What can we help find?

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Wildlife

sea lion
Park E-Ventures Article

Fastest, Farthest, Deepest: Olympic Champ Animals at Golden Gate

In honor of the upcoming Rio Olympics, we asked: Which animals are the best swimmers, divers, and fliers in these parklands and waters? They’re competing tooth-and-nail (and claw-and-tail) to claim the “gold” at Golden Gate! Find out which species stand atop the podium.
Humpback Whale
Park E-Ventures Article

Baleen In: Record Number of Whales Spotted This Spring

In May 2016, just outside the Golden Gate (and off the coast of our Golden Gate National Parks), humpback whales were gathering in record numbers—and blue whales were making extremely rare spring appearances. What explains this massing of these mammoth mammals?
Mission Blue Butterfly
Park E-Ventures Article

Mission (Blue) Impossible: A Rescue Plan for Endangered Butterflies

In April 2016, a team of scientists hatched a daring plan to save some endangered mission blue butterflies from a Milagra Ridge site ravaged by a plant pathogen. See how—and why—they relocated a couple of endangered butterflies to another spot on Milagra.
Coho salmon release
Park E-Ventures Article

Rescue Mission Proceeds: Captive-Raised Coho Begin Return to the Wild

With Redwood Creek coho salmon on the brink of disappearing, biologists launched a last-ditch attempt to save them: harvesting local fish, raising them to reproductive maturity at a hatchery, and then returning them to the wild. In December, the first captive-raised coho were released.
Western Snowy Plover
Park E-Ventures Article

A Record-High Number of Plovers: What Does It Mean?

In January 2016, a record number of Western snowy plovers were spotted at Ocean Beach. What are some possible reasons for this sky-high count? Read the latest on park monitoring of these threatened species—and learn what you can do to help their chances of survival.
sea lion
Park E-Ventures Article

Plight of the Pinnipeds: El Niño and Suffering Seals and Sea Lions

The Marine Mammal Center, based at Fort Cronkhite, rescued 1,800 animals in 2015—three times the average. Learn about one culprit, domoic acid, and how it’s produced, how seals and sea lions are affected, and why El Niño exacerbates its effects.
Park E-Ventures Article

Are There Really More Great Whites Off Our Shores?

Media have been buzzing about recent great white shark sightings in the area. But we went to find out the truth about these mysterious (and unfairly maligned) fish, by asking noted biologists such as Parks Conservancy Trustee Dr. John McCosker.
Small butterfly with open, bronze-colored wings, becoming blue towards her abdomen
Park E-Ventures Article

Where in the Parks Can You Find the Mission Blue?

It’s mission blue butterfly season in the Golden Gate National Parks, and you can catch a glimpse of this endangered species at Milagra Ridge. Learn about this diminutive butterfly—and the plant upon which its survival depends.
Hawk watch
Park E-Ventures Article

Wing-Wing Proposition: See Raptors, Advance Science as a GGRO Volunteer

Bay Area residents are mighty lucky to be surrounded by parklands and encounter wildlife in our own backyards. But, instead of spotting the occasional raptor, what if you could see all sorts of birds of prey? Here’s your rare chance to identify, count, and band raptors in the Marin Headlands.
Mission blue butterfly (Icaricia icariodes missionensis)
Park E-Ventures Article

Five Lessons I Learned from the Mission Blue Butterfly

This winter the Golden Gate National Parks will be planting over a thousand lupines, the host plant of the endangered mission blue butterfly. As we prepare for this restoration work, a Park Stewardship manager reflects on the big lessons he’s learned from this little butterfly.