Rescue teams donned waders and marched into the murky Malibu lagoon scorched by the Palisades fire. Their mission is to save the life of the northern goby, a small endangered fish.
Destructive wildfires have ripped away the slopes of the nearby Santa Monica Mountains, and rain could wash vast amounts of sediment into Topanga Lagoon, a death trap for fish.
A team of biologists from several government agencies was called out late last week to try to capture the swamp-colored, translucent gobies before the storm hit. However, success was not guaranteed.
Rosi Daggitt, chief conservation biologist for the Santa Monica Mountains Resource Conservation District, holds a net of saltwater gobies, a federally endangered species that lives in Malibu’s Topanga Lagoon.
For this species, which hides under rocks and plants during the winter, this was the time of year when the population was at its lowest. And the sandbar that separated Topanga Lagoon from the Pacific Ocean could be washed away by storm surge and an influx of firefighting water, creating an unnatural rift that could be swept away by the waves.
But as soon as the scientists — some trained, some in training, and some citizens — moved the large nets that served as sieves into the brackish water, cries of joy began. They hit the jackpot with the goby.
“The goby gods are working with us,” said Rosi Daggitt, chief conservation biologist for the Santa Monica Mountains Resource Conservation District and the mastermind behind the rescue.
Then she exclaimed, “Oh, look at that!” I picked up a goby again.
Within a few hours, they had moved 760 healthy gobies into a plastic cooler, exceeding their goal of about 400.
Dray Banfield is part of the California Conservation Corps’ watershed management program and is working with AmeriCorps to help rescue gobies from Topanga Lagoon.
The goby was spirited away to safety, but another fish of greatest concern remains at risk. The last known population of steelhead trout in the Coast Range occupies the same watershed and will be rescued in a more difficult operation Thursday.
With the first rain in months expected in Los Angeles County this weekend, help may be on the way. Saving fish would have an immediate effect, but it could take years to restore burned watersheds. Also, when habitat goes offline, there are fewer places to move fish in an emergency.
Tidewater gobies are hardy fish that don’t succumb to bad luck. This fish can withstand extreme changes in temperature and salinity, and can even sip air at the surface of the water in some situations.
However, due to habitat destruction caused by agricultural and coastal development, their numbers have declined dramatically, leading to their being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Fish are also threatened by drought and invasive predators.
Steelhead trout, once found in most streams in the Santa Monica Mountains, have similarly declined due to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. Silver steelhead migrate to the ocean and return to their natal freshwater streams to spawn, but this cycle is sometimes interrupted by dams and concrete channels. The Southern California population is listed as endangered at the state and federal level.
Topanga Creek, a biodiversity hotspot that empties into Santa Monica Bay, is the last refuge of the Coastal Range steelhead and supports a population of tidal gobies recently estimated at tens of thousands.
The crew caught the gobies using a net that acted as a sieve. Overall, 760 gobies were saved during the rescue operations.
“This site is unusual in that it is largely preserved by native vegetation and is home to native fauna,” said Alyssa Morgan, project manager for the conservation area. “Especially when we have fewer and fewer hotspots, preserving them becomes very important.”
The Conservancy provides programs and services focused on watershed management, restoration, research, and education throughout the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding areas. Although it is not a regulatory authority, it can advise such authorities.
A nearby watershed, Malibu Creek, was hit by fire in December. Duggitt said this is the first time in his 38 years of monitoring that the Malibu and Topanga watersheds have disappeared at the same time. Normally they “tag team” the creeks, but right now they can’t move fish to Malibu.
“We can’t keep doing fire drills like this,” Dagit said during a recent goby rescue, calling for a more strategic approach.
Many partners participated in the rescue, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and California State Parks.
The fire has made it difficult to relocate to other areas. Kyle Evans, environmental program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the massive Woolsey Fire in 2018 burned streams in the Santa Monica Mountains and they haven’t recovered enough to catch fish.
“Anthropogenic impacts caused by land and water use have significantly reduced the amount of suitable habitat over the past 100 years, and frequent wildfires are putting stress on already affected systems. Evans, whose agency is leading the steelhead rescue effort, wrote: Email.
Evans said the state agency has been relocating and rescuing fish since its inception more than a century ago. “In the past, it might have been to replenish stocks, plant fish, or plan water diversions or dams,” he says. “But in modern times, rescue and relocation are used as management tools.”
Duggitt said rescuing steelhead trout would be even more complicated. Unlike small gobies, steelhead can grow up to 2 feet. Must be transferred to hatchery trucks with large tanks.
Duggitt said access to the creek is difficult and the road will need to be closed to traffic.
“Look at how burnt this hillside is,” she said, pointing to the charred slopes rising above the Pacific Coast Highway. “It’s not as bad here as the creek.”
While the trout’s fate hangs in the balance, the rescued gobies are safely kept at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and Heal the Bay Aquarium in Santa Monica.
Brenton Spieth, a California State Channel Islands lecturer with expertise in gobies, said how long the gobies will be kept in captivity will depend on when the storms arrive. One or two rainstorms could wash away the debris in the water, allowing them to return safely.
Because gobies only have a lifespan of about a year, those involved in the rescue efforts were told that collecting the largest specimens would not be ideal. The goby may not have much time left.
Rescue quickly assembled. Time was of the essence.
Goby populations were lost during the Woolsey Fire and the Monster Thomas Fire that preceded it in 2017, Spies said.
“We weren’t able to get there in time,” said Spieth, who took part in the recent rescue effort.
Tidewater gobies are hardy fish that can withstand extreme differences in salinity and temperature. However, their numbers have declined due to habitat loss. In 1994, they were added to the federal endangered species list. Above, they are swimming in an orange bucket.
One such unlucky group lived in Carpinteria Creek, which flows into the Santa Barbara Channel, he said. There, for months, utility poles and large amounts of vegetation had crowded the lagoon.
“It just kind of suffocated them,” he said, noting that the lagoon hasn’t burst.
Rescuers yelled at the newly released goby before it was forced into its new hiding spot. Dozens of fish were flying around in a blue cooler box, and luckily they were unaware of the danger and probably narrowly escaped death.
“They’re so cute,” said Luke Benson, a field technician biologist with the Santa Monica Mountains Resource Conservancy.
“I’m really drawn to the little eyes at the top,” said Jerry Kahler, the district’s community engagement manager.
Amidst the frenzy, the toll of human, environmental and other tragedies caused by the still-burning fires smoldered.
District crews said that while calling out in a pinch is nothing new, this effort had a different impact given the human toll many have experienced in fires. The Palisades Fire was 70% contained as of Wednesday, destroying thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
“Fires in the Palisades and Topanga have burned our trees and fields, but to have an entire town burn in our community and so close to us,” Kahler said. he said as he drove to the rescue. It’s a very different feeling than other tragedies. ”
Dagit, who lives in the Topanga Canyon community of Fernwood, was evacuated during the emergency.
On the Friday afternoon after Goby’s successful rescue, she wrote in an email that she learned she would be returning home the next day.
“It’s definitely going to be a good day!” she wrote.
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