Big Sur: the Latest Closure

Hwy 1 "slip out" in Monterey County

One week ago we posted about a mudslide in Santa Cruz County that has disrupted the lives of five households. On a much smaller scale it reminded us of the 2017 mudslide that inconvenienced thousands who travel on Highway 1 in Big Sur.

Last week Highway 1 was closed again, this time in Monterey County.

The slip-out occurred Saturday, causing the highway to be closed and stranding an estimated 1,600 residents and visitors. Since Sunday, Caltrans has been opening Highway 1 twice a day to convoys, but those convoys have been canceled Thursday and Friday because of the rain forecast. They are expected to resume Saturday.

The good news is that single-lane traffic in the affected area is safe, provided that rain doesn't weaken the structure further. However, hoping that there will be no more damage is a gamble:

Officials issued an evacuation warning on Wednesday for the region south of the existing slip-out near the Rocky Creek Bridge ahead of the coming storms. Anyone within the evacuation zone was urged to leave before anticipated road closures.

“If you feel unsafe, medically fragile, or are unprepared to be isolated for several days, leave immediately ... storms may cause additional damage along Highway 1,” Monterey County officials wrote in an alert.

The convoys are expected to halt Thursday and Friday but will resume once the storms clear, likely on Saturday, Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli said.

With more storms on the way, meteorologists were concerned that additional rain could trigger landslides on other parts of the famed highway.

The Big Sur Highway has been called one of the top scenic drives in the world and attracts millions of visitors every year. However, mudslides cost millions of dollars to repair, and it's only a matter of time before the tectonic plates shift and cause worse damage than slides. When it's man against nature, nature usually wins. In a hundred years, if it does remain open, count on it to look very different.

Called Wildlife for a Reason

USPS stamps: Otters in Snow

Since it opened in 1984 the Monterey Bay Aquarium has featured sea otters, the endangered marine mammal whose playfulness and cutesy features have made them a popular attraction.

After decades of such favorable exposure, the affection for sea otters has often transferred to the other 12 otter species.

There are numerous otter toys, clothes, and dolls for sale this Christmas; when I asked for holiday stamps at the Post Office, the clerk pointed to "Otters in Snow", which wasn't really Christmas-themed but certainly cheerful enough.

The stamps, which I did purchase, are misleading, because most otter species are "opportunistic carnivorous mammals." Last week a Singapore man was viciously attacked by a raft of otters.

2020 photo of otters in Singapore park. (NYPost)

[Graham] Spencer, who is in his 60s, was reportedly approaching the visitors center when he spotted around 20 otters crossing a dimly-lit path in front of him....The animal encounter went south after a jogger ran through the pack, causing the fish-eaters to go “crazy like dogs” and try to bite the passerby...

Fortunately, the runner escaped, but the water weasels set their sights on Spencer, who believed they’d mistook him for the runner.

The ornery otters reportedly hit him in the ankles, pushed him down and leaped on top of Spencer, then proceeded to bite the prone man around his legs, shoes and buttocks, with one nipping his finger, according to the media reports.

“I was bitten 26 times in 10 seconds,” an aghast Spencer recalled to Today.

There, doctors administered Spencer tetanus shots and oral antibiotics and stitched up his wounds before discharging him the same day.

The endearing qualities of individuals do not necessarily pass on to other members of their family.

The Butterflies Return

Santa Cruz Monarch butterfly (Chron photo)

In an unexpected development global warming, the bête noire of environmentalists everywhere, may be responsible for the resurgence of the monarch butterflies in Monterey County:

conservationists estimate the current population that has arrived in its annual wintertime migration to the California coast to be around 10,000 compared with 1,900 last year.

One possible reason for the rebound: this year’s drought, since warm and dry conditions in early spring can help with their migration...

Though the reason for the rebound isn’t known, [biologist Emma] Pelton said scientists such as Arthur Shapiro at UC Davis have found correlations between drought years and a boost in butterfly populations, at least for butterflies at lower elevations like monarchs.

(Photo from Siberia Times)

Opinion is overwhelming that global warming is normatively bad, but impartial analysis makes it clear that there are significant beneficiaries, specifically Russia and Canada, if temperatures keep rising: [bold added]

Let’s state the long-term truth no diplomat would: The world’s two largest countries are also among the two biggest winners from climate change.

They are already among the top energy and food producers in the world, and with warming temperatures they can more easily access even more energy and produce quantum leaps more food. Oil may be getting cheaper, but agrobusiness is a surging asset class. According to New Scientist magazine, a 4 degree Celsius rise in global averages temperatures would decrease agriculture yields in today’s other leading states such as the U.S., Brazil,China, India and Australia. Meanwhile, Canada and Russia’s ramped up industrial farming industries could be the breadbaskets for the planet. They are the hydro and food superpowers of a dry and thirsty planet.

