THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY ESTUARY In 1769, a squad of Spanish soldiers stumbled upon a vast bay surrounded by marshland teeming with life. This bay and inland WILDLIFE ETHICS delta, which in those days covered 500 square miles of open water and another 850 square miles of marsh wetlands, eventually came to be called the San Francisco Bay Estuary. Early explorers described Pay Attention to Behavior. Paddle at a Constant Speed. Plan Your Trip to Avoid Sensitive Habitat. whales and sea otters playing at the bay’s surface, huge salmon and sturgeon cruising beneath, oysters and mussels blanketing the bottom, and sky-darkening flocks of ducks, geese and shorebirds overhead. Pay attention to signs that wildlife are Avoid paddling directly at wildlife. When Avoid narrow sloughs, seal haul-outs, and being disturbed, such as moving away, passing, maintain constant direction and other areas where you know sensitive As the population of the Bay Area grew, much of this historic abundance was diminished by habitat loss, overexploitation, and pollution. Alongside this restoration has been a rediscovery of the Bay as a place for recreation. Today, the growing observing you, and fidgeting. If you notice speed, and avoid sudden stops or changes. species occur. Only land in designated areas these behaviors you are too close and and respect seasonal closures and wildlife Over 90 percent of the historic marshes that surrounded the San Francisco Bay and its tributaries were diked or filled for agriculture, San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail and over 350 miles of San Francisco Bay Trail connect should quietly back away. buffer distances. industry, and housing for generations of residents and migrants to the Bay Area. Once plentiful species, like the Ridgway’s rail and communities to iconic waterfronts and an expanding network of parks, beaches, and steelhead trout, became threatened with extinction. By the early 1960s, the Bay was choked with pollution and citizens had access to open spaces, including one of the nation’s largest urban wildlife refuges. only a few miles of Bay shoreline. So get out there and explore, learn, and do your part to protect the Bay. Stormwater runoff is the single largest source of Bay pollution In the past few decades, thanks to the vision and hard work of passionate citizens, thousands of acres of shoreline have been protected and it is one of the most visible environmental problems plaguing the Bay Area. and thousands more are being actively restored to tidal wetlands. Despite a continually growing population, progress has been made to In most Bay Area cities, trash in our streets flows directly into curbside storm drains improve water quality, protect and expand habitat, and to make shorelines more resilient to sea level rise. For the first time in decades, and out into San Francisco Bay, untreated. Plastic and Styrofoam, particularly bags, bottles, and species like harbor porpoises and whales are returning to the Bay.Bay. CREEKS & RIVERS cigarette butts, comprise most of our region’s trash. Every year, marine wildlife like harbor seals, sea birds, and turtles, are killed when they eat or are entangled in trash. The San Francisco Bay watershed begins in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and ends at the Golden Gate. Save the Bay! The best way to solve our region’s trash crisis is by reducing trash at the Connecting these two is a vast network of creeks, rivers, and wetlands. While providing wildlife habitat source—a responsibility that we all share. Small actions, like using reusable bags and coffee and fantastic places to recreate, these waterways and open lands also provide important ecosystem mugs, can make a big difference. Incorporating “Bay Smart” solutions into our communities, services that include filtering pollutants, reducing flood hazards, sequestering carbon, and recharging such as greening urban areas with street trees, rain gardens, and trash capture devices, is also critical for our Bay to thrive. groundwater supplies. Creeks and rivers form corridors that many species rely on to migrate between upland habitats and the Bay, including river otters and endangered steelhead trout. Restoring creeks and rivers to their natural form and function supports SHORELINE & OPEN BAYBAY threatened species and will increase the resilience of our region to climate change. The beautifulbeautiful shorelineshoreline andand openopen water of the San FranciscoFrancisco Bay ggivesives the Bay Area itsits iconiciconic identity,identity, Go Explore! Suisun Bay lies just below the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta. contrcontributingibuting to the qualiqualityty of llifeife for over 7.5 mmillionillion resresidentsidents and drawingdrawing visitorsvisitors from all over the world. Before it