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Sea Level Rise at the Arcata Marsh

“Sea Level Rise: North Unit of the Arcata Marsh,” an exhibition of photographs by Aldaron Laird, is on display through February at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, 569 South G St. in Arcata. Hours are Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Waterkeeper Alliance

The international Waterkeeper Alliance connects local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. To champion clean water and strong communities, Waterkeeper Alliance advocates for issues common to Waterkeeper programs.

Each Waterkeeper program is an independent organization that reflects the needs of the waterbody and community it represents. The common thread for each Waterkeeper program is a person who serves as the public advocate for that body of water.

Waterkeepers are part investigator, scientist, lawyer, and advocate who represent all the users of the watershed who rely on clean water. All Waterkeepers also have a boat ranging in size from canoes to research vessels, but sometimes a pair of hip boots is more important than a boat. Sometimes a legal brief is more important than either. Each waterbody has its own unique challenges requiring a distinct and well-defined strategy.

Contact Humboldt Waterkeeper

Humboldt Waterkeeper

Mailing Address:

600 F Street, Suite 3 #810

Arcata, CA 95521

Physical Address:

145 G Street, Suite A

Arcata, CA 95521

707.499.3678

Jennifer Kalt, Executive Director

707.499.3678

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Jasmin Segura, Bay Tours Coordinator

707.601.1142

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Sylvia van Royen, GIS and Policy Analyst

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To receive occasional email updates and action alerts, send an email to:

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Who Controls the California Coast? SpaceX, Oil and a Fight Over Coastal Power

An unprecedented federal assault threatens the future of California's beautiful and environmentally fragile coastline

From rocket ships to oil rigs—how twisted does a tale have to be to connect the two? In this exploration, it will all come together, like a hospital gown.

SpaceX, proposed oil rigs and the Commerce Department’s review of California’s coastal-management program are all pieces in the fight over who controls the California coast. Washington and California fundamentally disagree about what the coast is for. One would think it would be for California.

The story picks up where Elon Musk decides to go to Mars. Musk poured money into SpaceX, and by 2024 Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County had launched 46 SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. Musk aimed to push launches to 100 per year to speed deployment of the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

The California Coastal Commission (CCC) was alarmed by this and began reviewing the proposed increases. California voters created the California Coastal Commission in 1972 to give the state a strong voice in protecting its coast.

Alarmed, the commission began reviewing the proposed increase in space launches. SpaceX said it didn’t need the commission’s permission. A clash over who gets to greenlight a rocket turned into a struggle over who approves new oil rigs.

The commission’s objections cited increased sonic booms, wildlife disruptions and public coastal closures. After reviewing the proposed increase and repeatedly seeking information that SpaceX and the Air Force did not provide, the commission objected to the additional launches, E&E News reported.

Enter President Trump, no fan of California

“I hate the way California is being run,” Trump said in January 2026. “Maybe we’re just going to have to make them pay … because they don’t listen to us,” he said in October 2020.

Connected to Musk in the good-old-billionaire-boy network, Trump signed an executive order in August 2025 directing federal agencies to accelerate commercial space development. Two months later, the Air Force authorized the increase. But the order did something else. On May 20, 2026, the Commerce Department ordered a full formal review of California’s Coastal Management Program, the legal machinery that gives the state a voice when federal activities affect its coast.

Emma Haydocy, senior manager of coasts and climate initiative at the Surfrider Foundation, says attempts followed in Congress to restrict the commission and weaken provisions of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, but those legislative efforts went nowhere.

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Researchers Found Almost Triple the Normal Number of Dead Marine Mammals on North Coast Beaches Last Month

Scientists catalogued the highest number of dead marine mammals in over a decade on the North Coast’s beaches last month — almost triple the typical monthly average.

Twenty-eight marine mammals were found dead last month. Researchers usually find 10 in July, Dawn Goley, the director of Cal Poly Humboldt’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program, told the Outpost. Most of them were seals and sea lions, but at least two dead humpback whales were included too. The program has tracked dead marine mammals over a 140-mile stretch of coastline from northern Mendocino County up into Del Norte since 2012, checking out the same spots at the same times to ensure consistency.

It’s too soon to tell what’s causing the inflation, Goley said, and many of the animals are too decomposed to examine anyway. This year’s El Niño hasn’t gathered enough strength yet to heat coastal waters close to shore, but it’s getting warmer further out to sea. The ocean also sometimes suffers through heat waves, which have become more common over the last five-ten years, Goley said. Boat strikes may have killed some of them. Some may have starved. Researchers don’t have exact data on the amount of living creatures here either; an increased sea lion and seal population, as well as increased boat traffic, might be driving the rate up as well. “But,” Goley said, “Given the magnitude of it, something else, something unique, is going on this year, and I’m sure it has to do with environmental changes.”

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