Marine Mammal Release in Bodega Bay!

This weekend, the Marine Mammal Center held its first release in Bodega Bay! Yesterday, just north of Portuguese Beach, they returned eight of their young rehabilitated patients to the sea. It was such an exciting event, this blog post is longer and filled with many more photos than usual. (You can enlarge each image by clicking on it.)

The Marine Mammal Center, based in Sausalito, rescues, rehabilitates and releases injured, sick and orphaned marine mammals along 600 miles of California coast, from San Luis Obispo up through Mendocino. They rescue approximately 600-800 mammals per year, including harbor seals, sea lions, elephant seals, and sea otters, most of whom are suffering from malnutrition and the diseases it can cause, or injuries, often caused by human litter.

I remember when the Marine Mammal Center first started back in 1975. Some of their volunteers would bring their processing into our family's photo shop, SeaWood Photo in San Anselmo, and I loved hearing stories about the incredible work they were undertaking. Before The Center was established, stranded marine mammals were either left to die or were killed by authorities.

What a wonderful success story, they've come so far since then. They now have five locations including their newly rebuilt, state of the art, environmentally-friendly facility in Sausalito, and 800 volunteers plus staff. And in addition to rescue, they do research and have an active education program. During rehabilitation, Marine Mammal Center scientists conduct research on marine mammal disease immunology and publish research findings in scientific journals. Strict protocols ensure that the animals' health is not harmed during the course of their studies. This research contributes to our understanding of marine mammal illness as well as the overall health of our greatest resource, the ocean.


The Bodega Bay release was an incredible sight to behold. Executive Director Dr. Jeff Boehm gave a talk and explained that they were releasing seven harbor seal pups and one young sea lion. The harbor seals ranged in age from 2-3 months and each had been rescued while only a day or two old. They'd been found abandoned on various beaches suffering from severe malnutrition. The Center fed them well, nursed them back to health, then made sure they could track and catch live fish on their own before deeming them rehabilitated, all the while taking great care not to get too friendly or treat them as pets. They try to prevent the pups from becoming tame by taking several precautions. Contact is kept at a minimum; unnecessary handling such as cuddling or pampering is not allowed. Keeping several pups together in the same pen promotes socialization with each other and not with people. It's important that they remain wild so they can integrate back into their natural lives.



The Marine Mammal Center places orange tags on their patients' flippers. Some also have red "hat tags" on their heads and a few even have satellite transmitters. Local biologists, fishermen, and marine mammal observers report tag numbers that are resighted in the wild back to The Center. This helps the scientists follow the behaviors of the mammals as well as learn more about the overall health of the ocean. The hat tags come off with their first molt.

The young sea lion had been brought in the day before, suffering from a fishhook wound, and was treated quickly and ready to be released. When he finally emerged from his cage, he confidently strutted right down to the surf and swam out into the wild. He looked so small and vulnerable, a lot of people on shore were choked up.







Next came the harbor seal pups. They were timid and somewhat wary of the surf, remember they were rescued when they were only a day or two old.








Eventually several of them banded together and slowly flopped toward the water.






After being tossed and rolled a bit by the waves and washed back up onto the beach a few times, they finally caught on and made their way through the breaking waves and started out to sea. Gradually two more followed them.









But one little guy (or girl?) had a tougher time. He was repeatedly washed back on shore and just couldn't quite figure out how to make it through that first tier of breaking waves. He drifted down to a rocky area, which had us all worried he'd get injured on the jagged rocks, then he worked his way back over to the open section of the beach.



A number of concerned Marine Mammal Center volunteers monitored his progress and were ready to step in if he started to show signs of exhaustion. At last, the little guy figured it out and worked his way through the waves and on to his new life in the ocean. Volunteers will continue to monitor the beach all weekend, in case any of the released patients come back on shore.



One of the reasons the Marine Mammal Center chose Bodega Bay for this release is that previous tracking revealed many of their patients travel north to our area, where we have a lot of harbor seals and sea lions. You may have seen the seals on the beach at Jenner, or heard the sea lions barking out on Bodega Rock. As we watched the little guys make their way out to the huge ocean, it was comforting to know there were so many of their kind nearby.

The lovely Sissy Blanchard, owner of Gourmet Au Bay, donated 10% of all sales yesterday to the Marine Mammal Center.

Our County Supervisor Efren Carillo came to witness this exciting event.

Each year, the Marine Mammal Center's education programs reach about 30,000 kids and adults. Marine science instructors speak about the importance of marine mammals, the health of the marine environment, and how to become stewards of our oceans. Their new facility is open to the public and includes exhibits and open viewing areas. They're open for self-guided tours daily 10 am to 5 pm and group tours are available. They also have an interpretive center at San Francisco's PIER 39 and a traveling Whale Bus.

What to do if you see a marine mammal in distress: Click here.

24 Hour Rescue Lines (to report a stranded marine mammal)
In the San Francisco Bay Area including San Jose, San Mateo, Marin and Sonoma Counties call: 415.289.SEAL (7325)
In the Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties call: 831.633.6298.
In the San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay Counties call: 805.771.8300

Want to volunteer for the Marine Mammal Center? Click here.

The Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit, supported by donations from folks like us. Learn more about how to support them here.

The Marine Mammal Center
Marin Headlands
2000 Bunker Road
Fort Cronkhite
Sausalito, CA 94965
Main Line: 415.289.7325

Tippi Hedren Coming to Bodega Bay

Tippi Hedren, star of the Alfred Hitchcock film classic The Birds, is coming back to Bodega Bay for a public appearance at The Tides, Saturday, July 4, 10am-5pm and Sunday, July 5, 11am-5pm.

The Birds was filmed here in Bodega Bay more than 45 years ago and according to her publicist, "Tippi Hedren has always loved to return to this beautiful location where she filmed this, her first motion picture. There is a great sense of nostalgia for her, and she loves meeting the fans who inevitably show up to meet her. She has appeared at The Tides Wharf for several years now and usually around the July 4th weekend."

Tippi is appearing to raise funds for her animal foundation Shambala Preserve where she is den mother to over 70 big cats. She has been caring for abused, abandoned, and unwanted big cats for some 30 years, and as she says, she loves these animals, “more than her next breath." She needs to raise almost $75,000 a month, so everything she does, she does to benefit the cats of Shambala.


To raise the funds, there is a charge of $25.00 for an autograph on whichever of the 8x10 photos a fan would like to purchase. If you'd like to have your photo taken with Ms. Hedren, there is a charge of $15.00.

You can read more about the filming of The Birds in Bodega Bay here.

The Tides
800 Coast Highway One
Bodega Bay, California 94923
(800) 541-7788


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News from Gourmet Au Bay in Bodega Bay

Gourmet Au Bay is a fabulous wine bar, bottle shop and gift store here in Bodega Bay. The wine bar features their World Famous Wine Surfing on the deck overlooking stunning views of Bodega Harbor, and the bottle shop has over 200 award-winning California wines for sale. I wrote about this local gem in further detail here.

Their gift boutique area includes wine barrel home decor, gourmet gadgets, fine glassware, candles, international music and wall art. They’re also now carrying BodegaBayLife.com photo greeting cards!

That’s right, we created greeting cards from some of my favorite local photos in our blog posts. My husband is a professional photographer and he shoots most of the photos for me. We’ve had a few inquiries about them, one thing led to another and you can now find an assortment for sale at Gourmet Au Bay! They carry several lines of beautiful cards from local artists, ours say BodegaBayLife.com on the back.

Gourmet Au Bay offers live acoustic guitar music on their deck Sunday afternoons 3:00-5:00 p.m. Music genres range from folk to standards to classical. Imagine relaxing on the deck overlooking the sparkling water of Bodega Harbor, sunshine, blue skies, fresh sea breeze, sipping a glass of wine and listening to soft music. It’s another magical day in Bodega Bay!


On Sat., June 27, owners Sissy and Bob will donate 10% of all sales to the Marine Mammal Center. The Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit organization that rescues, rehabilitates and releases injured, sick and orphaned marine mammals (seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, whales and sea otters) along a 600 mile stretch of California coastline, from Mendocino County through San Luis Obispo County. They're planning a special event in Bodega Bay which I'll be writing more about later!

Gourmet Au Bay has started hosting winemaker events once a month and will feature Moshin Vineyards on July 18 and Unti Vineyards on August 22.

Sissy told me they're also planning a special evening event for Fri., July 3. Their deck will have a magnificent view of the fireworks show over the water. Stay tuned!

Gourmet Au Bay
913 Highway One in Bodega Bay - Just North of the Tides
Ph: (707) 875-9875
New hours, they're now open 7 days a week!
You must be 21 years old to enjoy the wine bar and deck.

Family Portraits at the Beach

Photo credit: Norm Levin, Natural Portraits

My good friend and PR colleague Norm Levin will be available to take family portraits here in Bodega Bay next week.

Norm is a brilliant writer who ran a very successful PR agency in Marin for 20 years or so. We worked on several projects together back in the '80s and '90s. In recent years he's been pursuing his passion for portrait photography and has built up another thriving business, Natural Portraits.

Norm and his family will be in Bodega Bay June 22-25 and he'll be available to shoot at locations such as a beach house, a coastal meadow, and of course, along the coast and the beach. He charges an incredibly reasonable $250 for a sitting which includes an 8x10 (or 8x12) and two 5x7s. The files can also be used for holiday cards.

Check out his Portraits Gallery here. What a cool souvenir to bring home from a family vacation at the coast. If you won't happen to be here next week, I believe Norm also does coastal shoots by appointment. There's probably a nominal travel fee but well worth it.

Contact: Norm Levin
norm@primeroad.com
w. 415-499-1403 c. 415-250-3189
San Rafael, CA 94903

Low Tides in Bodega Bay

We've had some unusually low tides recently, revealing an abundance of tide pool life. Over Memorial Day weekend we had a houseful of family and friends and everyone bravely woke up bright and early to catch the 5:47 a.m. low tide of -1.6. Clearly some of the creatures we found rarely see the light of day.





