Environment

On Tuesday, August 29th, US Fish and Wildlife Service will release a batch of rusty-colored birds with long orange bills, called Ridgway’s Rail, at the UC San Diego Natural Reserve System’s Kendall-Frost Marsh.

Ridgway’s Rail are federally- and state-endangered, primarily due to the loss of its coastal habitat. They live in saltmarsh wetland with lush and tall vegetation often
composed of cordgrass and pickleweed. Once they are established in a tidal wetland, they spend their whole life there foraging, breeding and nesting.

The USFWS has a Ridgway’s Rail breeding program located at the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

By Zayna Syed / Popular Science / Aug 7, 2023

While most people think of the beach as a place to relax, it has always served a more purposeful role: a buffer against storms. It’s a role that will become even more important as climate change continues to disrupt nature’s delicate balance, inciting sea level rise and stronger, more frequent storms on the coasts.

But those living right along the shore may soon find themselves without as much of a cushion, as coastal erosion diminishes or displaces major beaches.

By Anne Kegley

I explored the reef at a little beach this week. A low tide had just passed. In a small cove south of the OB pier, the receding tide uncovered a diverse and richly occupied intertidal zone.

It was 8:30 am, still gray. A biosphere a world away from downtown beach crowds.

Blue-green sea anemones had planted themselves in the sand like paver stones, rinsed by receding waves. It was a marine garden,  decorated with limpets of many colors clinging to the cliff walls.

During Surfrider and its partner groups’ “Morning After” beach clean-ups on July 5, the trash collected at the OB Pier site was less than last year’s. This year, 129 pounds were collected compared to last year’s 143 pounds (not a lot, but some at least).

However, it was a different story at Dog Beach. Sponsored by San Diego River Park Foundation, volunteers collected 1,925 pounds compared with the 735 pounds gathered in 2022, over 2 and a half times greater this year.

From San Diego Audubon Society

Every Thursday and Sunday our San Diego River Mouth Docents set up an informational booth and a spotting scope at the San Diego River Mouth, next to OB Dog Beach. The San Diego River Mouth is part of an Important Bird Area that features coastal wetland, sand dune, sage scrub, and mudflat habitats.

Our docents aim to educate the Ocean Beach community and enhance the appreciation of the habitat

CBS8 spoke to some Ocean Beach residents who are concerned over the poison being used to rid local parks of gophers and want signs up to warn people about the poison in the ground.

Ocean Beach residents say there are no signs up to warn them about the poison being used in Dusty Rhodes Park. Mackenzie Gunnels lives in Ocean Beach and visits the park often. “Every single day, every evening around this time,” she said. Her dog always comes with her.

By Benji Jones / Vox / May 3, 2023

A few miles west of San Diego is a stretch of ocean that’s rather unremarkable from the surface. The water is cold and blue. There’s some green seaweed peeking out.

Sink below the waves, however, and a whole other realm appears. Under the sea here, near Point Loma, is a forest as beautiful as any other. It’s made not of trees but of strands of giant kelp, a species of algae that can grow taller than a 10-story building. Tethered to the seafloor and buoyed by air-filled chambers, the kelp strands undulate with the current,