A researcher working from an air boat takes an Eckman dredge to sample benthic invertebrates such as insects, snails and worms. At the time of the photo (8 July 2010)Bear River Bay was very shallow because its inflow (Bear River)was almost fully diverted for agricultural use. Shortly thereafter, nearly the entire wetland/bay was dry.


The bay supports hundreds of thousands of shorebirds, waterfowl, gulls, pelicans and other birds that feed on the invertebrates and fish in the bay.