The land area of the contiguous 48 states is approximately three (3) million square miles, while Siberia's is 5.1 million. If only a fraction of the latter becomes arable due to global warming, it will more than offset farmland losses in the rest of the world, and we're not even taking into account the gains from Canada.

And if the above seems too left-brain for you, dear reader, isn't it great that the butterflies are coming back?

Hard to Miss

Ants once crawled all over these
nasturtiums. Now they're gone,
without any steps taken by me.

Two months ago the NY Times brought attention to a phenomenon that scientists have been observing for years: vanishing insect populations.

a whole insect world might be quietly going missing, a loss of abundance that could alter the planet in unknowable ways....

a [2017] paper by an obscure German entomological society had brought the problem of insect decline into sharp focus. The German study found that, measured simply by weight, the overall abundance of flying insects in German nature reserves had decreased by 75 percent over just 27 years. If you looked at midsummer population peaks, the drop was 82 percent...

the study brought forth exactly the kind of longitudinal data they had been seeking, and it wasn’t specific to just one type of insect. The numbers were stark, indicating a vast impoverishment of an entire insect universe, even in protected areas where insects ought to be under less stress. The speed and scale of the drop were shocking even to entomologists who were already anxious about bees or fireflies or the cleanliness of car windshields.

Santa Cruz Monarch butterfly (Chron photo)

Species extinctions get the headlines, but perhaps more worrisome is defaunation ("the loss of individuals, the loss of abundance, the loss of a place’s absolute animalness"). Insect populations are down more than 75% in places that have been studied, a likely factor in the observed declines in fish, birds, and other animals in the food chain. Some worry that the decline in insects will result in the sudden collapse of eco-systems.

According to the article the primary reason for the "insect apocalypse", unsurprisingly, is man. Herbicides, pesticides, habitat destruction, and climate change have all been posited as causes. While some alarmists are predicting imminent disaster, most responsible scientists acknowledge that we are just at the beginning of understanding the extent and ramifications of the problem.

Meanwhile, we can all mourn the loss of monarch butterflies.

Tarpy's Roadhouse

After visits to the Monterey Bay Aquarium I want some good, cheap food, an eatery distant from downtown Monterey and the Wharf. Tarpy’s Roadhouse sounds like such a place—halfway inland to the farming town of Salinas and close to its airport.

But the parking lot we pulled into last month was landscaped with a pond and garden, so hopes to limit the damage to my wallet quickly vanished. But at least the food turned out to be good.

All the trendy places have a pretty, young receptionist, and Tarpy’s was no exception. She flashed a bright smile and led us to a table next to a window. The white tablecloth and flowers made us feel underdressed in our casual tourist garb until I noticed T-shirted patrons interspersed amongst the older monied couples.

The waiter enthusiastically recited his favorites on the menu. I eyed his pudgy frame and concluded that he knew what he was talking about. We weren’t disappointed by his suggestions. The California comfort foods---herb-crusted artichoke rings, meatloaf with marsala-mushroom gravy on garlic potatoes, and roast duck with a cabernet-raspberry glaze--were rich, tasty, and filling, the perfect conclusion to a day of travel. We passed around the potatoes and even had room for dessert.

Chocolate-Espresso Bread Pudding in Bourbon Crème Anglaise

We thanked the waiter for his menu advice and very quick service throughout the meal. Our next trip to Monterey will include a stop at Tarpy’s, but I have to save up first. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

Natural Attraction

We had visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium twice last year (see here and here). Left to our own devices we would have waited before going again, but an out-of-town guest, extra vacation time that I had to use or lose, and mild sunny weather combined irresistibly to induce a trip south on Friday.

Good thing, too, because the aquarium was host to a natural attraction that was likely to vanish in about six months. A sea otter had taken residence amidst the cannery pilings. She had given birth ten days ago and captured the attention of hundreds of onlookers, many of whom chose to forego the aquarium’s indoor exhibits to spend a few minutes or even hours to watch her tend to her child.

The pup’s plaintive cries when the mother set it down tugged at the heartstrings. After a short interval in which she preened or foraged, mother otter grabbed the pup and swam gently on her back, licking and holding it to her chest. (This is my first effort at editing and compressing a video, so please be kind.)

Monterey Redux

Upside Down Jellies.

Yesterday Australian “crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin died.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals [stingrays], which have a poisonous barb on their tails.

