| LOCATION Cargill Salt's 29,000 acres of salt evaporation ponds ring the South Bay like a necklace of glistening red, green, and blue gems -- starting at Hayward on the east side, wrapping around the southern edge near San Jose, and ending at Redwood City on the west side. Over 12,000 acres of these salt ponds form part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. HISTORY Native Americans were the first salt gatherers along the Bay shore. The first commercial operation to use modern methods was started in the mid 1800s. By the 1920s a number of separate salt companies had merged to form the Leslie Salt Company, which, in turn, was sold to Cargill in 1978. HABITAT Although not a natural part of the Bay's ecosystem, salt ponds and nearby tidal marshes and sloughs form a rather unique and very productive habitat for local and migratory wildlife. The 29,000 acre salt pond system is laced by 200 miles of levees which provide upland and nesting habitat. Bay water enters the pond system at Hayward and Mountain View. Exposed to sun, wind, and low humidity of the region, the salt water evaporates and its salinity increases. It is moved through a series of ponds to bring it closer to the crystallizer beds in Newark, where crystallization occurs and salt is harvested. The whole process, from water intake to salt harvest, takes about five years. WILDLIFE The 200 miles of levees (some of which are more than 100 years old) that form the salt ponds provide nesting sites for Caspian, Forster's, and Least Terns; Avocets; Black-necked Stilts; Snowy Plover; Killdeer; and waterfowl. Small islands, added during construction of some ponds, also provide nesting refuge. The different salinity levels of the ponds support and attract a variety of wildlife. At normal Bay salinity the intake ponds' vegetation, invertebrates, and fish attract waterfowl, American White Pelicans, Gulls, Terns, Cormorants, Egrets and Herons. At higher salinity ponds only salt-tolerant worms, brine flies, waterboatmen, and brine shrimp remain, but in such large quantities, that shorebirds such as Willets, Avocets, Stilts, Red-necked and Wilson's Phalaropes, and Eared Grebes gather by the thousands to feed. Salt ponds also add to the value of nearby tidal areas by providing high-tide feeding and resting refuge for shorebirds -- acting much like shallow lagoons. The marshes and sloughs surrounding the ponds are home to several endangered or threatened species such as California Clapper Rail, Black Rail, and Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse. STOCK IMAGES We maintain a portfolio of over 2,000 salt pond photos: wildlife, habitat, and marsh restoration. John Cang Photography owns copyright to all photos, and photos can be made available for publication in print media or Internet. To obtain more information, to license photos, or to request a slide presentation on Salt Pond Wildlife and Restoration please contact us at johncphoto@aol.com
See Stock List |
Click on photos to enlarge            |