Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is a

marine reserve A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, located just north of

Pillar Point Harbor Pillar Point Harbor is a boat harbor created by a riprap breakwater in San Mateo County, California, immediately north of Half Moon Bay. It is used by both pleasure craft and small commercial fishing boats. The Ohlone people inhabited the regi ...

and Mavericks in the

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

community of Moss Beach. Moss Beach is located approximately south of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and north of Santa Cruz. The reserve is a holding which extends from Montara light station at the north to Pillar Point on the south. The reserve consists of a three-mile stretch of beach,

tidepool A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only ...

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

, erosive bluffs, clifftop trail and cypress and eucalyptus forests. The property is owned by the State of California and managed by San Mateo County as a county park and nature preserve. The reserve is administratively assigned to be part of the

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) is a federally protected marine area offshore of California's Big Sur and central coast in the United States. It is one of the largest US national marine sanctuaries and has a shoreline length ...

. Adjacent to and possibly within the reserve is an endangered species of butterfly, the San Bruno elfin butterfly. Montara State Marine Reserve & Pillar Point State Marine Conservation Area extend offshore from Montara, just north of Pillar Point. Like underwater parks, these

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

s help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve lies within Montara State Marine Reserve.

History

The site of the current Fitzgerald Marine Reserve was originally settled by Native Americans approximately 5,800 years ago. In 1908, the

Ocean Shore Railroad The Ocean Shore Railroad was a railroad built between San Francisco and Tunitas Beach, Tunitas Glen, and Swanton, California, Swanton and Santa Cruz, California, Santa Cruz that operated along the Pacific coastline from 1905 until 1920. The rou ...

extended through the town of Moss Beach, effectively creating this location as a tourist destination. Remains of the foundation and some original landscape features from the Smith- Doelger homesite from the early-1900s may be found on the bluffs overlooking the Reserve. The site has long been a source of research and materials for marine biologists and collectors, so much so that, in 1969, San Mateo County urged the State of California to designate the site as a state reserve to protect the remaining

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

. On August 5, 1969, the site was officially designated as a state reserve and was named after James V. Fitzgerald, former mayor of

San Bruno San Bruno () is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, incorporated in 1914. The population was 43,908 at the 2020 United States census. The city is between South San Francisco and Millbrae, adjacent to San Francisco Internat ...

and a longtime member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.

Natural features

The tidepool habitat has long been prized as one of the best such habitats in

northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

. It has been identified by the State of California as one of 34 such coastal habitats having "Special Biological Significance".

Sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all regions except Australia, New Zealand, and ...

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...

s and many other

intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...

species are prominent. At the north of the reserve San Vicente Creek empties into the

and has a diverse habitat supporting Red Willow and other

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

species. From a footbridge across San Vicente Creek, one climbs atop the bluff trail, which rises about above the beach. From there one has rewarding views down upon Frenchmans Reef, a rich marine ecological area. Seaward the reserve extends to a depth of over downward into the Pacific Ocean. The reef is composed of the rock

granodiorite Granodiorite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gra ...

. An occurrence of the rare plant Hickman's potentilla, ''Potentilla hickmanii'', was observed by E.C. Suttliffe in 1933 in the vicinity of the mouth of San Vicente Creek within Moss Beach. This colony was not further documented for decades, but another colony was discoveredFremontia 21(1):25-29 (1993) and 24(1):3-11 (1996) toward the end of the 20th century north of Moss Beach. The plant was listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

government in 1998, and had previously been listed as California endangered in 1973. Sightings of the San Bruno elfin butterfly have been made adjacent to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Montara. This endangered species has very limited range and habitat. The active Seal Cove Fault (first mapped and named by William Glen in a 1959 publication of the University of California series in the geological sciences) forms much of the eastern boundary of the site. Glen first suggested that the Seal Cove fault was a northward extension of the San Gregorio fault. Submarine surveys later found that the fault extends northward under the Pacific Ocean and presumably joins the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...

near Bolinas. The fault's trace was formerly clearly exposed in a sea cliff at the northern portion of the reserve, but is now obscured by cultural changes.

Details of habitats

The coastal strand habitat lies between the Pacific Ocean and the upper edge of the beach or coastal marsh. Species enjoying this niche are the

California sea lion The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of Califo ...

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

Snowy egret The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, a ...

Great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

and a variety of

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

murre ''Uria'' is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Europe as guillemots, in most of North America as murres, and in Newfoundland and Labrador as turr. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding s ...

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s and other shorebirds. Within the

area there are also

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

s and numerous other

mollusks Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The num ...

. The flanks of San Vicente Creek and another unnamed drainage further south in the preserve are coastal

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

habitat. This niche is an important nesting and feeding area for many bird species including

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

s. Since this marsh lacks

cordgrass ''Spartina'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Species in this genus are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Eu ...

, it is a poor nesting site of ducks. Dense pickleweed provides good habitat for a variety of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

s and

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s. North of the salt marsh of Vicente Creek lies the freshwater marsh and

seep A seep or flush is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the Earth's surface from an underground aquifer. Description Seeps are usually not of sufficient volume to be flowing beyond their immediate above-ground location. ...

age, which hosts a number of trees supporting bird-life and

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s. The arroyo willow here is important to migrating

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers T ...

s and other

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

Nearby features of interest

At the southern edge of the reserve lies the

Moss Beach Distillery Moss Beach Distillery is a restaurant in Moss Beach, California, located on a cliff which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It is officially designated as a California Point of Historical Interest. Originally established in 1927 as a speakeasy, it ...

, a California Point of Historical Interest, that has served as a clifftop restaurant since 1927. To the east of the reserve is the Seal Cove Inn, a luxury destination country inn operated by noted travel author Karen Brown. The opening sequence of the movie ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' was filmed on the bluffs overlooking the Reserve.

References

Other bibliographic sources used

* ''Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Concept Plan'',

Department of Parks and Recreation, April 1974 * ''Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Final Environmental Impact Report'',

Department of Parks and Recreation, March 1976 * U.S.

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...