of the San Francisco Bay Region And The Coast of Northern California
by JOEL HEDGPETH
University of California Press
California Natural History Guide Series #9
1962
American Bald Eagle Breaking Through Littoral Fish Flesh Kleptoparasitized From An American Osprey On A Wild California Outer Shore
by
Robert Roy van de Hoek
December 21, 2000
Winter Solstice
Malibu, California
Page 5.
The seashore is one of the most interesting of all natural regions to both casual visitor and professional naturalist. This is not only because of the great variety and abundance of creatures that live in the sea, and the difference of this life from what we know on land, but also because of the changes that may occur with each change of tide. Always there is something just a little different along the beach with each change of the tide, and few people walk there without he hope that something strange and wonderful has been freshly cast up by the sea.
Page 118...
"Octopuses are not common in our latitudes in shore pools, but small specimens are occasionally observed at very low summer tides. These are probably Octopus appolyon. Octopuses are mildly venomous and are known to cause painful wounds. They are delicate animals to keep in captivity as they need lots of clean, cold water. Even in the big public aquaria, where hey receive teh best of care, they do not live long.
Roy's note: A beautiful sketch accompanies this text, which interestingly was drawn by Mr. Hedgpeth himself.
Page 134-135.
"At the present time a whaling station is operated in San Francisco Bay at Point San Pablo, Richmon. Humpback, Sei, Fin-back, and Sperm whales are caught at sea and brought in for processing, mostly to be canned as pet food. (Thus have we fallen from the days of Capts. Ahab and Scammon!). These whales are only rarely seen from shore, although a dead one occasionally drifts ashore, causing local disposal problems.
The most recent addition to our marine mammal fauna is Homo sapiens,equipped with various prosthetic devices to aid in respiration and to protect him from low water temperatures. Usually these are males, bent on piscicide or abalone gathering, but females are becoming more common. These new invaders of the sea are best observed on weekends in fair weather. A somewhat rare subspecies, which we hope will become more common, is interested in studying marine life under water in a more scientific spirit. A regrettable tendency of some of the more gregarious divers is the mass destruction of starfish; this group activity is motivated by the unverified assumption that all starfish are bad and that their removal will improve all manner of things which seem to be of more importance to man. If we were to extend this idea to everything that "competes with" or eats something we want to eat, a surprising number of familiar seashore animals would have to be exterminated.
ROY'S Concluding Thoughts
Joel Hedgpeth's book, is one of the better of the 61 Natural History Guides thus far written for University of California Press. I say this because of the humor and sarcasm that also exists as in the closing paragraph of the book. Of interest in this regard is a beautiful drawing on page 132 that depicts seals and an otter, with a scuba diver coming out of the sea. The drawing is by Lynn Rudy. And the text that accompanies the drawing is quite telling. "Local marine mammals. In the far background, the Killer Whale, behind the Gray Whale. Stellar Sea Lion; two bull Elephant Seals. Center left, a Sea Otter, center right, bull California Sea Lion. Immediately below, a Harbor Seal. Bottom: Homo sapiens scaphandris.
