Relative of extinct Xerces butterfly helps restore California habitat destroyed in its demise
At the Presidio in San Francisco, researchers, community scientists, and park officials gathered recently in hopes of filling a vacancy at a newly restored sand dune habitat with prospective new residents. It's taken 30 years to restore these dune habitats. Now, another historic effort is underway to restore another lost treasure. Scientists are hoping the silvery blue, a small butterfly native to North America, will take up residence and perform a critical function once done by the extinct Xerces blue.
Professor Durrell Kapan, senior research fellow with the California Academy of Sciences, heads up the experimental project. He recently carried a cooler bag to the dunes near Lobos Creek in the Presidio National Park, withdrew a smaller cooler pouch, and removed small plastic containers, each holding a single silvery blue butterfly. All of them sipped on a cotton ball soaked in fruit punch-flavored Gatorade, which seems to be their favorite sustenance during these exercises.
As the morning sun rose and the area warmed up, the silvery blues were released underneath a mesh fabric so they could acclimate. Later, the mesh was removed, and volunteers tracked their flight for about an hour.
"By bringing back this butterfly, we are bringing back more of what used to be here," said Lewis Stringer, associate director of natural resources at the Presidio Trust.
"We are expecting that the silvery blue will fill the gap that was left by the Xerces extinction," explained Dr. Phoebe Parker-Shames, wildlife ecologist for the Presidio.
Before the Gold Rush, the Xerces blue thrived in sprawling coastal dunes around San Francisco that stretched from the Presidio through Ocean Beach, Fort Funston, and the Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods. The species kept the habitat healthy by pollinating plants and serving as food for other animals, such as birds and lizards.
Rapid urban development destroyed the dunes, and that destroyed the Xerces. One report indicates that the last Xerces spotted in the area occurred in 1943.
"This is an iconic species that literally was the first butterfly or invertebrate to go extinct in North America," said Kapan. "[The project is] an amazing opportunity to try to regenerate those missing connections using its closest relative. It's an opportunity to try to practice how we fix the environment."
Genetic sequencing at Cal Academy confirmed the closest living relative to the Xerces blue is the silvery blue. Like the Xerces, silvery blues also like cold foggy weather, dune habitats, and deerweed on which they lay their eggs. Scientists were allowed to gather silvery blues living near the coast of Monterey and relocate them to San Francisco's Presidio.
Parker-Shames said that adding the silvery blues to the dune habitat at the Presidio helps build resilience into a warming world.
"If one year it's too hot for a particular species and their population sort of has a dip, there's another species there that can help fill the same role," she noted.
The unprecedented effort is a four-year project that involves Cal Academy, the Presidio Trust, Creekside Science, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Revive and Restore. The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity is also involved.
This effort to make San Francisco more resilient and increase biodiversity is part of a larger effort exemplified in the urban nature alliance known as "Reimagining San Francisco."
Last year, scientists released the first batch of silvery blues, and observations suggest success. Each released butterfly has a small mark added to their wings for identification. The scientists are now spotting unmarked butterflies. They say these unmarked silvery blues are the offspring of the first released butterflies flitting around the park.
So far this year, about 50 silvery blues have been released. Driggs and Mills have already seen a newly released female laying eggs on the deerweed.
"It's really cool, honestly," said Driggs.
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CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
Relative of extinct Xerces butterfly helps restore California habitat destroyed in its demise
A butterfly that went extinct decades ago after the destruction of its Bay Area habitat is now the driving force behind its restoration with the help of a close relative now fluttering in its terrain. At the Presidio in San Francisco, researchers, community scientists, and park officials gathered recently in hopes of filling a vacancy at a newly restored sand dune habitat with prospective new residents. It's taken 30 years to restore these dune habitats. Now, another historic effort is underway to restore another lost treasure. Scientists are hoping the silvery blue, a small butterfly native to North America, will take up residence and perform a critical function once done by the extinct Xerces blue. Professor Durrell Kapan, senior research fellow with the California Academy of Sciences, heads up the experimental project. He recently carried a cooler bag to the dunes near Lobos Creek in the Presidio National Park, withdrew a smaller cooler pouch, and removed small plastic containers, each holding a single silvery blue butterfly. All of them sipped on a cotton ball soaked in fruit punch-flavored Gatorade, which seems to be their favorite sustenance during these exercises. As the morning sun rose and the area warmed up, the silvery blues were released underneath a mesh fabric so they could acclimate. Later, the mesh was removed, and volunteers tracked their flight for about an hour. "By bringing back this butterfly, we are bringing back more of what used to be here," said Lewis Stringer, associate director of natural resources at the Presidio Trust. "We are expecting that the silvery blue will fill the gap that was left by the Xerces extinction," explained Dr. Phoebe Parker-Shames, wildlife ecologist for the Presidio. Before the Gold Rush, the Xerces blue