Critter Roundup Begins at Lagoon

Tiptoeing through the brush, Jack Topel lowered a strand of oat grass, trying to capture a Western Fence lizard with a slip knot at the edge of the Malibu Lagoon near Surfrider Beach.

"It's old school," Topel said of the device as the reptile, which is also known as a blue belly, scurried away and out of reach.

Topel, who is an environmental scientist with the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, was working alongside ecologists Karina Johnston and Elena Tuttle as three State Parks rangers looked on.

The lizards will be relocated upstream on state property, according to Topel.

"Eventually they will find their way back," Topel said.

During the lizard-catching process, former Malibu City Council candidate Andy Lyon walked by carrying a surfboard and demanded to know how much they were being paid.

"I'm a volunteer," Johnston said.

The three scientists were capturing lizards by hand as part of effort to collect wildlife in areas expected to be disturbed by bulldozers as part of the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project.

Opponents have cried fowl on this plan, arguing that the wildlife will be killed by the bulldozers, whose drivers will not be able to see underground burrows, nests or small animals. They also believe the endangered Tidewater Goby fish will be harmed.

On Monday, volunteers, scientists and students collected native plants, including Jaumea Carnosa, at the edge of the lagoon.

The succulent-like plant is able to tolerate brackish water and will be replanted once the project is complete, according to Karen Flagg, head restoration ecologist at Santa Barbara-based Growing Solutions.

Ten volunteers and students from Growing Solutions gathered the plants and placed them in black crates, which will taken back to Santa Barbara, where they will be taken care of until the project is complete.

"You don't know what you've lost until it's gone," Flagg said of the preservation effort.

According to Suzanne Goode, a senior resource ecologist for State Parks, the salvaging process is part of a plan to save as many animals and native plants as possible. 

"We're relocating as many as we can," Goode said.

During the construction phase of the project, biologists will be walking in front of the bulldozer to make sure the machine does not harm any wildlife. Training took place on Monday, she said.

"They'll be looking for nests or anything like that, that we missed. Although we think we have a pretty good handle on the nests that are out there right now. I have an intern that is spending pretty much full-time checking on the nests we have identified and checking on their progress," Goode said.

She added that there are some nests that belong to Black Phoebes, Coots and Grackles. 

"Those are the ones that have nests, and as far as the Coot nests, we figure if they lay their eggs on such and such a day, they will be gone by the time we do anything that is near them. The Phoebe nests are under the bridges and we have netting in front of a different bridge where there is no Phoebe nest to make sure they don't lay eggs there," Goode said.

Goode said any active nests that remain will be marked with caution tape and the contractor will have to keep the sound level to a 65 decibels when working nearby.

"Some birds are more tolerant to having activity around them than others," she said, adding that there are no birds that are of any sensitive species. 

Fencing is expected to be put up around the lagoon as early as this week.

According to scientists, birds that are expected to come to the lagoon once the project is completed include the Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Whimbrel and the Laong-billed Dowitcher. These birds are not currently found in the lagoon.