Thermal cameras just installed in the San Francisco Bay this May have been picking up whale spouts nearly every day.

Sage Ono is a photographer and writer based in Monterey Bay, CA, focused on documenting aquatic ecosystems and the people who depend on them, as they both are increasingly impacte ...

Sage Ono peeks into a small pool on Swamp Creek, in search of rare McCloud River redband trout. Sage Ono It’s hard to imagine a more scenic place to be devoured by mosquitoes than wildflower-speckled ...

An overhead view of the Sargent Ranch property, also called Juristac by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. (Teddy Miller, courtesy of POST) In January, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) purchased a ...

Pastures are visible from a derelict milking barn at the historic D Ranch, founded in 1870 and abandoned after the creation of Point Reyes National Seashore. There’s an ambitious plan to restore these ...

Lupines bloom on the Adler Ranch in Big Sur, which Western Rivers Conservancy acquired and gave to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County nonprofit in 2020. (Photo by Doug Steakley, courtesy Western ...

Rocky outcroppings and serpentine barrens in the southern Diablo Range, near San Benito Mountain. Joaquín Murieta, both literary hero and historical figure, thrived in California’s rugged Inner Coast ...

Seasonal Tolay Lake brimmed with water this spring, spanning some 200 acres thanks to plentiful rains earlier in the year. (Photo by Christopher Coughlin) This story is part of our Summer 2025 trails ...

State Route 12 cut to the horizon line of Solano County. Somewhere out of sight lay the small town of Rio Vista and the Delta. But about an hour northeast of San Francisco, midway through southern ...

The USFWS proposed monarch butterflies for a federal listing in 2024. The butterflies weather the winter months at Bay Area refuges like Natural Bridges State Beach, pictured. Brian Baer / California ...

Examining the human-engineered oyster substrate at Giant Marsh during a low tide in May 2025. (Sonya Bennett Brandt) This piece was originally published in KneeDeep Times, a digital magazine featuring ...