In an unusual spate of gray whale deaths, yet another animal has been found washed up around the San Francisco Bay, this time at Muir Beach on Thursday morning.April marks the start of gray whales' northern migration, and so finding dead whales on the shores of the Bay is not unheard of, but four in nine days is an anomaly."It's concerning," says Giancarlo Rulli of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. "The fact that we've responded to four dead gray whales ... is concerning."The first was a 41-foot adult female gray whale that alarmed beachgoers That animal was towed to Angel Island for a...…In an unusual spate of gray whale deaths, yet another animal has been found washed up around the San Francisco Bay, this time at Muir Beach on Thursday morning.April marks the start of gray whales' northern migration, and so finding dead whales on the shores of the Bay is not unheard of, but four in nine days is an anomaly."It's concerning," says Giancarlo Rulli of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. "The fact that we've responded to four dead gray whales ... is concerning."The first was a 41-foot adult female gray whale that alarmed beachgoers That animal was towed to Angel Island for a...WW…

Now nearly 1,000 miles from his brothers and sisters in Mount Hood, OR-93, the gray wolf who has made an unprecedented journey south, is nearing the California sand.Wolves have not been seen on the Central Coast since the 1800s — another historic milestone set by the wandering gray wolf on an odyssey that's gripped naturalists, wolf-lovers and wildlife agencies for two months now.Since on OR-93's collar signal pinging only 100 miles south of the Bay Area in San Benito County, the 2-year-old male wolf did not venture to San Francisco but has instead headed southwest through Monterey County...…Now nearly 1,000 miles from his brothers and sisters in Mount Hood, OR-93, the gray wolf who has made an unprecedented journey south, is nearing the California sand.Wolves have not been seen on the Central Coast since the 1800s — another historic milestone set by the wandering gray wolf on an odyssey that's gripped naturalists, wolf-lovers and wildlife agencies for two months now.Since on OR-93's collar signal pinging only 100 miles south of the Bay Area in San Benito County, the 2-year-old male wolf did not venture to San Francisco but has instead headed southwest through Monterey County...WW…

Tule elk have had a long, hard history of survival in California.The subspecies of the elk, native to California, once roamed the state in the hundreds of thousands, but uncontrolled hunting and human settlement in the 19th century nearly wiped them out, with numbers dwindling to less that 30 in the 1870s.That last small herd in Bakersfield was saved by an elk-loving rancher named Henry Miller, and each of the 5,700 tule elk in California today are derived from that herd.More recently the animal has had to contend with the escalating threat of drought and wildfires drying up their...…Tule elk have had a long, hard history of survival in California.The subspecies of the elk, native to California, once roamed the state in the hundreds of thousands, but uncontrolled hunting and human settlement in the 19th century nearly wiped them out, with numbers dwindling to less that 30 in the 1870s.That last small herd in Bakersfield was saved by an elk-loving rancher named Henry Miller, and each of the 5,700 tule elk in California today are derived from that herd.More recently the animal has had to contend with the escalating threat of drought and wildfires drying up their...WW…

'Super-pod,' 'mega-pod' or a 'dolphin stampede,' whatever you want to call it, the sight of 1,000 dolphins swimming alongside you is a rare and mesmerizing spectacle.Tourists on a charter boat off Dana Point in Orange County were treated to that very sight for four hours last week, and the footage released of the marvel is breathtaking."They are so graceful even in the frenzied behavior and we are so amazed to see them right of our coast,” the Dana Point Whale Watching group channel wrote alongside the video.The group also takes credit for naming the phenomenon, adding, “This behavior is...…'Super-pod,' 'mega-pod' or a 'dolphin stampede,' whatever you want to call it, the sight of 1,000 dolphins swimming alongside you is a rare and mesmerizing spectacle.Tourists on a charter boat off Dana Point in Orange County were treated to that very sight for four hours last week, and the footage released of the marvel is breathtaking."They are so graceful even in the frenzied behavior and we are so amazed to see them right of our coast,” the Dana Point Whale Watching group channel wrote alongside the video.The group also takes credit for naming the phenomenon, adding, “This behavior is...WW…

The disembodied demonic eye watched over turbulent, changing lands. It was said that few could endure its terrible, omnipotent gaze. When the digitized Eye of Sauron from atop the Salesforce Tower on Halloween 2018 some people thought it was cool, but the joke always struck me as too close to the bone.When you’ve built a corporate monolith that forever changes how the city looks and feels, in the name of big tech, are you allowed to be in on the joke? A joke about an evil soulless monstrosity sucking the life out of all those in its viewshed?It felt like a dirty wink from the tech giant to...…The disembodied demonic eye watched over turbulent, changing lands. It was said that few could endure its terrible, omnipotent gaze. When the digitized Eye of Sauron from atop the Salesforce Tower on Halloween 2018 some people thought it was cool, but the joke always struck me as too close to the bone.When you’ve built a corporate monolith that forever changes how the city looks and feels, in the name of big tech, are you allowed to be in on the joke? A joke about an evil soulless monstrosity sucking the life out of all those in its viewshed?It felt like a dirty wink from the tech giant to...WW…

