Julian Wray

Yellow caution tape stretches across a beach, where a red "Danger" sign cautions about 'toxins from algae bloom in the water can hard people and animals. Behind it is a very green lake where rope outlines a swimming area.

Toxic algae blooms becoming more common at Lake Temescal and other East Bay swim sites

As global temperatures rise, the frequency and size of dangerous blue-green algae blooms are increasing worldwide. For East Bay residents, that means more warnings not to touch the water at local lakes and reservoirs.  Warnings and closures have been seen across the East Bay in recent years, from Lake Anza in Berkeley to Lake Merritt in Oakland, where an algal bloom deprived the water of oxygen and killed thousands of fish in 2022. Coming into contact with the toxic algae…

By on November 21, 2023
A man and woman are piling brush in a cart. In this black and white photo, a pile of brush in a cart is on the left, with a man's hands in it, his face turned to the right .He is masked, with a black T-shirt, glasses and cap. To his right is a woman, her face downward as she works in a black jacket and baseball cap.

‘Without volunteers, this park would burn down’: Groups work to reduce fire risk in Oakland.

Dale Risden always worries when he sees the densely packed trees growing on the hills in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park, which spans 500 acres within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone designated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Risden is the chair of Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, a community group of volunteers. Members work each weekend to clear fire hazards by hand, but Risden says it’s not enough. Volunteer organizations like Friends of Joaquin Miller…

By on October 26, 2023
The backs of five people on a beach as they walk toward the bay to swim, from left: a man in black swim trunks and no top, a man with black swim trunks and a long-sleeved black shirt, a woman in a one-piece black bathing suit and short sandy blonde hair, a woman in a black one-piece bathing suit and a tatoo in the middle of her back, her dark hair in a bun, and a woman in long brown hair, wearing a two-piece bathing suit, white on top and orange on the bottom.

Bay dipping in Alameda: ‘It can feel really good to get into the water, especially cold water.’

Early on a Saturday morning, Polly Conway picks up coffee and drives to Crown Beach in Alameda. She sets up a tent in the sand and waits under gloomy skies until the rest of the group shows up, and the monthly meeting of the East Bay Dipping Society is underway. Dipping is as simple as getting in the water for a few minutes, sometimes with chatting involved, and always followed by coffee and snacks. Conway started open water swimming during…

By , , , and on October 14, 2023