Mendocino Coastal Fun Facts

Mendocino Headlands Frogs

While doing a night walk on the coast we heard a bunch of what sounded like bullfrogs on the coastal cliffs of the Headlands. We'd never heard of "marine frogs" and thought there wouldn't be enough fresh water to sustain a population of frogs. I called the docents of the Ford House, the Town of Mendocino Visitor's Center, and it turns out there is enough fresh water seeping down the cliffs to form fresh water ponds and allow the frogs to go from larvae, tadpole and adulthood - with some burrowing during the driest months. The towns aquifers are very close to the surface and cuts in the cliffs from old roads, whaling piers etc. allow the water to cut through the rocks and form the freshwater pools that stand pretty much all year. They're mostly just regular ol' (California invasive species) bullfrogs

. Found a home in the Headlands

Manchester, CA

Manchester is the eastern link for undersea telephone service to Hawaii and the Far East. This is the west coast's closest point to Hawaii, linked by cable in the 1950's, with a high capacity fiber-optic cable installed in 1989 to add data, voice and video links. In the last few years, more fiber-optic connections have made Manchester a crossroads of our digital world.

. A cross-section of a submarine communications cable.
1.- Polyethylene.
2.- Mylar tape.
3.- Stranded steel wires.
4.- Aluminium water barrier.
5.- Polycarbonate.
6.- Copper or aluminum tube.
7.- Petroleum jelly.
8.- Optical fibers.