Abandoned Boat Removed From Bodega Bay Harbor

An abandoned sailboat that had become something of a tourist attraction was finally removed from Bodega Bay harbor this week.

“Hapi” had been stuck at a tilt in the mudflats since fall 2007, when her owner fell behind in mooring fees at nearby Spud Point Marina and was evicted. The owner tried to move the boat, but the Coast Guard intercepted him and said the boat was not seaworthy. He then anchored it in the channel, and a storm blew it onto the tidelands.

The boat was too badly damaged to save. The keel, which has a ferroconcrete hull, became firmly lodged in the mud; the sail was shredded and flapping in the wind.

Hapi became a great conversation starter and in fact, our local wine bar Gourmet au Bay produced a private wine label in her honor called Tilted Cellars. We enjoyed kayaking around Hapi, people told tales of her being haunted, or a pirate ship.

But while some found the abandoned boat charming, others said it was a hazard that should be removed. A spokesman from Sonoma County said “In reality they blow around, they can be come potential hazards to navigation, they leak toxics into the water, kids go out and play on them, they can get hurt."

This week, according to a press release, Hapi was among five abandoned commercial vessels that state and local agencies removed from the Bodega Bay area. The coordinated effort involved the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Marine Services Unit, and the Department of Fish and Game.

They said, “Abandoned and derelict vessels along California’s coastal and inland waterways are a threat to public health and safety and the environment. They can harm water quality due to the hazardous pollutants they contain, including oil, PCBs, antifreeze, gasoline, diesel, asbestos, paints, and sewage. As vessels deteriorate, they become sources of debris that wash onto the shore or remain a water hazard. In addition, vessels are typically abandoned on or very near shorelines where they present ‘attractive nuisances’ for additional dumping from the shore.

“The five commercial vessels--the Elizabeth Ann, Ocean Star, Loretta G, Bonnie, and Hapi--were designated for removal because they have no identifiable responsible parties and they pose environmental and navigational hazards to the public. Measures have been taken to prevent a release of hazardous materials during the salvage operations. As a precaution, spill cleanup equipment has been pre-deployed in the event of a release. Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response is overseeing operations to ensure there are no impacts to state waters.

“Funding for this project was provided through CalRecycle’s Solid Waste Disposal and Co-disposal Site Cleanup Program. CalRecycle, which manages the project on-site, contracted with Pacific States Environmental to remove, dismantle, and recycle or dispose of non-hazardous solid waste and hazardous materials from the vessels.”

Surprisingly, no locals seem to have seen or heard a thing during the removal process. Knowing it was controversial, did they quietly haul Hapi out in the black of night? If you saw anything, or took photos or video, please share in the comments section!

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Whale Photos from New Bodega Bay Vet

I love it when blog readers share their wildlife photos with me, and I recently received some whale shots from Dr. Michael Trapani, veterinary practitioner & surgeon. After chatting back and forth, I found out that he is opening a new veterinary hospital here in Bodega Bay! I'm so excited, BB can really use a vet. He's setting up his full service pet hospital in the old laundromat, in the Pelican Plaza shopping center, and hopes to be open by March 1, 2011.

I read more about him on his Facebook page "Bodega Bay Veterinary Hospital." Look through their photos, you'll love the story about the Pied-Billed Grebe that he rescued at Salmon Creek Beach. And check out the video of the deer and kitten---sooo cute!

But back to the whale photos. As you may have heard, it's been a banner year for whale watching here along the Sonoma coast due to an unusually high amount of krill in the water. Here are some images Dr. Trapani took from Bodega Head this fall. He saw four California Grey Whales that day, feeding in the near shore channel northwest of Bodega Rock.






This whale seemed to pay absolutely no attention when fishing boats came through the channel. He'd been underwater when the New Sea Angler approached, then surfaced within ten yards of the craft, which came to a dead stop. The whale took his time moving away, still feeding. (This picture has been adjusted to bring out boat details.)



Whale watching season out here is traditionally January through May, when thousands of California Gray Whales pass right by Bodega Head. I wrote a little about it here. Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods are looking for docents to help out every weekend for the five months to help the public spot the whales and to answer questions about them. For more information, please contact Ruby Herrick, Programs Manager, at rherrick@mcn.org or (707) 869-9177 ext. 1# or visit Stewards of the Redwood Coast.

