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California

Wild pigs are becoming increasingly problematic in California's Bay Area.

Wild Pigs Are Causing Big Problems in California’s Bay Area, and Their Population Seems to Be Growing

Land managers and other authorities are ramping up efforts to trap and kill the destructive, non-native animals

Perched on the southern edge of the picturesque Monterey Bay, Pacific Grove, California, is home to the Monarch Grove Sanctuary, one of the largest overwintering sites of monarch butterflies in the region.

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2025

From a barbecue capital in Texas to the site of the first offensive victory for American forces in the Revolutionary War in New York, these spots are worthy of a visit this year

A photogrammetric reconstruction of the submarine USS F-1, showing the conning tower and collision damage that caused the boat to sink

New Research

See a Lost U.S. Navy Submarine, Sunk During a World War I Test Run, in Digital Detail

Researchers descended to the wreck in underwater vehicles to collect data for 3-D models

Anna's hummingbirds seem to be thriving amid urbanization in California, even as other hummingbird species have declined due to human activity.

California’s Hummingbirds Have Changed Their Beaks in Response to Backyard Feeders, Study Finds

With plenty of artificial nectar available, Anna’s hummingbirds have expanded their range northward and their beaks have tended to become longer and larger

The last operating Woolworth lunch counter, in Bakersfield, California, seen in the 1990s.

The Last Operating Woolworth’s Lunch Counter Will Be Up and Running Once Again in California

A neighborhood icon, the Bakersfield luncheonette will mix modern design touches with classic decor

Mourning doves, European starlings, crows and other common backyard species have been found dead on a residential street in Richmond, California, in recent months.

Birds Are Dying Mysterious, Violent Deaths in This Northern California Neighborhood—and No One Can Explain Why

Residents of Richmond, a city in the Bay Area, say they have watched dozens of birds drop dead in recent months

During the squid run, tens of thousands of opalescent squids (Doryteuthis opalescens) gather together.

In Order to Unravel the Many Mysteries of Squids, Scientists Dive Into Their Mating Frenzies

Marine biologists hope to find out more about a creature that is vital to a healthy ecosystem and the state’s fishery

Arborists are reforesting Detroit's Poletown East neighborhood with giant sequoias and other species of trees.

Giant Sequoias Are Taking Root in an Unexpected Place: Detroit

Arborists are planting urban groves of the world’s largest trees in one of the city’s most blighted neighborhoods

Ronan the California sea lion sits in front of a pool at UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory.

This Sea Lion Can Headbang Better Than You—Watch Her Out-Perform Humans at Keeping a Beat

A new study of Ronan, a sea lion famous for her dancing skills, challenges the idea that only vocal learners can match a tempo

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There's More to That

Looking Back on the L.A. Wildfires Through the Lens of Two Photographers

As wildfire becomes an increasingly lethal force that’s remaking broad swaths of California, people and animals alike are in the hot seat

Birds glide above the forests that surround Anacapa Island, California.

What Free Diving in a Kelp Forest Taught Me About an Overlooked but Incredibly Valuable Ecosystem

A photographer shares the epiphanies she has had while chronicling underwater jungles off the California coast

People gather on Kaanapali Beach, a popular tourist destination near Lahaina, Hawaii, in August 2024.

Destinations Hit by Natural Disasters Need Tourists Back—but Maybe Not in the Same Way as Before

Places like Maui and Asheville, North Carolina, rebuilding after wildfires and hurricanes, are doing so with a mind to sustainable tourism

Also known as by-the-wind sailors, the free-floating Velella velella are coating California beaches once again.

Odd-Looking Blue Creatures Are Washing Up in Large Groups on California’s Beaches Once Again

Strandings of these jellyfish-like animals, sometimes called “by-the-wind sailors,” usually mean spring is coming

Volunteers with the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute in Santa Barbara, California, rescue a sick sea lion that's likely suffering from domoic acid poisoning.

Sea Lion Bites Surfer Amid One of the Worst Outbreaks of Domoic Acid Poisoning That California Wildlife Rescuers Can Remember

Sea lions, dolphins and birds are sick and dying because of a toxic algae bloom in Southern California—and animal care organizations are overwhelmed by the scale

Visitors to Manzanar National Historic Site will be able to run the bases around the restored baseball field, sit on the bleachers and look out into the looming mountain range from home plate.

The Moving Story of Bringing Baseball Back to Manzanar, Where Thousands of Japanese Americans Were Incarcerated During World War II

In honor of his mother and others imprisoned at the internment camp, baseball player Dan Kwong has restored a diamond in the California desert

Stephen Tabor with the Huntington Library's copy of the Gutenberg Bible

Gutenberg Bible Reunited With Rare 15th-Century Devotional Print Once Tucked Inside Its Pages

Two centuries after they were separated, the print and the Bible are on display together at the Huntington Library in California

After a trolley conductor accused Alice Stebbins Wells of using her husband's police badge to avoid paying for public transit, the Los Angeles Police Department allowed her to wear a more feminine uniform of her own design, along with a special “Policewoman’s Badge No. 1.”

Women Who Shaped History

Armed With Just a Badge, Los Angeles’ First Policewoman Protected the City’s Most Vulnerable in the Early 20th Century

Appointed in 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells patrolled dance halls, skating rinks, penny arcades and movie theaters, keeping these public spaces free of vice and immorality

The Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles experiences slow-moving landslides that accelerated last fall, according to recent research.

Parts of California Are Sinking, and It Could Worsen the Effects of Sea-Level Rise, NASA Study Finds

The ground in many parts of the state—including Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Central Valley—is subsiding due to groundwater withdrawal, landslides and compacting of sediment

In October 2024, scientists created dozens of man-made nests and deposited 300,000 Chinook salmon eggs. Now, those eggs are hatching.

Chinook Salmon Are Swimming in This California River for the First Time in More Than 80 Years

The juvenile fish recently hatched from eggs that scientists deposited in the gravelly riverbed of the North Yuba River last fall

Nutria have voracious appetites for vegetation, leading them to destroy wetland ecosystems.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wants You to Eat These Giant, Invasive Rodents

As part of National Invasive Species Week, the agency is calling on Americans to “eat the invaders,” including swamp-dwelling nutria

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