Each year Shark Stewards celebrates Sharktober and the return of the white sharks after their annual migration, and all wildlife in our Sanctuary! Coastal upwelling is making this year another of the more productive years in our Sanctuary, with Blue, Fin and Humpback Whales feeding nearshore, happy fledging seabirds and nice fat pinnipeds in our Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. See and learn about marine wildlife from plankton to whales. Join us exiting beneath the Golden Gate for amazing photo and wildlife observation opportunities entering the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary on a modern day Natural History expedition.
More Information and Instructions:
NATURAL HISTORY In the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, 36 species of marine mammals, including 18 species of cetaceans (whales and dolphins ) are found, most frequently gray whales, blue whales, and humpback whales. Five species of pinniped come to shore on the islands to feed, and in some cases breed and give birth. These include the northern elephant seal, harbor seal, Steller’s sea lion, California sea lion, and the northern fur seal (many like the rhinoceros auklet, brown pelican were locally extinct and are now returning to the island following protection under the Endangered Species Act). Occasionally we see the smaller Guadalupe fur seal and we hope one day to see the return of the Southern sea otter.
For the Birds
As part of the Fish and Wildlife Refuge system, the Farallon Islands are an important reserve protecting a huge seabird colony. The islands’ position in the highly productive California Current and Eastern Pacific upwelling region, as well as the absence of other large islands that would provide suitable nesting grounds, result in a seabird population of over 250,000. Twelve species of seabird and shorebird nest on the islands; Western Gull, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Cassin’s Auklet, Tufted Puffin, Black Oystercatcher, Rhinoceros Auklet, Ashy Storm-petrel, and Leach’s Storm-petrel. There are also sea birds that visit or fly astray from Hawaii, the Atlantic, New Zealand and Chile. Songbirds visit or are blown over from the mainland, or come aboard on boats. Its always a surprise!
White Sharks
White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are pan- global but tend to aggregate in temperate waters in a few regions of the world, including seasonally along the western seaboard of North America. Thanks to movies like Jaws and Shark Week, white sharks receive a disproportionate amount of negative attention in the media. Like many shark species, white sharks are slow to reach reproductive maturity and produce only a small number of young each year, making them highly susceptible to the threats of fishing and other human activities. The population in the Northeast Pacific has had a history of exploitation and the population fished down severely in the 1970s and 1980s.
While the Northeast Pacific population of white sharks is in recovery, this species is still at risk and scientists support current protections in the USA and Mexico. With the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Shark Stewards has helped develop education and a white shark stewardship program to educate the public and tour operators in the Sanctuary on the importance of white sharks to marine ecosystem and permitting for shark tour operators for best practices.
Now the public can help scientists better understand individual shark movements and identification. Photographs of white shark fins can be used to identify specific individuals and enter into a long term database shared by the Monterey Bay Hopkins Marine Lab and Stanford’s Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP). Additionally, observations entered into the iNaturalist platform Shark Watch plays a critical role in the protection of this species and other sharks and rays.