Thankful for Bodega Bay Wildlife

This is part 3 in a series of my conversations with former Bodega resident Merritt Clifton. He’s now editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE magazine, and was surprised by the abundant wildlife photos featured thoughout BodegaBayLife.com. Here are his words:

"Your world is unimaginably different from that of the rural working poor community that I remember -- no one there then could ever have imagined it.

"But along with the affluence has come recovery of the local wildlife population, whose habitat was destroyed by logging, grazing, and hunting during the 20th century.

"Your site offers many wonderful photos of wildlife we never saw. Turkey vultures & sheep, yes. We had those. We sometimes saw deer, though they were mostly represented by heads on the walls of the Casino bar & grill in Bodega and The Tides, which was then the only restaurant in Bodega Bay. No one had seen a bobcat in 30 years.

"Our world would have been much richer with the wildlife. Instead, what I had was a 1900 edition of True Bear Stories, by Joaquin Miller, describing the wildlife that used to be there & was no more, even then.

"Looks as if you have the critters again, all except the extinct California golden bear. The last one, Monarch, was captured and ended his life in the original San Francisco Zoo, in Golden Gate Park, before the present zoo was built. Miller covered the capture as a newspaper correspondent, & included the story of the bear's subsequent life in his book."

This was all news to me and it makes me even more grateful for the abundant wildlife here on the coast today. And there's more good news--Merritt will dig this recent article in the Press Democrat,
Birds of Prey Thrive at Jenner Headlands.

Here are a couple of our more recent bobcat photos. Maybe we can get some raptor shots soon...

Behind the Scenes of "The Birds" in Bodega

I recently spoke with former Bodega resident Merritt Clifton, editor of ANIMAL PEOPLE magazine, and he had some fascinating stories to share about his time growing up in this area. I roared with laughter over his tales about being an extra in the famous Hitchcock movie, "The Birds." Merritt’s a gifted writer so I’m posting everything in his own words. Take it away Merritt:

I started school at Potter School in Bodega in 1958, and attended it most of the time until it was closed & moved temporarily into the fire hall at the beginning of 1962.

My father was the last principal of Potter School. My younger brother & I were among the four Potter students who were selected to be extras in The Birds.

The meeting hall that formed the top floor of the schoolhouse was converted into the interior of the house where the bird attacks were supposed to have occurred. The exterior shell of the house was set up on the baseball diamond beside Potter School.

The running scenes were filmed at Bodega Bay. The film was edited so as to move Potter School from Bodega to the location of the much less picturesque Grange Hall in Bodega Bay.

Although I was actually in only the classroom and running scenes, I was on the set for the filming of almost every scene involving bird attacks--which was accomplished in just four days of actual shooting time. (The set-up took much longer.)


Suzanne Pleshette was a natural teacher, off set as well as on, and spent a lot of time with the extras just because she liked children. She had an authoritative presence, but in a quite warm & gentle way.


Tippi Hedren was a constantly frightened nervous wreck--and the least visibly interested in animals, of anyone involved, other than Rod Taylor, who was terribly ill and spent most of the time when on the set in his chair, exhausted and apparently in pain. Some of the crew might have played mean tricks on Tippi, as she was not well-liked. Hitchcock and Pleshette were looking out for her, though Hitchcock also scolded her at times, more harshly than he ever scolded anyone else. Once she stuck her hand in a bird cage, was nipped by one of the normally quite well-behaved mynahs, and Hitchcock went ballistic.

The only live birds used by deliberate intent were several very highly trained mynahs, who were quite carefully handled at all times. Alfred Hitchcock was extremely strict about what was done with them. Presumably there was an American Humane Association set rep present, but even if there wasn't, neither Hitchcock nor Suzanne Pleshette would have put up with any animal abuse.


Hitchcock was very pro-animal anyway, liked to have the young extras following him around, and took many opportunities to explain things, including his intention of improving human treatment of birds. He asked if any of us had BB guns (none did), and vigorously denounced boys who shot birds with BB guns for fun.

Most of the birds used were:

a) Mechanical crows, dozens of them, that clipped to a person's clothing or hair like a bow tie.

b) Papier mache birds -- by the hundreds. The crew left some behind. My father gathered some of them up for souvenirs, and still has them.

c) Masonite silhouettes. There were hundreds of these, too. They were still visible, nailed to fences and rooftops, until many years later. They disappeared, I believe, during the hippie influx into the region of 1968-1973.

d) Wild volunteers. Birds frequently visited Potter School anyway, including gulls from Bodega Bay and all sorts of birds who fed along the banks of nearby Salmon Creek, but the bogus birds had the effect of decoys, bringing thousands of additional wild birds into the vicinity to see what was going on.

