Deborah Breannan's guest appearances

Deborah Breannan

San Diego News Fix

Wendy Fry

Adam Schiff

David Brooks

Eddie Gallagher

Nadia Bolz-Weber

Ben Smith

Eric Topol

Kate Mannion

Patrick Henry

Donald Trump Jr

Horton Plaza

Tom Franklin

Gavin Newsom

Andy Green

Cesar Chavez

OwlTail

Alongside auto wrecking yards and shipping centers off state Route 905, a pop-up world has emerged with some of the strangest creatures to swim in six inches of water. Here aquatic plants grow next to cacti, and animals that have waited for decades in the dust come to life. In this Otay Mesa preserve are some of San Diego’s vernal pools, fleeting water bodies that appear and vanish over the course of a season. They don’t fill up every year; just in wet ones, when San Diego’s ubiquitous hard-pan soil turns shallow depressions into temporary holding ponds. This season, rainfall is 36 percent above average, and the Otay Mesa site is a water world of ephemeral pools. With them come a host of rare and endangered species: San Diego and Riverside fairy shrimp, spadefoot toads, and numerous plants that occur only in or near San Diego. Pacific tree frogs, small crustaceans, dragonfly larvae and beetles also dwell in these miniature ecosystems.

Alongside auto wrecking yards and shipping centers off state Route 905, a pop-up world has emerged with some of the strangest creatures to swim in six inches of water. Here aquatic plants grow next to cacti, and animals that have waited for decades in the dust come to life. In this Otay Mesa preserve are some of San Diego’s vernal pools, fleeting water bodies that appear and vanish over the course of a season. They don’t fill up every year; just in wet ones, when San Diego’s ubiquitous hard-pan soil turns shallow depressions into temporary holding ponds. This season, rainfall is 36 percent above average, and the Otay Mesa site is a water world of ephemeral pools. With them come a host of rare and endangered species: San Diego and Riverside fairy shrimp, spadefoot toads, and numerous plants that occur only in or near San Diego. Pacific tree frogs, small crustaceans, dragonfly larvae and beetles also dwell in these miniature ecosystems.

Vernal Pools House Strange Creatures For A Fleeting Season | Deborah Breannan