water shortages. “A city produces wastewater during a drought, […]
The National Park Service recently announced that next year, visitors to Yosemite National Park in California will need to reserve their entry for several spring and fall visits and all peak summer visits to aid with congestion. The pilot reservation system will be similar to the “Peak Hours” reservation system used in 2022, which required […]