Hot Spring?

  

Although inland (e.g., Santa Rosa) air temperatures have almost reached 90°F during the last couple of days, Bodega Bay has stayed cooler.  The high temperature at the coast today (19 March 2026) was ~68°F (20°C). 

Views of mirages over Point Reyes were eye-catching in the mid-afternoon today — see above and below.

 

 

It looks like the first day of Spring might be even warmer, so here's hoping for cooler air temperatures soon after.

 

Heat + light

  

Mirage of Point Reyes from Bodega Head today, 17 March 2026 

Weathered

  

Close-up of weathered driftwood at Point Reyes, 26 December 2025.  With thanks to Eric for the beautiful photo! 

Holiday paws

  

Nice set of River Otter (Lontra canadensis) tracks in soft sand at Point Reyes today (28 November 2025). 

Exclamation

  

Designed by sand, water, and air (!)

A slow roll...

  

...into September!

A clam like no other

 

 

I looked down to see this distinctive shell washed up at Point Reyes this past weekend (23 August 2025).  Note the elongate shape and the fine ridges radiating from the hinge (the hinge is at the bottom of the photo).

 

I posted briefly about this species back in 2015 (See "File this away" on 28 June 2015), but it's rare to observe Hemphill's File Clam (Limaria hemphilli) in our region, so I thought it would be worth sharing another record.  Limaria hemphilli has a more southern distribution, with most records south of Point Conception (and only a few records north of Monterey).

 

I also remembered that Sam documented a file clam in Bodega Harbor in 2024.  He was lucky to find a live individual and he captured the beautiful and intriguing tentacles.  Check it out!

 

 

 

 

Here's an even closer view of those amazing tentacles:

 

 

 

The tentacles are extensible -- they can stretch out far away from the shell.  And interestingly, there are reports of predators being distracted by tentacles that have been dropped, so at times the tentacles might be used to deter predation (somewhat similar to a lizard's tail).

 

With many thanks to Eric for the photo of the shell and to Sam Briggs for the spectacular photo of the live file clam. 

Multi-porpoise

   

A few quick shots of Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from Limantour Beach on 23 August 2025.

Sea conditions were relatively calm today, making it easier to spot the porpoises.  But it was hard to tell how many were in this group.  Eric and I agree on at least three individuals, but there could have been more.  I wasn't able to photograph more than two at once.

 

 

 

 

 

Classic view of the nice triangular dorsal fin: 

 

 

 

Tomales Bay reflections

 

 

White Gulch in Tomales Bay with Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) reflection, 8 August 2025. 

Cloud shadows

  

I was working on some photo organization tonight.  Here's a photo from early March -- a view from the Chimney Rock area.

Pile of pups

  

Thanks to a visit with Paul, we took a quick trip out to Point Reyes today and encountered some nice views of Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) pups. 

Click here for more information about viewing elephant seals at Point Reyes.

Storm watcher?

 

 

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) perched in a California Wax Myrtle (Morella californica) at Point Reyes on 26 December 2024.

Wile E.'s

  

These are somewhat distant views (the photos are heavily cropped), but it was interesting to watch a group of three coyotes in a salt marsh at Point Reyes recently.  I appreciated the way their fur matched the fall colors of the marsh. Were they hunting small mammals during the flood tide?  Ducks?

In the lee

 

 

Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) on the left, and Snowy Plover (Anarhynchus nivosus) on the right, at Point Reyes on 29 November 2024.

Silver spears

  

I've been busy at work lately, but I wanted to share this photo of Pacific Saury (Cololabis saira) from 22 September 2024. 

Willy kindly wrote to let me know that Mike and Spinner caught these fish just off Point Reyes on 22 September 2024.  

I don't know a lot about Pacific Saury, but it sounds like they're more common 40-100 miles off the coast, so seeing them so close to shore is notable.  They're often associated with sea water temperatures ~60°F (57-63°F) — and can be hanging out in the same water as albacore.  [I noticed another Pacific Saury report from the Farallon Islands in late August.]

Note the small finlets at the tail end of the body (between the dorsal/anal fins and the caudal fin) — very mackerel like.  Sauries are in the Scomberesocidae family — "Scomber" refers to their similarities with mackerel.

Pacific Sauries are commonly 25-30 cm (10-12") long.  They have a broad distribution in the Pacific Ocean, but are known to migrate north to the Gulf of Alaska for the summer and then south to California in the fall.

P.S.  The species name "saira" refers to a Japanese word for spear, presumably after the long slender shape of the fish.  The genus Cololabis means "short lips" — interesting to me because the Atlantic Saury (Scomberesox saurus) has very long lips!  You can see a nice photo here.

P.P.S.  Many thanks to Willy, Mike, and Spinner for sharing this observation!