In competition for mates, males recognize the distinctive calls of their rivals and avoid costly fights by remembering dominance relationships by Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz Male elephant seals compete fiercely for access to females during the breeding season, and their violent, bloody fights take a toll on both winners and losers. These battles are […]
Año Nuevo Island Reserve
NRS Fair marks 50th anniversary
The Natural Reserve System brought a taste of the science, art, teaching, and natural wonders of its 39 reserves to the heart of downtown Oakland this Tuesday, August 11, for the NRS Fair. Hundreds of visitors flocked to the outdoor terrace at UC’s Office of the President to attend. They chatted with graduate student researchers, […]
Bringing field ecology online
If outdoor learning were a religion, Erika Zavaleta would be among its foremost acolytes. A professor of environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz, Zavaleta regularly leads ecology students into the wilds of California, immersing them in the field for weeks at a time. So when the University of California joined the rush to develop online […]
UC President Napolitano visits Año Nuevo Island Reserve
UC President Janet Napolitano got up close and personal this weekend with a colony of northern elephant seals and the scientists who study these marine mammals at the UC Natural Reserve System’s Año Nuevo Island Reserve. In the midst of a storm serving up whitecaps and showers, the President and her guests met on the […]
Fat makes elephant seals efficient divers
Study shows benefits of being fat (but not too fat) for deep-diving northern elephant seals By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz Researchers using a new type of tracking device on female elephant seals have discovered that adding body fat helps the seals dive more efficiently by changing their buoyancy. The study, published November 5 in […]
Let it be
UC undergrads find Santa Cruz Island rebounding decades after imported grazer eradication On islands, imported plants and animals can spell ecological disaster. The Aleutians, the Galápagos, the Falklands, Hawaii, and countless other archipelagoes have seen species such as goats and brown tree snakes, exotic grasses and rats delivered by human visitors. Many of the newcomers […]
Coastal Coyotes Develop a Taste for Marine Life
By Jyoti Madhusoodanan, Santa Cruz Sentinel Coyotes, familiar denizens of field and hill, seem to be developing a taste for seafood, including elephant seal carcasses. Preliminary data from UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest that ancient coyotes that roamed the Central Coast long ago rarely got their food from the sea. A graduate student in UCSC […]
Into the Deep with Elephant Seals
The premiere of “Into the Deep with Elephant Seals,” a QUEST TV program, follows UC Santa Cruz marine biologist Dan Costa as he uncovers how northern elephant seals behave at sea. Every winter, the seals migrate to the NRS’s Año Nuevo Island Reserve and adjacent beaches on the San Mateo County shore to breed. Costa […]