At that point, I had attended Potter School for three years, but had never before seen so many wild birds, there or anywhere. Hitchcock kept interrupting his own staged scenes to make sure the wild birds were captured on camera.

The other Potter school children who were in The Birds were my younger brother Ted Clifton; Debby Chenowyth, a gorgeous blonde whose father owned the sawmill just northeast of Bodega, & had two glamorous older sisters; and Vickie Lynn Nichols, a very hefty girl whose younger brother, Jerry Wayne Nichols, inherited & for some years operated the family dairy farm just west of Bodega, about halfway between Potter School and the Watson Valley schoolhouse.

There are only a couple of kids I can identify: me, twice; my brother Ted, who is the little guy at the extreme left of the classroom photo; and Vicky Lynn Nichols, who is running more or less beside me.




The running scenes were organized in two different ways: with all the Hollywood kids in front, and with all the Hollywood kids in back. Us locals were just to fill out the crowd.

The Hollywood kids were all an obnoxiously bratty lot, in my recollection. Bodega was a very warm, friendly little place where everyone knew everyone else & almost everyone was related, at least by marriage, so at first we were very taken aback by the sheer nastiness we encounted from the Hollywood kids. Even Debby, to them, was trash, several socio-economic levels below them, & they did not let her forget it.

But they were playing ball in our park. What the Hollywood kids learned in a hurry was that while they were all cut-throat rivals of each other for parts & hopes of future stardom, we were a team, including all the kids who were not part of the filming. Mess with one Bodega kid & you were messing with all.

Some of the Hollywood kids also may have seen that Alfred Hitchcock & Suzanne Pleshette, in particular, were warming up to us in a way that they didn't with the Hollywood brats.


Meanwhile back at the ranch -- well, in front of the Mantua Ranch, which included the hillside behind the school in this scene, that's me in front and my brother Ted right behind me, almost dead center in this scene, with Veronica Cartwright to the left, Morgan Brittany in front of me, and Tippi Hedren to the right, with another lad directly beside me. I believe the third girl from the left in the row of five, ending with Suzanne Pleshette, was Debbie Chenowyth. The girl directly beside Suzanne Pleshette may be Vicky Lynn Nichols. I can't identify the four blurred kids in front, except that they were all from Hollywood.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series. Stay tuned for my next post in which Merritt recounts how they threw one of the Hollywood child stars into the creek behind Potter Schoolhouse!

New Bodega Bay Sign

We have a newly refurbished sign at the south entrance to Bodega Bay!

Many thanks to Shona Weir, of Business Services Unlimited for sending me this information and photos. She said local artist Jody Shipp, Local Color Gallery co-owner, cleaned and repainted it. It took her more than eight hours to complete the job, plus she paid for the paint and new bolts to rehang it. Jody made the signs at the north and south entrances to town many years ago, and plans to refurbish the north sign soon, as well. It's a little more damaged. The poles holding the sign up need to be straightened and more securely put in the ground, but Jody is willing to repair it and repaint it too.

Eric Crumley, of Pipecleaners Chimney and Fireplace, volunteered to take care of the removal, transportation and replacement of the sign for Jody. A local surfer friend named John Lowry helped Eric put the sign up.

Bodega Marine Lab

The UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab offers free docent-led tours for the public on Fridays 2:00-4:00 p.m. so I went over to check it out.

I remember visiting the lab with my Drake High School marine biology class in the 1970's but it has expanded considerably since then.

Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), perched above Horseshoe Cove on Bodega Head, is one of the oldest academic marine laboratories in the U.S. Bodega Head has been a field site for researchers and students since the 1920s. The Laboratory was founded in 1960 by UC Berkeley and the first building was completed in 1966. The second building was completed in 1977. BML was transferred to UC Davis in 1983.


Rather than re-word their story myself, I've pasted some copy from their website.