They're hard to see, but we found a row of crabs just beneath the sand around this rock.




I had to remind the kids not to disturb the marine life. It's okay to look but don't touch. Not that I'd want to, some of these creatures are pretty freaky-looking...



Come and see for yourself! We're expecting super-low tides again this month, -1.8 on June 23 at 6:21 a.m. and June 24 at 7:08 a.m. I heard someone say there's also an increased chance of earthquakes around that time, but I haven't found anything to substantiate it. Brace yourself just in case.

Live Music in Bodega Bay!

You can now hear live music three days a week in Bodega Bay. Yes sir, this is a happenin’ place! Bluewater Bistro just expanded their live music to two nights a week, and Gourmet Au Bay offers live music on Sunday afternoons.

Bluewater Bistro is the restaurant located in the Bodega Harbour neighborhood. Open to the public and affiliated with the popular New Links at Bodega Harbour golf course, they have gorgeous ocean views from the restaurant on the main floor. The Fireside Lounge upstairs offers even more spectacular views of Bodega Bay, Doran beach, the golf course, and sunsets over Bodega Head. They also have a deck that overlooks the pool and views south to Tomales and Pt. Reyes.

Unfortunately our camera battery died, so we had to shoot some of these images with a camera phone. Apologies for the poor quality.

The food is excellent, they call it “seaside and wine country cuisine.” On a recent visit, my husband had the Wild Coho Salmon with dried mushroom and panko crust, with garlic mashed potatoes, grilled zucchini, arugula cream sauce and grape and cucumber relish; I had the Grilled Vegetable Platter with grilled artichoke, zucchini, eggplant, red pepper and asparagus with rainbow chard, curried quinoa, balsamic syrup and caper, tomato and roasted garlic salsa; and our daughter had her favorite, the Grilled Filet Mignon with roasted fingerling potatoes, rainbow chard, grilled asparagus and artichoke bottom with red wine demi glace and sauce béarnaise. They also offer simpler fare and I often order their burger (outstanding!) or the Chicken Caesar Salad.

But back to the music. The Bluewater Bistro now offers live music on Thursday and Friday evenings. Set up in the Fireside Lounge, you can also hear it down in the restaurant. Thursday night music is 5:00-8:00 p.m. and includes martini specials. “Fireside Fridays” feature complimentary wine tasting 5:00-6:00 p.m. and music 6:00-8:00 p.m.
 Admission is free and all ages are welcome.


We recently enjoyed the lovely acoustic guitar and vocals of Ali Weiss.
She performed cover songs as well as original music.


We also had fun tasting wine selections from Firestone Vineyard
and Curtis Winery. Free wine tastings will be offered by different wineries each week.

Bluewater Bistro and Fireside Lounge
The Links at Bodega Harbour 21301 Heron Dr., Bodega Bay
Ph: (707) 875-3538

Terrapin Creek Café in Bodega Bay One of Wine Country’s Best

PHOTO: Terrapin Creek Café chef/owners Liya Lin and Andrew Truong, by JEFF KAN LEE / Press Democrat

Today the Press Democrat proclaimed Terrapin Creek Café here in Bodega Bay to be one of the best restaurants in the entire Wine Country.

I'm thrilled for owners Liya Lin and Andrew Truong, but I’m not at all surprised. We’ve enjoyed extraordinary meals there and in fact I wrote about a winemakers dinner we attended in March with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend in this blog.

Here’s some of what the Press Democrat said in their review, “From the first dish of the evening through the last, there was a growing realization at our table that the inestimable quality of this food was no fluke. Against all odds, this little storefront restaurant, in the space that was once the Seaweed Café, perched on a hillside above the Bodega harbor marina, has pulled off a culinary coup. In a Wine Country stuffed with world-renowned restaurants, it is, in a quiet and unassuming way, among the best.

“Take a bow, chef-owners Liya Lin and Andrew Truong. This young couple learned their craft well at world-class restaurants in San Francisco like Hiro Sone’s Ame and Michael Mina’s eponymous temple of good taste in the Westin St. Francis Hotel. Although the Terrapin is not swank like Ame or Mina’s, it’s easy to see how Ame’s delicate touch with Asian ideas and Mina’s deft way with comforting foods like house-made fettucini have come together at the Terrapin.”

I have a wonderful group of girlfriends from our old neighborhood in Petaluma and we still get together for lunch every month or so. One of them saw the review today and immediately suggested that we all meet at Terrapin Creek next time. Sounds like a perfect idea to me!

Terrapin Creek Café is located in the Blue Whaleship Shopping Center, 1580 East Shore Rd. right off Hwy. 1, in Bodega Bay. Phone 707.875.2700.

Hours
Lunch: Thursday thru Sunday, 11am to 2:30pm
Dinner: Thursday thru Sunday, 4:30pm to 9pm


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