Filmmaker brings story of Bolinas Lagoon to festival

For the past five years, Chayes and his camera have followed efforts by Bolinas and Stinson Beach residents to save Bolinas Lagoon. On Sunday, "Call It Home: Searching For Truth on Bolinas Lagoon" will premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival. One week later, public television station KQED will feature the film as part of its "Truly California" series.



TIMELINE

- 1854: Logging, other activities add sediment to already-shallow lagoon.

- 1906: Earthquake makes lagoon deeper, but collapses Bolinas Bluffs, beginning latest sedimentation cycle.

- 1996: County announces Bolinas Lagoon lost 25 percent of its tidal basin between 1968 and 1988.

- 1997: Army Corps of Engineers study concludes dredging lagoon is a matter of national interest.

- 1998: Supervisors agree to a further $1.7 million Army Corps of Engineers study of lagoon. UNESCO declares Bolinas Lagoon one of only 17 Wetlands of International Importance in the United States.

- 2002: Army Corps releases study recommending dredging 1.4 million cubic yards from the lagoon. Cost estimated at $60 million. County hires consultant to predict lagoon's evolution over next 50 years.

- 2005: Consultant Phillip Williams Associates says lagoon sediment comes from bluff sands and ocean currents; predicts lagoon will not fill completely during next 50 years.

- 2007: County partners with Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary to develop locally preferred plan for lagoon management.

- 2008: Sanctuary recommends limited dredging coupled with long-term management of the lagoon as wetlands.

Full article here

Sea turtles are back again!

Endangered leatherback sea turtles, unseen off the central California coast only two years ago, have returned and are once again gobbling their favorite food: huge jellyfish that are swarming by the zillions from Monterey Bay to Point Arena.

"We're getting a better understanding of the leatherbacks and their coastal habitat here after several years when the population was much lower than usual - and after we observed none at all in 2006," said Scott Benson, chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's leatherback survey mission based in Monterey County at Moss Landing.

The rare and little-known leatherbacks have been around during 100 million years of evolution, and their migration patterns are amazing: They nest and lay their eggs in the sandy beaches of Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, then swim 7,000 miles across the Pacific to their feeding grounds along the California coast. But in the past 25 years, more than 90 percent of the leatherback population has vanished, Benson said.

The abrupt decrease is largely because of egg-hunters raiding their nests, commercial long-line fisheries whose hooks can ensnare the turtles as "bycatch," and most recently the erosion of many nesting beaches because of small rises in the sea level caused by global warming, said Michael Milne of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, an environmental group based in Marin County.

The huge abundance of jellyfish (Chrysaora fuscescens), commonly known as sea nettles, is apparently caused by increased upwelling of nutrients like krill and plankton from just above the sea floor this year, Benson said.

Spotters aboard the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft found six leatherbacks "surrounded by miles of jellyfish" - along with humpback whales and large ocean sunfish - off the San Mateo County coast and in the midst of regular cargo shipping lanes leading to and from the Golden Gate. In one case, a leatherback was observed swimming among the jellyfish only 5 miles west of Benson's home in Moss Landing, he said.

Another leatherback that was equipped with a more permanent satellite tag a year ago had returned to the same area this year, apparently after spending the winter a few hundred miles south of Hawaii along what Benson called "Jelly Lane."

During one segment of the cruise off Pescadero, the mission's trawling team of jellyfish specialists encountered huge hauls of the creatures, including one weighing 24 pounds with a bell 21 inches across and tentacles "taller than any of our scientists," the team reported.

Hungry as they are, leatherbacks don't eat the jellyfish's transparent globular bells - it's the viciously stinging tentacles they love, and Benson and his colleagues found themselves "covered with stinging jellyfish slime" whenever they hauled any of the turtles aboard, he said.

Full article here.

Book: Bolinas and Stinson Beach

Bolinas and Stinson Beach: California

Environmental Action Committee of West Marin

"The Environmental Action Committee of West Marin is a tenacious grassroots group founded in 1971 to protect West Marin’s natural environment and rural character. Over the years, we’ve fought off countless ill-conceived developments and protected scores of beloved places.

But EAC does more than fight: we have carried out many constructive projects that bring members of our community together to protect West Marin, and we also offer opportunities for our members to discover and learn more about the places we care for."

More about Hang Gliding

I had written before about this up and coming sport.

Here's another location: Wings of Rogallo.



10 things to know about hang gliding
1 "It is aviation," says Pat Denevan, founder and owner of Mission Soaring Center in Milpitas. Pilots are expected to figure out what kind of flying conditions are appropriate for their skill level, he says. When you land, you have to create your own runway.
2 Hang gliding is not an extreme sport. Flying high is not a prerequisite to enjoying the activity, says Wayne Michelsen, a hang glider from Mountain View. Beginners can experience the sensation of gliding through the air by flying a few feet above the ground.
3 You don't need a license. You might one day work your way to flying a few hundred feet in the air -- pilots can legally fly up to 18,000 feet -- so lessons are strongly recommended.
4 Newbies can start for a little as $3,000, which covers the cost of the equipment and lessons. Used gear saves even more money.
5 But because new advancements mean improved, more sophisticated equipment, consider buying new gear. It also has become easier to carry; some of the latest gliders are small enough -- 61 2 feet long -- to check onto a plane as luggage.
6 The Bay Area is packed with hang gliding hot spots, from Mount Diablo in the East Bay to Fort Funston in San Francisco to Ed Levin Park in Milpitas to Tres Pi os near Hollister.
7 Pilots maneuver by shifting or twisting their bodies, which allows them to perform midair pirouettes. They also can ride thermal updrafts thousands of feet. Birds of prey have been known to accompany hang gliders because they often mean an updraft is nearby.
8 The roots of hang gliding go back more than 1,500 years to China. Otto Lilienthal of Germany developed and documented aircraft in 1874 that influenced later hang glider designs.
9 Hang gliding is a social scene, offering ways to meet up and share the skies with others. As many as 40 pilots might show up on a day with perfect flying conditions. "There's lots of room up there for everyone," Denevan says.
10 Hang gliding information is available through Wings of Rogallo at www.wingsofrogallo.org and Mission Soaring Center at www.hang-gliding.com.
-- Mark de la Vi a, Mercury News

Local fund accepting applications for projects

The Stinson/Bolinas Community Fund is accepting proposals through Oct. 31 for projects that benefit the Stinson Beach and Bolinas communities.

The fund awards grants of up to $3,000 to individuals or organizations, with priority consideration given to those with matching funds, donated materials or donated services.

The fund, which started 10 years ago as part of the Marin Community Foundation, has distributed more than $390,000 to more than 260 local projects and organizations.

Application guidelines are available at the Stinson Beach and Bolinas libraries or at sbcfgrants.org.



-- from The Marin Independent Journal