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This past week, my husband and I went on a boat "safari" in Elkhorn Slough, a 7-mile-long tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay in California. The Slough is California's second largest estuary and the United States' first estuarine sanctuary. The trip was organized by the Nature Conservancy which has played a significant role in purchasing and protecting this critical habitat. One of the animals that has benefitted most from this protection is the endangered Southern or California Sea Otter, the smallest of North America's marine mammals. The historic population of California sea otters was estimated at 16,000 before the fur trade decimated the population, leading to their assumed extinction. Today's population of California sea otters are the descendants of a single colony of about 50 sea otters. On our outing, we were told there are about 150-200 Seat Otters living in Elkhorn Slough which provides protected waters for foraging. It is estimated that this is about 10% of the Sea Otter population currently living on the California coast.
Although we went out mid-day on our safari - and the lighting was predictably difficult - we did get a few good opportunities to photograph Sea Otters. Below are two images I took. One shows a pup hitching a ride on its mother's stomach - not a bad way to travel!!
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Actually it was the Packard people that were instrumental with this area and so many others in California. They would buy the land and then organizations would have time to raise the funds to buy it from the Packard with no upcharge. Clint Eastwood did something similar at the mouth of the Carmel River but he sold it for double what he paid for it.
A problem I have with the Nature Conservancy is that a lot of the land they bought around the slough is now covered with strawberry fields that use a tremendous amount of ground water and fumigate the fields instead of crop rotation and great tons of plastic waste from the sheeting that is used.
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Actually it was the Packard people that were instrumental with this area and so many others in California. They would buy the land and then organizations would have time to raise the funds to buy it from the Packard with no upcharge. Clint Eastwood did something similar at the mouth of the Carmel River but he sold it for double what he paid for it.
A problem I have with the Nature Conservancy is that a lot of the land they bought around the slough is now covered with strawberry fields that use a tremendous amount of ground water and fumigate the fields instead of crop rotation and great tons of plastic waste from the sheeting that is used.
The Packard family and foundation have played a critical role in preserving and protecting land along California's coastline. TNC no longer owns property at the Slough. In 1971 TNC purchased the first wetlands there for conservation. Working with public and private partners, wetland and upland areas were acquired leading to the designation of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in 1979. In 2012, TNC transferred ownership of the majority of its Elkhorn Slough land holdings to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation for continued management.
TNC continues to partner with Elkhorn Slough Foundation and other partners including California Department of Fish and Game and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These combined efforts have conserved more than 6,000 acres of key properties in the Elkhorn watershed. Besides scientific studies, TNC is also working with the Foundation and Caltrans on coastal resilience to help maintain and restore wetlands near highway one to protect biodiversity but also the main transportation route/highway. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation's land holding do include some active farmland with extensive plans in place to prevent erosion, run off, protect water quality, etc. TNC and other organizations have recently purchased a 263-acre farm along the mouth of the Pajaro River. They plan for a large portion of this property to remain under agricultural use to support local jobs. But nearly a third of the land has poor farming soil and will be restored to native wetlands. TNC will lead on the restoration work. Restoring this area could also provide benefits for neighboring Elkhorn Slough. They will also use woodchip bioreactors and treatment of wetlands to remove nitrates, nutrients and pollutants from agricultural drainage and address algal blooms and other water-quality issues. Finding a balance between protecting habitat and local economies remains a challenging and sensitive problem.