thrived in sprawling coastal dunes around San Francisco that stretched from the Presidio through Ocean Beach, Fort Funston, and the Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods. The species kept the habitat healthy by pollinating plants and serving as food for other animals, such as birds and lizards. Rapid urban development destroyed the dunes, and that destroyed the Xerces. One report indicates that the last Xerces spotted in the area occurred in 1943. "This is an iconic species that literally was the first butterfly or invertebrate to go extinct in North America," said Kapan. "[The project is] an amazing opportunity to try to regenerate those missing connections using its closest relative. It's an opportunity to try to practice how we fix the environment." Genetic sequencing at Cal Academy confirmed the closest living relative to the Xerces blue is the silvery blue. Like the Xerces, silvery blues also like cold foggy weather, dune habitats, and deerweed on which they lay their eggs. Scientists were allowed to gather silvery blues living near the coast of Monterey and relocate them to San Francisco's Presidio. Parker-Shames said that adding the silvery blues to the dune habitat at the Presidio helps build resilience into a warming world. "If one year it's too hot for a particular species and their population sort of has a dip, there's another species there that can help fill the same role," she noted. The unprecedented effort is a four-year project that involves Cal Academy, the Presidio Trust, Creekside Science, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Revive and Restore. The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity is also involved. This effort to make San Francisco more resilient and increase biodiversity is part of a larger effort exemplified in the urban nature alliance known as "Reimagining San Francisco." Last year, scientists released the first batch of silvery blues, and observations suggest success. Each released butterfly has a small mark added to their wings for identification. The scientists are now spotting unmarked butterflies. They say these unmarked silvery blues are the offspring of the first released butterflies flitting around the park. So far this year, about 50 silvery blues have been released. Driggs and Mills have already seen a newly released female laying eggs on the deerweed. "It's really cool, honestly," said Driggs.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
The Pacific island nation that wants to mine the ocean floor
A 1,000-tonne ship is exploring the far-flung South Pacific for riches buried beneath the waves, spearheading efforts to dredge the tropical waters for industrial deep-sea mining. Fringed by sparkling lagoons and palm-shaded beaches, Pacific nation the Cook Islands has opened its vast ocean territory for mining exploration. Research vessels roam the seas searching for deposits of battery metals, rare earths and critical minerals that litter the deep ocean's abyssal plains. The frontier industry is likened by some to a modern-day gold rush, and decried by others as environmental "madness". AFP visited the sunburst-orange MV Anuanua Moana at the Cook Islands' sleepy port of Avatiu, where it loaded supplies before setting sail for the archipelago's outer reaches. "The resource in our field is probably in the order of about US$4 billion in potential value," said chief executive Hans Smit from Moana Minerals, which converted the former supply ship into a deepwater research vessel. It is fitted with chemistry labs, sonar arrays and sensors used to probe the seabed for coveted metals. For two years it has sailed the Cook Islands, halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, gathering data to convince regulators that deep-sea mining is safe. While exploration is far advanced, no company has started mining on a commercial scale. - Big business - "I want to be mining before 2030," Smit said from the ship's tower, as whirring cranes loaded wooden crates of heavy gear below. "Absolutely, I think that we can." Large tracts of seabed around the Cook Islands are carpeted in polymetallic nodules, misshapen black globes encrusted with cobalt, nickel, manganese and other coveted metals. Demand has been driven by the rise of electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and durable alloys used in everything from construction to medicine. The Cook Islands lay claim to one of just four major nodule deposits globally. It is "the world's largest and richest resource of polymetallic nodules within a sovereign territory", according to Australia's University of Queensland. Moana Minerals -- a subsidiary of a Texas-based company -- owns the rights to explore 20,000 square kilometres (7,500 square miles) within the Cook Islands' exclusive economic zone. "If we put one mining ship on there, and we started producing metals, we will be one of the largest mines around," said Smit. - 'Belongs to us' - Few countries are as reliant on the ocean as the Cook Islands, a seafaring nation of some 17,000 people scattered across a chain of volcanic isles and coral atolls. Pristine lagoons lure wealthy tourists that prop-up the economy, fridges are stocked with fish plucked from vibrant reefs, and local myths teach children to revere the sea. Many Cook Islanders fear deep-sea mining could taint their precious "moana", or ocean, forever. "I have seen the ship in the harbour," said tour guide Ngametua Mamanu, 55. "Why do we need the mining stuff to destroy the oceans?" Retiree Ana Walker, 74, feared foreign interests had come to plunder her island home. "We think that these people are coming over to make money and to leave the mess with us." Deep-sea mining companies tout the need for critical minerals to make electric vehicles, solar panels and other "green" technologies. The idea holds some allure in a place like the Cook Islands, where climate change is linked to droughts, destructive cyclones and rising seas. "If all goes well, there is good that can come out of it. Financially," said third-generation