BioBlitz Comes to the Bay Area

Each year, National Geographic selects a national park to host BioBlitz, an annual survey of the biodiversity that can be found in a particular park. Scientists and researchers from around the world team up with volunteers to “find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible.” The aim is to conduct an inventory of as much of the natural world that can be observed in a 24-hour period.

National Geographic started the BioBlitz events in 2007 and committed to holding them in a different national park  each year for 10 years, all leading up to the 2016 centennial of the establishment of the National Park Service. Last year’s BioBlitz took place in Louisiana’s Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, while previous events have been held in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Saguaro National Park in Arizona, Biscayne National Park in Florida, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, and Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.

This year, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) was chosen to host the BioBlitz event. This 80,000 acre urban park that spans three counties is the perfect venue for a celebration of biodiversity. With more than 1,200 plant and animal species, including 97 that are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the Bay Area is a major biodiversity hotspot.

BioBlitz 2014 took place over a 24-hour period, from noon on Friday, March 28 until noon on Saturday, March 29. It was sponsored by National Geographic in conjunction with a number of government and nonprofit organizations, including the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and the Presidio Trust. The BioBlitz species count was spread out across the GGNRA, with scientists teaming up with volunteers to form inventory teams. The teams counted plants and animals at Marin County locations such Rodeo Beach, Muir Beach, Muir Woods, and the Marin Headlands. Elsewhere in the GGNRA, teams conducted inventories at Fort Point, Crissy Field, and Baker Beach in San Francisco, along with Mori Point and Rancho Corral de Tierra in San Mateo County.

More than 300 scientists, researchers, and naturalists signed up to lead inventory teams that focused on specific types of species or concentrated on a designated region within the park. There were more than 140 inventory teams that spread out across the GGNRA, each with a specific assignment such as Wetland Life, Moths and Bugs, Songbirds, or Hawks in Flight.

As part of the BioBlitz event, a two-day Biodiversity Festival was held at Crissy Field in the Presidio. The festival featured a variety of educational and art exhibits, food, entertainment, and activities. The vast Exhibition Tent hosted booths and interpretive displays from dozens of organizations that represent the natural diversity of the Bay Area, including The Marine Mammal Center, Golden Gate Audubon Society, River Otter Ecology Project, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, and Aquarium of the Bay.

I started off my BioBlitz exploration with a trip to Crissy Field on Friday. I won a sweepstakes that awarded me a place in a photography seminar conducted by National Geographic photographers. The seminar also served as an inventory of the local flora and fauna, so we used our cameras to observe and record every species we could find around the coastal dune habitat of Crissy Field.

It was easy to find beautiful examples of the many native species, including silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons), beach evening primrose (Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia ssp. cheiranthifolia), yellow sand verbena (Abronia latifolia), common yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus).  A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) flew in and landed in the tidal lagoon, as if on cue for the crush of photographers. Bumblebees (Bombus) swarmed around the beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) that formed delicate mounds along the coastal dunes.

Crissy Field was an impressive sight, transformed into a gigantic classroom, with small learning groups scattered around the meadows, wetlands, and beaches that make up San Francisco’s front yard. Birders gathered around the tidal wetlands with binoculars focused on snowy egrets and western gulls. People swept large nets across the coastal scrub to examine and release the rich variety of insects and pollinators that buzzed about the lupine and coyote brush. Hundreds of schoolchildren added an exuberant energy to the mix as they eagerly scrawled their observations in notebooks.

BioBlitz activities continued that afternoon across the Golden Gate in the Marin Headlands. The Marine Mammal Center released one of its patients, a Guadalupe fur seal, at Rodeo Beach. It is somewhat unusual for The Marine Mammal Center to have Guadalupe fur seals as patients, since this species, which is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, spends most of its life at sea and rarely hauls out on beaches. This particular animal, named Sterling Archer, was an adult female that was rescued on Del Monte Beach near Monterey. She was diagnosed with domoic acid toxicity, a bacterial infection that is caused by harmful algae blooms. After a few weeks of treatment at the Center, Sterling Archer was deemed fit to return to the ocean and a tracking device was attached to her back to help researchers learn more about this little understood species. She was then brought down to Rodeo Beach in a large carrier.

The honor of opening Sterling Archer’s carrier was given to Sylvia Earle, noted marine biologist and National Geographic explorer-in-residence. A crowd gathered on the beach to witness the sight of this noble creature returning to its native habitat, a gratifying experience in a world in which most environmental stories signify more bad news. Sterling Archer came out of the carrier and made her way hesitantly down to the surf while the adoring crowd looked on. When the first waves lapped up against her flippers, she knew what to do and instantly dove into the ocean. Home at last. Applause all around.

I joined another inventory team at Muir Beach on Saturday morning, this one focused on Marine Mammals. The weather had turned stormy though and our small group ventured out to the beach in a torrential downpour. The wildlife was hard to find under these conditions, with the exception of a scattering of dead crested cormorants that did not survive the battering of the storm. A dead harbor seal pup was found at the mouth of Redwood Creek, another reminder that nature is not always a warm and fuzzy force in the world.

One of the tools used to track and inventory the various species that were found was the INaturalist website and app. INaturalist.org is a social media tool that allows user to create observations of plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, and other life forms. Each observation consists of the species name, where it was observed, the date it was observed, and a photo of the species, if available. I’ve been using INaturalist to build a collection of the species I’ve observed, not just during BioBlitz, but going back several years.

By the end of Bioblitz, INaturalist reported 9,427 observations of 1,337 species. The event involved almost 3,000 students, who recorded data across a wide area from Point Reyes to Mori Point. This was the eighth year of the 10 annual BioBlitz events planned by National Geographic, although there were hints of even more to come. At the launch of the festivities on Friday, National Geographic President and CEO Gary Knell told the audience "I know that there was a commitment to do ten BioBlitzes, but what if we say that we want to do ten more.”