Coastal wetlands - northern California

Coastal Wetlands Twelve novice kayakers climbed into boats bobbing on Monterey Bay's Elkhorn Slough. But before they set out, their guide asked them to explain why they had risen so early on a weekend day to paddle through a marsh.

"I'm a birder," answered one, brandishing the binoculars to prove it. But another admitted, "I don't want to be here. My husband made me come."

That second response echoes in a lot of us. When it comes to wetlands, we don't especially want to be there. Murky repositories for old mattresses--that's how we think of them.

No wonder, then, that many of the West's wetlands have been destroyed and put to "better" uses--diked for pastureland, drained for farmland, filled to hold industrial parks. Monterey Bay has lost three-quarters of its historic wetlands, California as a whole a like percentage.

Preserving these neglected lands has emerged as one of the most urgent environmental issues of the 1990s. From San Diego to Seattle, citizens and government agencies are fighting to save them. Why? If you've ever cast a line for salmon, dined on Dungeness crab, or admired Canada geese flying in v-formation, you have a wetland to thank. Without them, the West would be infinitely poorer.

The West has interior fresh-water wetlands and coastal salt-water wetlands. This article focuses on the latter. Especially in spring, they are marvelous places to visit. Venture in, and you'll likely become a converet. That's what happened to our doubtful kayaker. All it took was a glimpse of Elkhorn's riches: sandpipers skittering across mudflats, otters and avocets a great blue heron stalking fish to stab with amurderous beak.

On the following 8 pages, we help you take a closer, more appreciative look.

Biologically, coastal wetlands are among the richest areas on earth. Here, land meets water> salt water meets fresh> upland gives way to salt marsh, to mud flat, to open sea. in suhc places, where very different habitats converge, a complex mix of animal and plant life can flourish.

Our depiction of a coastal wetland is based on Elkhorn Slough, on California's Monterey Bay. Elkhorn is an estuary, whihc means that it's open to the ocean but receives fresh water on its inland end. By definition, estuaries are brackish and influenced by tides (their name comes from the Latin aestus, tide). From Washington's Nisqually Delta to California's Morro Bay, most of the West's coastal wetlands lie along estuaries.

Elkhorn Slough shares many characteristics with other wetlands of the Pacific Coast. Most contain the habitats--upland, fresh-water marsh, salt-water marsh, mud flat, open water--pictured here. Many of the bird, fish, and invertebrate species found at Elkhorn can be seen elsewhere along the Pacific Coast. But there also are differences: Tijuana Estuary, near San Diego, is home to the endangered California least tern, which does not breed here> Padilla Bay, in Washington, is thick with eelgrass, which at Elkhorn has all but vanished.

Unfortunately, Elkhorn shares an additional characteristic with most other wetlands: it has been altered by human intervention. Its once-luxuriant eelgrass beds were largely destroyed when dredging allowed stronger tides to enter the slough. Though the clapper rail we picture was once common at Elkhorn Slough, it has not been seen in recent years--a testimony to the fact that, even when given protection, coastal welands are finely balanced systems vulnerable to disruption.

The two largest, most interesting coastal wetlands in California are also the two most accessible. Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and San Francisco Bay national Wildlife Refuge both offer visitor centers, docent programs, and trails that let you explore without getting your feet wet. This month, both draw waterfowl and shorebirds in concentrations to make even a novice bird-watcher come away feeling as keen-eyed as Roger Tory Peterson.

Bring binoculars and a field guide. And try to linger long enough to see slough and baylands at both high and low tides.

Elkhorn Slough: hiking and kayaking

It lies hardly more than a few par fives from the famous fairways of the Monterey Peninsula. It's watched over by the smokestacks of a PG&E plant and sliced in two by railroad racks. But Elkhorn Slough reserve is a world unto itself: 1,400 acres of salt marsh, tidal mud flats, and open water make it one of the largest undisturbed coastal wetlands in California. Says Mark Silberstein of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, "This palce really restores your sense of wonder. You get more of a feeling of the cycles of nature here than anywhere else I know."

Elkhorn is one of 18 reserves established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as centers of estuarine research and education. (Others in the West include Tijuana Estuary, near San Diego> South Slough, Oregon> and Padilla Bay, Washington> for more on these see pages 88 and 89.) It's managed by the California Department of Fish and Game, with help from the private Elkhorn Slough Foundation.

To reach the reserve, take State Highway 1 to Moss Landing, about 20 miles northeast of Monterey. turn east on dolan Road and go 3 miles to Elkhorn Road> turn north and go 2 miles to the visitor center, at 1700 Elkhorn. The center and the reserve are open from 9 to 5 Wednesdays through Sundays> for information, call (408) 728-2822 or 728-5939.

Inside the center are exhibits on the slough's plant and animal life, and a bookstore. Pick up the paperback Elkhorn Slough, by Mark Silberstein and Eileen Campbell (Monterey Bay Aquarium Natural History Series, 1989> $8.95).

The slough trail system begins just west of the visitor center. The Long Valley Loop runs 0.8 mile, the Five Finger Loop 1.1 miles, and the South marsh Loop 2.2 miles> if you like, you can combine them. Elkhorn Slough docents lead weekend walks at 10 and 1.

Pause at the trails' start for an overview. Like most coastal wetlands, Elkhorn Slough is geologically young--formed about 15,000 years ago as sea levels rose and sediments filled a shallow arm of the Pacific, and the Salinas River and Elkhorn Creek meandered across the resulting mud flats. Coastal wetlands are created this way, as oceans and rivers rise and fall over coastal plains. Because such plains are rare along the West's relatively mountainous coast, wetlands are rare, too. That makes each one all the more vital to the animals that depend on this environment for survival.

And it's a Noah's Ark's worth of animals, as you see if you follow any trail to the slough's edge. As the tide goes out, shore-birds--godwits, dowitchers, sandpipers-- stream from the salt marsh to probe the mud flats for food. Indeed, more western sandpipers are found at Elkhorn Slough than any other place on the West Coast.