From our blogs

13 Dec 2019

Microplastics found in the snow of Sierra Nevada mountains of California

Samples of some of the microplastics researchers found in snow from the Arctic. Credit: Bergmann et al./Science Advances.

Samples of some of the microplastics researchers found in snow from the Arctic. Credit: Bergmann et al./Science Advances.

Zoë Schlanger, an environment reporter with the news website Quartz, writes:

This is the year we found microplastic in the snow.

Read on to find out more about researchers who have found microplastics in the Arctic, the Pyrenees, the Swiss Alps and even the Sierra Nevadas of California.

07 Dec 2019

World’s oceans are losing oxygen rapidly, posing a threat to marine life

Dead sardines in Redondo Beach, California. Credit: Noaki Schwartz/Associated Press

Dead sardines in Redondo Beach, California. Credit: Noaki Schwartz/Associated Press.

Kendra Pierre-Louis, a reporter on the New York Times climate team, writes in today's edition:

The world’s oceans are gasping for breath.

Read on to find out more about a new report that says oxygen levels in the world’s oceans declined by 2 percent over 50 years, threatening marine life around the planet.

04 Dec 2019

Start your 2019 holiday gift shopping with SFBWS Nature Stores

Happy Holidays!

If you are passionate about environmental awareness and nature conservation, please remember to share your values with those you love.

The Nature Stores at the Fremont Visitor Center and the Alviso Environmental Education Center are stocked with items to inspire and inform about the Refuges with a local focus.

Find pocket guides, books (including a book on Drawbridge), toys, T-shirts, hoodies, hats, and more--relevant and fun items--that you can proudly give to your family and friends this holiday season, to share your love of the Refuge.

  • Fremont Visitor Center: 11-4:30 W-F, Saturday 10am-5pm
  • Environmental Education Center: Saturday 10am-5pm
30 Nov 2019

On #GivingTuesday 2019 help us conserve and preserve the essential wildlife habitat of the San Francisco Bay

#GivingTuesday

#GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, falling on December 3, 2019 this year, has become a day to support not-for-profit organizations. We hope you will consider the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex with a donation to the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society through PayPal (or you can send a check).

The San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) Friends group, authorized by Congress to support the education, interpretation, and research activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Help us in our mission to promote public awareness and appreciation of the San Francisco Bay and its natural history, and to conserve and preserve the remaining bay lands as essential wildlife habitat.

A general donation is appreciated, or you can select these key projects: Summer Camp 2020, FWS & SFBWS Volunteer Recognition efforts, Tai Chi at Don Edwards, Habitat Restoration & Research at Ellicott Slough and Salinas River Refuges.

Your support of our education, interpretation, and research activities is more important than ever. Any amount you’re willing to donate this #GivingTuesday will be greatly appreciated! Donations may be fully tax-deductible.

Click here to support us with your charitable donation this #GivingTuesday.

28 Nov 2019

#OptOutside this Black Friday, November 29, 2019

#OptOutside - what is it and when? Conceived by REI, it is a day to experience our beautiful outdoors instead of going shopping!

In 2015, REI closed its stores on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and paid their employees to take the day off and spend it outdoors.

Each year, more and more companies and more people join REI Outside. REI asserts “#OptOutside isn’t just about Black Friday. It is a mindset. It is about choosing life outdoors. And it has become a way for people to share who they are and what we believe in.”

23 Nov 2019

Donate when you shop on Amazon this Black Friday, November 29, 2019

Black Friday is just around the corner and there are amazing deals to be found online! Support us by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3039253.

Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.

San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society Donation Form

12 Nov 2019

Decoys lure Caspian terns to breed in Don Edwards SF Bay NWR and preserve Columbia River Basin's salmon

Caspian tern chicks with a decoy adult tern at the Don Edwards SF Bay NWR. Credit Crystal Shore/USGS.

Caspian tern chicks with a decoy adult tern at the Don Edwards SF Bay NWR. Credit Crystal Shore/USGS.

Priyanka Runwal, a freelance science and environment journalist, writes in today's New York Times Science section:

If you took a short kayak trip a few years ago to tiny islands nested in former salt ponds near Silicon Valley, you would have found plastic bird decoys all over. The decoys looked like real Caspian terns. The goal of those doppelgängers was to lure terns to breed on the islands, and, in doing so, prevent endangered salmon and trout living hundreds of miles to the north from vanishing.

Read on to find out more about the effort to preserve both populations: Caspian terns, a protected migratory bird, and endangered wild salmonids of the Columbia River Basin where commercial fishing and the construction of dams over the last two centuries have contributed to the decline of wild salmonids by 95 percent.

10 Nov 2019

Tide Rising, a new quarterly newsletter from the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society

by Ceal Craig

Tide Rising: Volume 1, Issue 1, Fall 2019

Tide Rising: Volume 1, Issue 1, Fall 2019.

The San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society is happy to publish the first issue of its new, digital-only newsletter, Tide Rising: Volume 1, Issue 1, Fall 2019.

This newsletter issue is the result of a transition of ownership of the historic Tideline newsletter, published for many years jointly by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society. From now on, the Tide Rising quarterly newsletter will be published by San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society, with input from the same knowledgeable group of people who contributed in the past.

In our first newsletter, we reflect on partnerships and how important they are to us. For over 25 years, the Society has partnered with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to publish Tideline. Times have changed, and, while our commitment to the USFWS partnership remains strong, constraints have compelled us to split up the duties of communication.

02 Oct 2019

Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week (Oct 12 - 19) at Don Edwards SF Bay NWR

Come celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week this year from October 12 through October 19 at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Discover the sights, sounds and smells of nature as night descends on a twilight tour or star-gazing event on Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR. Take part in some or all of the activities listed below.

28 Sep 2019

Alabama artist Eddie LeRoy wins 2019 Federal Duck Stamp Contest

Eddie LeRoy's acrylic painting of a pair of black-bellied whistling-ducks is the winner of the 2019 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. Credit USFWS.

Eddie LeRoy's acrylic painting of a pair of black-bellied whistling-ducks is the winner of the 2019 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. Credit USFWS.

After two days of competition, Eddie LeRoy of Eufala, Alabama, emerged as the winner of the Federal Duck Stamp competition with his painting of a black-bellied whistling-duck pair. The announcement was made by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Principal Deputy Director Margaret Everson at the annual contest, held this year at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland.

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