Hobbies And Interests
Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly
The Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly was once thought to be extinct. It hadn't been seen in more than 10 years until 1994. The butterfly lives on the south coast of Los Angeles in the Palos Verdes Peninsula. This is a coastal scrub community that has decreased in size due to urban development. Adults develop in mid spring to mate and lay eggs. The specie only lays eggs on a single host plant, called locoweed. The locoweed is destroyed by vehicles, other plants and weed control, which has also endangered the Palos Verdes blue butterfly's survival.
El Segundo Blue Butterfly
The El Segundo Blue Butterfly used to be native to 36 squares miles of Los Angeles. Now it can only be found in two areas: sand dunes near Los Angeles International Airport and Chevron's El Segundo Refinery. The butterfly only lives for a few days, which is enough time to mate and lay eggs on host plants. The butterfly is endangered due to a loss of habitat and the introduction of new plants that the El Segundo Blue cannot feed from.
California Least Tern
Found breeding in Los Angeles, the California least tern is an endangered bird. It is a small seabird that measures no more than 10 inches in length when full grown. The bird can be identified from its white forehead, yellow feet and black-tipped yellow bill. They feed in shallow estuaries on anchovies, silversides and other small fish. Urban development has endangered the species. They have to live near shorelines that have become urbanized, where they fall prey to domestic cats and other animals attracted to human activity, like raccoons and foxes.
Gray Whale
The North Pacific gray whale can be found in the waters of Los Angeles' beaches. The whale can grow up to 15 meters in length and weigh up to 35 ton. Their skin is light and brown gray in color. They feed in shallow shelf waters on baitfish, red crabs, mysids and amphipods. The reason they are endangered is due a loss of habitat, especially waters where the adults give birth to their young. Other factors affecting their survival are noise pollution and chemical contamination. You can often catch a glimpse of gray whales while on a boat tour of Los Angeles.
Unarmored Threespine Stickleback
The unarmored threespine stickleback is a freshwater fish on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered list. The fish's body is 2 inches long and doesn't have scales. The male fish builds a nest made of mucus thread from its kidney. Once a female lays her eggs in it, the male will aggressively protect them. The specie can be found in the Santa Clara River's drainage, the Los Angeles River and San Diego County. The stickleback is endangered because of the loss of Southern California watersheds.