A rare combination of natural and academic assets makes BML a unique marine laboratory. The facility sits on wind-swept headlands in Sonoma County on California's north coast, where a 362-acre coastal reserve meets a state-protected marine reserve. This stretch of ocean is also one of a handful of places in the world where "upwelling," caused by a combination of geography and physics, brings nutrient-rich deep waters to the surface and nurtures a vast array of sea life. This phenomenon makes this coastline among the most biologically productive in North America.

In addition to these remarkable "living laboratories" the Bodega Marine Laboratory is equipped with sophisticated technology, an instrument and sensor network and long term data set, the Cadet Hand Library, teaching classrooms and lecture hall, wetlabs, greenhouses, Dive Training facility, seawater system and vessel fleet. BML is administered by UC Davis, one of the nation's top public universities and a leader in both the marine and life sciences.

I was fascinated to learn that their location on Bodega Head is unique because it includes a rich mix of eight protected coastal habitats to study: rocky intertidal areas, protected and exposed sandy beaches, extensive lagoon mudflats and sandflats, and tidal saltmarsh, sand dunes, coastal bluffs, coastal prairie/coastal scrub and freshwater wetlands. Plus, plant communities, soils and microclimates vary sharply over relatively small distances due to geological factors associated with the Pacific Ocean and the San Andreas Fault Zone.

The Marine Lab is located in the Bodega State Marine Reserve, a fully protected no-take reserve extending 1000 feet offshore, managed by the California Department of Fish and Game and BML. The Bodega State Marine Reserve is contiguous with NOAA's Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, providing additional research sites and opportunities.

But back to the tours, if you go over expecting something like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, you'll be disappointed. The Bodega Marine Lab is primarily an education and research facility with a few displays for the public.


They had a nice "tidal mesocosm" out front with various marine life including sea stars, bat stars, anemones, and my favorites, purple sea urchins. I asked our docent why I haven't been able to find any sea urchins in the tidepools along the Bodega Bay coast for several years, I used to see them all the time. He said he had no idea and in fact, had never visited a tidepool in the Bodega Bay area. Oh well...



I enjoyed the beautiful displays in their expansive lobby and actually learned more there than on the tour itself.








They also had two large tanks displaying local fish.




I would have liked to hear more about some of their current local studies. We were shown a lobster study in progress, although there aren't any lobsters in the Bodega Bay area at all.


We were also shown these tanks, where they're conducting an algae study.


You can read more about the Bodega Marine Lab tours here. For a more complete Bodega Bay marine life experience, I'd suggest visiting some real tidepools during low tide before or after your tour. You can see some of our tidepool photos here. Also, during the months of January-May, you can go whale watching up on Bodega Head, with knowledgeable volunteer docents answering questions and providing a wealth of educational materials. You can read more about whale watching here. Although as a side note, some people spotted whales offshore just this past week!

Have fun!

Bodega Marine Laboratory
2099 Westside Rd.
Bodega Bay, CA 94923-0247
(707) 875-2211

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Gorgeous Day at Bodega Head!

It was absolutely gorgeous in Bodega Bay yesterday! After endless days of summer fog, the sun finally broke through in the afternoon and we enjoyed some t-shirt weather.

My husband and I drove over to Bodega Head and hiked up the north trail to the Horseshoe Cove Overlook. I've never seen the trail so overgrown, maybe due to State Parks budget cuts. But it didn't matter, we just made our way gently through the tall blooming vegetation and marched up the hill. The hillsides were filled with a variety of wildflowers, there was hardly any wind, and the visibility was excellent. Here are some photos from the trail, click to enlarge.











View toward Doran Beach, U.S. Coast Guard and Bodega Harbour.

View toward downtown Bodega Bay.

From the top of the trail, you look down on Horseshoe Cove and the UC Davis Bodega Bay Marine Lab. I took their tour recently and will be writing about it soon.



Here are a couple of videos we shot up on the Head. Not very exciting, but you can kick back and get a feel for what it's like up there.

Bodega Fire Department's Big Event

The Bodega Volunteer Fire Department is holding their 30th annual Big Event on Sunday, August 15, and it looks like a lot of fun!

Located in the nearby town of Bodega (about 5 miles inland from Bodega Bay), the BVFD is an all-volunteer fire department with no paid staff and operates solely with volunteer firefighters, community support and donations.

These guys have a lot to celebrate his year, they're in the process of building a new fire station! Their current facility is nearly 60 years old and no longer meets modern requirements for equipment, storage and training. For the past 20 years, they've stored their emergency vehicles either outside or in neighboring barns away from the fire station. Firefighters must carry their safety equipment in their personal vehicles, which lengthens critical response time.

