NORTH COUNTY -- If you have traveled the Interstate 5 corridor
for more than a few minutes, you have passed them. If you have
admired the bird life that swells and soars along the many miles of
sun-bathed coastline, you have known them. They are San Diego
County's watery connection between land and sea.
They are more than just brackish waters harboring mud and pickle
weed. They are rich depositories of marine life -- amphibians,
reptiles, insects, mammals of all kinds -- and the original home to
countless American Indians.
They exist in a constant state of change, their water volume
ebbing and flowing with each new tide, their appearance regulated
by the comings and goings of migrating birds.
San Diego Countyís coastline is punctuated by several major
lagoons, all of which have distinctive characteristics that are
supportive to their habitat. They are nestled between Del Mar and
Oceanside. One of the finest examples of saltwater lagoons on the
West Coast is Batiquitos.
Teeming with life
It is thought the name was derived from the regional Mexican
word "batiqui," which referred to a shallow dirt trough used as a
watering hole. To the untrained eye, the Batiquitos Lagoon might
appear to be just that -- a sticky slough where more than 185
species of birds gather to nest and fish.
But look just below the surface, and you will spy leopard sharks
patrolling the shores. Walk along the sandy banks where trap-door
spiders dwell, holed up in their hidden fortresses. Glance skyward
where jumbles of heron nests stitch the eucalyptus trees in a
patchwork of twigs and reeds. There are traces of middens dotting
the shores; more than 200 of the refuse heaps from cultures long
gone have been discovered so far.
Above and below, a fantastic and often unseen world invites
exploration. Lace up your imaginary hiking boots and take a walk
with me, and we will discover just a few of the hidden treasures of
First, a bit of history
Before we begin our trek, picture this place as it looked 10,000
years ago. The ocean to the west of Batiquitos was 400 feet lower
then. Frequent seismic activity oscillated across the land and
pushed parts of it ever higher. Many of the inland "mesas" for
which San Diego County is famous were sandy beach terraces at that
time. Along our coastline, the ocean waves were breaking much
farther out than they do today. The sea was shallow.
But a major change was beginning, and as the Earth's temperature
began to climb, the ice sheets that blanketed parts of North
America started to melt. The ocean crept higher, and fingers of
water pushed slowly into the little valleys that dot our present
coastline. The result was Batiquitos Lagoon.
Much has happened since then. In fact, the creeks entering the
lagoon have been delivering and depositing silt along its banks for
centuries. By all rights, the lagoon should be long gone as this
natural process of ebbing and flowing has altered the terrain.