The disembodied demonic eye watched over turbulent, changing lands. It was said that few could endure its terrible, omnipotent gaze. When the digitized Eye of Sauron from atop the Salesforce Tower on Halloween 2018 some people thought it was cool, but the joke always struck me as too close to the bone.When you’ve built a corporate monolith that forever changes how the city looks and feels, in the name of big tech, are you allowed to be in on the joke? A joke about an evil soulless monstrosity sucking the life out of all those in its viewshed?It felt like a dirty wink from the tech giant to...…The disembodied demonic eye watched over turbulent, changing lands. It was said that few could endure its terrible, omnipotent gaze. When the digitized Eye of Sauron from atop the Salesforce Tower on Halloween 2018 some people thought it was cool, but the joke always struck me as too close to the bone.When you’ve built a corporate monolith that forever changes how the city looks and feels, in the name of big tech, are you allowed to be in on the joke? A joke about an evil soulless monstrosity sucking the life out of all those in its viewshed?It felt like a dirty wink from the tech giant to...WW…

Oakland California Highway Patrol introduced the world to a pigment-free procyon named Timmy on Friday.The albino raccoon is reportedly living on the Bay Bridge, and by the looks of the video shared on CHP's Instagram, he's a friendly beast."Meet Timmy. Timmy is a rare albino raccoon who lives off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge," the agency commented alongside the video. "Timmy was first discovered by one of our Oakland Graveyard Officers about a year ago. We are unsure why Timmy is so friendly, but one thing is for sure, he’s always watching our six."The footage shows Timmy living...…Oakland California Highway Patrol introduced the world to a pigment-free procyon named Timmy on Friday.The albino raccoon is reportedly living on the Bay Bridge, and by the looks of the video shared on CHP's Instagram, he's a friendly beast."Meet Timmy. Timmy is a rare albino raccoon who lives off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge," the agency commented alongside the video. "Timmy was first discovered by one of our Oakland Graveyard Officers about a year ago. We are unsure why Timmy is so friendly, but one thing is for sure, he’s always watching our six."The footage shows Timmy living...WW…

From the moonlit foggy film noirs of the 1940s to the sordid crime thrillers of the '70s, to the Golden Gate Bridge-destroying blockbusters of the 2010s, San Francisco's hills have long been a worthy backdrop for Hollywood directors.Outside of LA and New York, no American city may be a more popular setting in film, and no San Francisco neighborhood is more frequently seen in cinema than North Beach.Unlike many S.F. neighborhoods, North Beach really hasn't changed its look in 50 years or more — and those Italian cafes, white churches and narrow hills bisected by Columbus Avenue can be...…From the moonlit foggy film noirs of the 1940s to the sordid crime thrillers of the '70s, to the Golden Gate Bridge-destroying blockbusters of the 2010s, San Francisco's hills have long been a worthy backdrop for Hollywood directors.Outside of LA and New York, no American city may be a more popular setting in film, and no San Francisco neighborhood is more frequently seen in cinema than North Beach.Unlike many S.F. neighborhoods, North Beach really hasn't changed its look in 50 years or more — and those Italian cafes, white churches and narrow hills bisected by Columbus Avenue can be...WW…

Last week Cetacea stans around the bay were excited to witness something that may have never happened before — a humpback The phenomenon was was the earliest ever sighting of humpbacks in the bay.The 50-foot mammal was seen, photographed and tracked around Sausalito and Tiburon all week by whale watchers, including Bill Keener of the Marine Mammal Center, who watched the new visitor feeding itself and some bird friends."I saw it in a massive feeding flock of birds — gulls and cormorants — feeding on anchovy," Keener told SFGATE, " The birds were picking the fish off the water as the whale...…Last week Cetacea stans around the bay were excited to witness something that may have never happened before — a humpback The phenomenon was was the earliest ever sighting of humpbacks in the bay.The 50-foot mammal was seen, photographed and tracked around Sausalito and Tiburon all week by whale watchers, including Bill Keener of the Marine Mammal Center, who watched the new visitor feeding itself and some bird friends."I saw it in a massive feeding flock of birds — gulls and cormorants — feeding on anchovy," Keener told SFGATE, " The birds were picking the fish off the water as the whale...WW…

The brown bear thought he'd struck gold: an open door, an empty kitchen and a fridge stocked with food.The shaggy burglar took his time, even stopping for a drink from a fancy water feature on his stroll into the Pasadena home.Little did he know what awaited him: The wrath of Mei Mei and Squirt.The two tiny terriers rose to the moment as if their lives, and kibble, depended on it.First Mei Mei and then Squirt slid their little furry souls across the kitchen tiles, launching themselves up the garden steps, bombarding the beast with barks until he fled. The young brown bear was so shaken by...…The brown bear thought he'd struck gold: an open door, an empty kitchen and a fridge stocked with food.The shaggy burglar took his time, even stopping for a drink from a fancy water feature on his stroll into the Pasadena home.Little did he know what awaited him: The wrath of Mei Mei and Squirt.The two tiny terriers rose to the moment as if their lives, and kibble, depended on it.First Mei Mei and then Squirt slid their little furry souls across the kitchen tiles, launching themselves up the garden steps, bombarding the beast with barks until he fled. The young brown bear was so shaken by...WW…