About Seadrift Lagoon

And a small intro to Green Crabs.

Seadrift is a small subdivision at the northern tip of Stinson Beach, CA, sandwiched between Bolinas Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean on a narrow sand spit. This subdivision surrounds a small enclosure called the Seadrift Lagoon, an artificial lagoon created for the subdivision. Water to the lagoon comes from Bolinas Lagoon through a managed intake near the northwestern end and an outfall, also to Bolinas Lagoon, on the southeastern end. The community attracts numerous visitors and seasonal residents and the lagoon provides a place for recreational enjoyment for the entire community.

In the early 1990s, an unwelcomed visitor, the European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas), took up residency in both Bolinas and Seadrift Lagoons. European Green Crabs are native to Western Europe and Africa but have invaded many regions around the world, reaching high population densities in parts of their invaded ranges. They are highly adaptable, voracious predators that consume animals and plants found in the intertidal area. Their diet includes commercially important species such as oysters, clams, and small Dungeness crabs, as well as other native shore crabs and clams important for migratory shorebirds. Green crabs became established in San Francisco Bay around 1989 and spread south to Elkhorn Slough, California and north to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Their spread along the west coast is due in part to the ability of their small planktonic larvae to move along the coast in the currents.

Fighting European Green Crabs in Seadrift Lagoon. SERC, 2011. Web. 08 August 2014. www.serc.si.edu/labs/marine_invasions/feature_story/December_2011.aspx.