In the past 24 hours there’s been lots of commentary about his energetic showmanship, the knowledge and love of animals he imparted to his young viewers, and how he died doing what he loved. But some also criticize the “unnecessary” risks that he took not only with his own person, but also with his children, who sometimes accompanied him when he filmed wild animals. My own view is gratitude----that we live in a society that (still) errs on the side of allowing us and Steve Irwin to live our lives freely, rather than protecting us from the consequences of our own folly.

The closest I want to get to stingrays is behind six inches of glass. On Friday morning the four of us headed south to the Monterey peninsula. Two blocks from the Monterey Bay Aquarium I found street parking at $1 per hour, half the cost of the city lot. It was a cool, gray morning, so we donned light jackets.

News cameras were on hand to record the aquarium’s newest arrival, a 5’ 8’’ white shark. It was a sleek, graceful animal, albeit smaller than the fearsome monsters depicted on the silver screen. We moved on to the shark exhibit, which extolled sharks’ place in the ecosystem and excoriated man for the decline in shark populations.

It was another thing to feel guilty about---the bowl of sharks fin soup that I slurped ten years ago, along with this unnecessary day trip that uploaded greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As we used to say, excuse me for living, except that just being alive is bad for the environment because with every breath we take we emit CO2. On Sundays at the local church my sins against God are forgiven; at the altar of Gaia there is no expiation.


We walked to Bubba Gump’s for lunch. Though it was two o’clock we had to wait to be seated; other patrons had also forsaken the aquarium cafeteria. The décor was yuppified shantytown; the tables and walls were covered with pictures and quotations from the movie. We also had a nice view of the Bay, but, unexpectedly for a restaurant in a scenic location, the food was tasty; the fish and salads were fresh, and portions were plentiful.

Caramel Apples and Taffy Machine.

After lunch we prowled the Monterey stores and picked up some salt-water taffy and candied apples.

Returning to the aquarium, the dwindling crowds allowed us to have an unobstructed view of the exhibits as the six o’clock closing time approached. The Labor Day getaway traffic headed south toward LA, and we had a smooth drive back on Friday night. A leisurely dinner at B.J.’s,and the long weekend was off to an excellent start. © 2006 Stephen Yuen

BJ's Sampler of four (4) 5-oz beers is the perfect way to end a long day.

Rockfish Resting

Rockfish.

In the large salt water tank the rockfish parked itself directly above its picture. One has to capitalize on the moment, because it doesn’t last long. The fish swam away after a few minutes.

An MBA That's a Value Proposition

It’s easy to say now that the Monterey Bay Aquarium would have been a resounding success when construction began in 1981. Anything related to ecological studies had become popular, while entertainment vehicles such as Jaws, Flipper, and Sea World increased public awareness of the ocean sciences. Monterey Bay, an under publicized scenic wonder known mainly for its declining fishing industry and military base, would also become a magnet for the wealth generated in Silicon Valley a few miles to the north.

In 1977, with the economy reeling from high unemployment and inflation, it required the vision, enthusiasm, and dedication of some young oceanographers to drive to completion the multi-year multi-million-dollar building project. Of course, it helped that one of the marine biologists had a little family money.

We made our first trip to the aquarium shortly after it opened in 1984. The immense salt-water tank with its kelp forest, the hands-on touch pools, the painstaking re-creation of natural environments, and the well-lit displays that were refreshingly free of tech-speak represented a revolution in aquarium design. We enrolled as members when the kids were young and the aquarium was on the must-see list for out-of-town visitors. As our lives have changed, so have our interests. We let our membership lapse, and it had been five years since our last trip.

The youngster requested that we visit the aquarium after school ended this month. To my surprise, he deemed such a trip to be more important than his online activities and gamboling with friends. I carped the diem and told the office that I was taking an unscheduled holiday.

Our outing turned out to be more pleasurable than expected, which sometimes happens when an activity is scheduled at the last minute. Traffic was light south of San Jose, and I was able to get close-in metered parking at half the cost of the nearby lots. Attendance was also sparse---the high tourist season had not begun—and we were able to examine the displays up close and at our leisure.

The shark exhibit, jellyfish-inspired art, and cannery history wing had been added since our last visit; each was engrossing, as well as old favorites like the sea otters, octopus, and sunfish (the youngster didn’t believe me when I said that the giant sunfish we saw was half the size of the monster that used to swim in the Outer Bay tank.)

Sunfish in the Outer Bay exhibit.

At 3 o’clock we headed home in order to beat the rush hour traffic. Later this year we’ll bring the rest of the family, but it’s doubtful our return trip will be as enjoyable. Recapturing a (good) experience is difficult and all too rare. © 2006 Stephen Yuen

Tidepool Exhibit, was new to us but old hat to this patron.