Upper Newport Bay 1

Posted on August 23, 2003 in Biomes Ecotone Hikes and Trails Photos

I don’t think that you can get more chaotic than a salt marsh: willows and sycamores fighting it out with poisonous Brazillian pepper trees; beige foam clumping up where the fresh water mixes with the salt; asphyxiated fish flopping out of the water; white pelicans clenching the fish between their jaws until the fish die; fence lizards running through the coastal sage scrub; the everchanging channels; the eel grass and the pickleweed rudely regimenting themselves in rows of lemon and lime; worms coiling and uncoiling; mushroom clouds of algae forming in the navy blue waters of the upper creek; and the wind, flipping from shore to sea. Above all the natural fighting and birthing, jets from John Wayne International fly overhead. Condos and estates pushing as close to the edge of the preserve as zoning regulations will allow them. Fishermen using gigantic hooks hoping to catch one of the small mouthed perch jumping in the main channel. And stupid people walking their dogs in the nesting areas or letting them jump in the water after a toy.

The waters bring pieces of inland California to the flats and from the variety of detritus and mud, life constructs itself. Here, you can witness the nativity of dancing stars.

Read about the hike we took today here. Click on the image to see the rest of the gallery.