Last fall, Bodega broke ground on the new building, replaced and realigned a failing storm drain, and completed the building pad. During the winter months, they finalized the building permits and a successful USDA loan. When the sun came out in 2010, they were able to prepare the building pad for the foundation of the new station. On June 14th the prefabricated metal building arrived and after one month, the building shell was almost complete and ready for roofing and siding. They hope to get the building enclosed and functional by the end of summer, and will continue fundraising to complete the interior. The final new facility will include a 100% emergency standby generating capacity as well as a water storage system.

Here are some photos from Josh Perucchi, firefighter for both Bodega and Bodega Bay Fire Departments, showing the new building under construction. You can check it out for yourself at the Big Event in August!





BVFD is currently looking for donations for the "big raffle" at their Big Event. They're seeking gift certificates to anywhere or donated items. If you can help, please contact Asst. Chief Gary Watts at 8701@bodegafire.org!

Children's Swim Program in Bodega Bay

Photo credit: Shay Pickton

I just found out about an inspiring swim program here in Bodega Bay. Now in its 11th year, it's designed to teach swimming and water safety to children, and is put on jointly each summer by Bodega Bay School and Bodega Harbour Homeowners Association. Sandy Horn, wife of our famous coastal lifeguard Brit Horn, is the teacher...and she is phenomenal!

There were 52 children enrolled this year! Many of the kids' parents worked and couldn't get them to the pool, so volunteers drove them.

The students had several days of instruction in the Bodega Harbour pool, then a day down at the ocean. We happened to see them all lined up along the shore, and then bravely walking into the chilly surf together.

On the last day, they had a party with pizza, salad (made from lettuce and carrots grown in the Bodega Bay School garden), and cake. How cool is that? Many thanks to Sandy for volunteering her time, and to BHHA for the use of the pool and facilities. Not only did she give the children valuable swim skills, but also memories to last a lifetime.

Baby Seals Released in Bodega Bay!

This weekend, the Marine Mammal Center released eight rehabilitated seal pups at a beach just north of Bodega Bay. I'd like to thank Laurel Carney for these photos, video, and guest post documenting the celebration!

Since their founding in 1975, the Marine Mammal Center has rescued and treated over 15,000 sea mammals. Roughly three months ago, they took in eight abandoned baby harbor seals from various Northern California coastal areas. Each was only a few days old, young enough to still have its umbilical cord attached. They were malnourished, and a few had even developed umbilical infections. 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. They took great care not to get too friendly or treat them as pets. They prevent the pups from becoming tame by keeping contact at a minimum. That means no unnecessary handling such as cuddling or pampering, darn!





Today, Executive Director Dr. Jeff Boehm welcomed over one hundred visitors and volunteers to the coast just north of Portuguese Beach in Bodega Bay to witness the joyful release of these eight adorable harbor seals.



Keep in mind, these pups had no memories of sand, the ocean or waves. All they'd known for the past three months were swimming pools and concrete decks. Now, their entire universe was changing dramatically right before their eyes! Although hardwired for a life at sea, the adjustment is never predictable.

The first two seals that emerged from their cages clearly knew what they were supposed to do. They immediately flopped as fast as their little tummies and tails would propel them directly into the ocean. One hung around offshore for a few minutes to check on the remaining six, but I suppose the sea was a-callin', because he soon disappeared under the waves to join his brave buddy.



The remaining six harbor seal pups needed more time to get the hang of this "real world" thing.



Huddling together as a group, they shuffled and flopped towards the water. But as soon as they'd gather the courage to go for it, another wave would roll in and scatter them back up onto the beach.



Here's a video we took of the seals' journey home. I dare you not to go ga-ga over how cute the wiggle-flip-flop walk of a baby seal is. I dare ya! It's kinda long, you can see how long it takes them to get used to their new world.



Eventually, after dozens of false starts, each seal managed to dive past the breaking waves and glide safely out to sea. It was a totally uplifting, heartwarming experience. We're so grateful to the Marine Mammal Center and their many volunteers for their hard work and tireless devotion to saving the lives of these magnificent creatures.

You can read more about the Center's work and view lots more photos in a post about last year's Bodega Bay release by clicking here.

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

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