There’s a happy ending to what started as an effort to save hundreds of endangered fish threatened by Southern California’s massive Palisades wildfire.
Hundreds of northern tidewater gobies are back in Topanga Creek today, after a unique rescue mission led by a Cal State Channel Islands researcher. Ash and other pollution from the fire polluted the creek, so the tiny fish had to be caught and taken to aquariums for safety until the creek was clean enough for them to be returned.
"The tidewater goby is a really unique fish. It's a small native fish that's only found in California," said Brenton Spies, a research biologist and professor at Cal State Channel Islands. "This is the northern tidewater goby. There are two different species of tidewater gobies. They're primarily found in our coastal lagoons and estuaries, in these brackish environments, or where the creeks meet the ocean."
He describes the gobies:
"They're super small. The largest one on record is just over two and a half inches. Most of them are in the one to two-inch range," said the researcher. "They're really hard to see, so if you looked into the water, you went to one of these sites, you probably wouldn't see them. They're camouflaged with the sand. They're different shades of tan and brown. They have these really beautiful iridescent colorations and pigments on them."
The species has been hard hit by the loss of habitat, the impact of droughts, and wildfires.
Spies added that one of the things that makes the tiny fish so unique is that they can live in salt and fresh water. "They can be found in complete fresh water, and they can be found in complete salt water. What makes them so amazing and resilient is that they are one of the very few fish that can handle all of these different types of salinity changes, temperature changes, and things like that."
The researcher has been studying the gobies, so when the fire moved towards Topanga Creek, he knew something had to be done. Spies said it’s not the first time this has happened. Similar threats to the fish in creeks occurred during the Thomas and Woolsey fires.
"Those are both fires which impacted tidewater goby habitats in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. At those points, we didn't really have action plans. We didn't really have a plan to respond really quickly, so learning from those fires, we were really able to jump into action and be able to provide assistance quickly."
So, even as the Palisades Fire was burning, a unique rescue mission was happening.
"They're found in the lower lagoons, so they're very shallow. We're talking knee deep," said Spies. "We used these nets called seine nets. They're a type of barrier net. Two people on each side can gently pull through a wetland, or ecosystem, and collect any fish or invertebrates in the water columns. So many volunteers and agencies helped. We had 20 to 30 people out there that day, from many different universities, and state and federal agencies."
Among those helping were some Cal State Channel Islands students who work in the researcher’s lab.
"It was extremely exciting, and also kind of surreal," said Sophia Hoolihan, a CSUCI student who helped with the rescue effort. She was an environmental science and resource management major who just graduated from CSUCI.
"This area had just burned to the ground, and it was a very emotional time for people. It was an amazing experience."
The 750 fish that were rescued were packed into ice chests with aerators and transported to temporary homes at the Heal the Bay Aquarium in Santa Monica and Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific.
On Tuesday morning, Hoolihan joined Spies and others involved in the original rescue effort. They returned to Topanga Creek to release hundreds of the tidewater gobies into the creek.
"It's wonderful. It's why people who are in the field of conservation and restoration," said Spies.
The species has been hard hit by the loss of habitat, the impacts of droughts, and wildfires. Researchers say that with the fish endangered, it was critical that the ones in Topanga Creek were rescued, and are now back in their natural habitat.