pearl farmer James Kora, 31. "But it relies on how well we manage all those minerals. If the science says it's safe." - 'Guinea pigs' - Marine biologist Teina Rongo squinted into the sunlight as his small boat motored past the Anuanua Moana, an emblem of an industry he views with deep distrust. "We were never about exploring the bottom of the ocean, because our ancestors believed it is a place of the gods," said Rongo. "We don't belong there." Deep-sea mining companies are still figuring the best way to retrieve nodules that can lie five kilometres (three miles) or more beneath the waves. Most focus on robotic harvesting machines, which scrape up nodules as they crawl the ocean floor. Critics fear mining will smother marine life with plumes of waste, and that the alien noise of heavy machinery will disrupt oceanic migrations. Environmentalist Alanna Smith said researchers knew very little about the deep ocean. "We'd really be the guinea pigs of this industry, going first in. "It's a risky, risky move." - Powerful friends - A US-backed research expedition in the 1950s was the first to discover the "enormous fields" of polymetallic nodules in the South Pacific. Waves of Japanese, French, American and Russian ships sailed the Cook Islands in the following decades to map this trove. But deep-sea mining was largely a fringe idea until around 2018, when the burgeoning electric vehicle industry sent metal prices soaring. Mining companies are now vying to exploit the world's four major nodule fields -- three in international waters, and the fourth in the Cook Islands. The International Seabed Authority meets this month to mull rules that could pave the way for mining in international waters. Although the Cook Islands can mine its territory without the authority's approval, it still has a stake in the decision. The Cook Islands also own one of 17 contracts to hunt for nodules in the international waters of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, halfway between Mexico and Hawaii. So far, the Cook Islands has said its approach -- even in its own waters -- would be closely "aligned" with the authority's rules. But it remains unclear if it will proceed without those regulations. "We're not setting time frames in terms of when we want to get this started," said Edward Herman, from the Cook Islands' Seabed Minerals Authority. "I think the time frames will be determined based on what the research and the science and the data tells us." Many of the Cook Islands' South Pacific neighbours want to see deep-sea mining banned. French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a scathing indictment in June, saying the "predatory" industry was environmental "madness". But the Cook Islands has powerful friends. It signed an agreement with China earlier this year for the "exploration and research of seabed mineral resources". "There was a lot of noise," said Herman, referencing the backlash over the China deal. "And obviously there's a lot of interest... whenever China engages with anyone in the Pacific. "And we understand, we accept it, and we will continue." sft/djw/sah/lb
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Scientists work to understand why dozens of whales have recently died in the San Francisco Bay Area
Scientists are investigating a sharp rise in the number of whales killed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2025 even as local whale pods struggle to recover from a massive die-off in 2019. The California Academy of Sciences said on Monday that researchers had logged the deaths of 21 gray whales, two unidentified baleen whales, and one minke whale in waters near San Francisco this year so far, compared to 14 in 2019 and 15 in 2021. Researchers also reported an "unusually high" number of gray whale sightings in the region, with more than 30 individuals confirmed versus only six in 2024. "This latest gray whale caught everyone a bit by surprise, given how late in the season it is and the fact that we had not sighted the species in the Bay in nearly two weeks," Kathi George, director of cetacean conservation biology at the Marine Mammal Center in nearby Sausalito, told ABC News. "It shows signs of concern for this population as it moves forward into the future... we know that climate change is changing ocean conditions and changing prey available availability for these whales in the Arctic." Researchers have reported an "unusually high" number of gray whale sightings in the region recently (Alfredo Estrella / AFP via Getty Images) A young male gray whale beached at Kirby Cove, on the Marin Headlands near San Francisco (Marjorie Cox / The Marine Mammal Center) Eight of the gray whales were probably killed by vessel strikes, the Academy said, but the cause of death for the others was uncertain. Nor was it clear why so many whales were visible in the Bay Area this year. Gray whale populations in the North Pacific are still reeling from an estimated 45 per cent drop between 2019 and 2023, during which nearly 700 whales died along the west coast of North America. A gray whale breaching (NOAA Fisheries) That episode, known by scientists as an "unusual mortality event", is thought to have slashed whale numbers from around 20,500 in 2019 to just over 14,500 in 2023. A study in 2023 found evidence that melting Arctic sea ice had prolonged the die-off, in comparison to previous such events, by disrupting the food chain of algae and plankton on which gray whales ultimately depend. Gray whales are highly social animals (AFP via Getty Images) Gray whales are large, highly social filter feeders that migrate up and down the west coast of North America, traveling thousands of miles from their summer feeding grounds near Alaska to their winter breeding areas off western Mexico. Once common in the Atlantic Ocean too, they were hunted in huge numbers by humans for their blubber throughout the 19th century. Now they exist in two populations in the northwest and northeast Pacific, with the former group being officially endangered. Solve the daily Crossword
