A Life as a Longview at Chimney Rock
A walk along the bluffs with marine ecologist Dr. Sarah Allen
On a windless weekday afternoon in December, we pulled into the small parking lot at Chimney Rock, an outcrop on the headlands of Point Reyes National Seashore. We were there to spend the afternoon with Dr. Sarah Allen, a marine ecologist, former science advisor to the National Park Service, and elephant seal expert. Three autumns prior, we had stood together at Elephant Seal Overlook, where she had shared an abundance of stories about the pinnipeds sprawled out below.
Dr. Allen has studied marine birds and mammals from the Gulf of the Farallons to Antarctica, and co-authored the comprehensive Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast: Baja, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia. Her relationship with this coastline spans decades—having grown up in Marin and spent 15 years as a scientist at Point Reyes National Seashore. As she set off down the Chimney Rock trail, her movements reflected both intimate familiarity and fresh wonder. We passed Monterey Cypress, herds of deer, and a lone coyote as we wound our way to the outermost prominence. While we marveled at Harbor Seals basking with their young pups in the sun, she quietly counted and recorded their numbers—her attention both scientific and reverential.
Making our way up to the point along a trail designated for "authorized personnel," the landscape revealed itself in abundance: rafts of Brown Pelicans floating in coves below the cliffs, a mating pair of Peregrine Falcons perched atop a rock, a juvenile Bald Eagle riding thermal updrafts. Dr. Allen's lifetime of observation has witnessed profound changes in these species' stories—from their near collapse in the 1960s and 1970s due to agricultural pesticides, to their gradual recovery through persistent advocacy, education, and legislation.
Following the trail back to the historic lifeboat station, Dr. Allen pointed to groups of surf scoters bobbing in the water. A bull elephant seal dozed on the rocky beach beside the station. She shared that these remarkable creatures can dive 6,000 feet underwater and spend about nine months of the year in the ocean—their lives mostly hidden from human view.
Standing among clusters of wooly Seaside Buckwheat, listening to the clicks and grunts of newly arrived elephant seals, we felt the layered presence of each species. Through Dr. Allen's careful attention, we glimpsed the intricate relationships that bind this headland's ecology together—a web of life both resilient and precarious, demanding our continued care and wonder.
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