was diked and drained, the fresh waters of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Mokelumne, and But the BayBay is more than justjust a scenic backdrop - below the surface, waters nourish diverse habitats Cosumnes rivers collected and moved downstream through a complex array of channels into the San Francisco Bay. includingincluding eelgrass,eelgrass, mudflats,mudflats, and oyster reefs.reefs. TheseThese habitats,habitats, sustainedsustained byby nutrientsnutrients from marinemarine and Today, the Delta, with its rich farmland, is freshwater systems, create a richrich environmentenvironment criticalcritical to a widewide varietyvariety of speciesspecies for feeding,feeding, shelter, and the engineered junction of one of the reproduction. Harbor seals, cormorants, leopard sharks, and Chinook salmon, alongalong with overover 380 speciesspecies largest plumbing systems, where of fish and wildlife,wildlife, livelive in or pass through this open water habitat during their life cycles.cycles. much of the system’s fresh water is diverted to supply TheThe San Francisco Bay Estuary attracts over a millionmillion TThehe daily turn of the tides has a profound ininfluencefluence on the California’s population centers shorebirdsshorebirds every year — more thanthan any otherother wetlandwetland areaarea in SanSan Francisco Bay. Much ofof the Bay is less than 15 feetfeet deep,deep, and Central Valley California.California. In addition to providingproviding year-roundyear-round habitat to soso as the tide recedes vast mudflatsmudflats are exposed.exposed. These Agriculture. species like the black-necked stilt and the American avocet,avocet, mudflatsmudflats support a complex theh EstuaryEstuary is an important winter stopover forfor migratorymigratory ecosecosystemystem ooff crabs, clams, shorebirds like sandpipers,sandpipers, terns, and plovers.plovers. Because worms andand other migratorymigratory birdsbirds oftenoften travel thousands ofof miles, being able to invertebrates.invertebrates. When feedfeed and regain energyenergy without disturbance is critical to theirtheir exexposedposed at low tides, health as theythey make their wawayy along the PacificPacific Flyway.Flyway. these mudflatmudflat organismsorganisms provide a SaveSave the Bay! LargeLarge groupsgroups of floatingfloating birds, known as richrich buffetbuffet forfor birdsbirds “rafts”, are particularly vulnerable to disturbance byby andand terrestrial boaters. RafRaftsts provideprovide birds withwith protectionprotection fromfrom predatorspredators species.species. Similarly,Similarly, MARSHESMARSHES & SLOUGHSSLOUGHS andand allows them to feed and replenish their energy for the when the titidede turns rest of the migration.migration. DisturbingDisturbing thesethese exhausted, aandnd these arareaseas Where rivers meet ocean tides, life thrives. In the San Francisco Bay,Bay, these transition zones famishedfamished birds depletes their energy and bbecomeecome submergedsubmerged of saltsaltyy and fresh water are home to tidal marshes that harbor an abundance of species. may affectaffect their survival. If you nonoticetice again,again, aquatic hunters like rafting birds changing theitheirr Established marshes are characterized bbyy snaking channels and sloughs winding bat raysrays and leopard sharks move behavior,behavior, you are too inin to feed.feed. through habitat dominated byb ppacificacific cordgrass and pickleweed – plants close!close! speciallyspecially adapted to survive in saltysalty water. Marshes are rich habitats that provide Safety First!First! BeforeBefore every launch, alwaysalways knowknow what the critical winter feeding grounds foforr over a mmillionillion migramigratorytory bbirds,irds, a nursery for young tidestides are doingdoing and how they mmightight affect your abilityability to fishfish and crabs, and a full-time home for manymany others. return to shore. Plan your trtripip based on favorable ttide,ide, current, and weather predictions.predictions. If a paddlingpaddling triptrip iiss Throughout the Bay, most of the historic tidal marshlands have been filled in or isolated from the Bay’s poorly plannplanned,ed, youyou can get caughtcaught fifightingghting strongstrong waterswaters byb levees and converted for industry, farms, or salt production. Through habitathabitat restoration,restoration, many ofof currentscurrents or stuck duringduring low tidetide inin mudflats these diked baylandsbaylands are being returned to the tides. Wetlands reborn from levee breaches, in managed far frfromom a launchlaunch ssite.ite. ponds and marshes that have been disconnected from the tides, have shown speedyspeedy recoveryrecovery rates. These recovering wetlands provide important habitat for wildlife and ideal opportunities for explorationexplorationo byby kayak,kayak, canoe, or paddleboard.paddleboard. Wetlands