3.4 Biological Resources
Nearby Sensitive Resources
The closest California least tern and western snowy plover nesting sites are located at Batiquitos Lagoon,
which is within two miles of the receiver site (Figure 3.4-1).
Nearshore waters are characterized by mostly sandy bottom with a patch of high-relief reef in the
northern/central part of the receiver site. The high-relief reef begins 525 feet offshore in -6 feet MLLW
at a distance of about 225 feet from the seaward boundary of the fill site (Table 3.4-2). Feather boa kelp
and sea palms were noted on the reef in 1997. No surface canopy of kelp was mapped in the vicinity in
1999, and the closest kelp bed in 1997 was approximately one mile south. Historically, kelp has occurred
offshore at depths greater than 20 feet above MLLW.
South Carlsbad South
Within Receiver Site Boundaries
Sand is the predominant habitat at this proposed receiver site. Sand depths averaged three inches in the
upper, 10 inches in the mid, and 15 inches in the lower intertidal. The site was revisited in July and sand
depths had increased four to ten-fold at specific locations and averaged 31 inches overall. Sand crabs,
polychaete worms, and bean clams were noted in the sand habitat. Only a few gulls were observed
foraging and resting at the site during the May 1999 survey.
During the May 1999 survey, 30 to 100 percent cobble bands occurred along the back beach in the upper
intertidal and less dense cobble cover extended up to 105 feet seaward in localized areas. During the July
1999 survey, dense cobble bands were pushed higher up the beach and did not extend more than about
40 feet from the bluff. Mid and low intertidal areas had less than cobble cover. No marine life was
observed on the cobble.
A hard substrate area (approximately 183 feet long) occurred in the lower intertidal between 1,251 and
1,434 feet south of the site's northern boundary and 230 feet seaward of the back beach. The area
consisted of scattered low relief rocks and bench. The low relief rocks supported few marine resources.
Filamentous red algae was common and coralline algae and hermit crabs were sparse in occurrence.
Page 3.4-20
Regional Beach Sand Project EIR/EA
99-69\SANDAG EIREA 3.4.wpd 7/17/00
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