Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chinook Salmon found in Battle Creek. (California Department of Fish and Game)
The bay fish with the most teeth and the fewest bones—with cartilage
instead of a bony skeleton—are sharks. The presence of sharks in the bay
at any given time is contingent on local water conditions. If the water gets
too warm or fresh, sharks will depart for the ocean; if conditions remain
cool, marine sharks will take up residence. Leopard Sharks and Bat Rays
tolerate the lower-oxygen, warmer waters of the South Bay better than
other marine species, and often hang out there. Sevengill, Leopard, and
Dogfish Sharks all mate and birth their pups in estuary waters.
Though neither as big nor as glamorous as sharks or salmon, the most
tenacious fish in the region may be the natives that live in bay creeks and
small rivers. A surprising diversity of endemic freshwater fish survives in
the streams that connect upland regions with the bay.
Pacific Herring
Pacific Herring ( Clupea pallasii ) have been known to enter the estuary by
the millions. Imagine the main shipping channel between the Bay Bridge
and the San Rafael Bridge as a 12-mile-long, 80-foot-thick river of silver.
On a fish scanner, the biggest schools form what biologist Ken Oda dubs
“giant sausage links” that stretch from one end of the bay to the other. Oda
should know—he's studied herring runs around the bay for 20 years at the
California Department of Fish and Game. On the surface, however, the
only hints of the herring's arrival may be hovering gulls and bobbing sea
lions, which come to gorge themselves on spawning fish.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search