June 18, 2025 - A crisis that began with the Los Angeles fires came full circle this
week with a (91Ƶ) Environmental Science & Resource (ESRM) faculty member, his students, and
other agencies and organizations returning endangered fish back to a safe environment
after five months.
On June 17, ESRM faculty member Brenton Spies and students from a 91Ƶ summer research program helped to return Northern tidewater gobies back into the Topanga Lagoon after the fish spent five months in two Southern California aquariums, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and Heal the Bay Aquarium in Santa Monica.
“The fish are doing really well,” Spies said. “They were kind of on a vacation, getting fed twice a day, with no stress of predators.”
Spies and his students have been helping with the monitoring of tidewater gobies and their habitat with biologists from the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, which is managing the restoration of Topanga Lagoon. A major goal of that restoration effort is to expand habitat and breeding among the gobies.
Spies and a 91Ƶ senior who graduated in May with a degree in ESRM - Sophia Hoolihan - worked in concert with representatives from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, U.S. Geological Survey, and California State Parks. Representatives from all of the organizations met on January 17 and were escorted by safety personnel to the shores of the Topanga Lagoon.
“We had to kind of jump on a call and make it all happen really fast,” Spies said. “We had to get a bunch of ice chests, travel to the lagoon and then sort which fish we could take.”
Hoolihan remembers the rescue well. She and two other seniors had been doing their senior capstone research projects on the gobies, so she knew how to help Spies sort which fish had the best chance of surviving.
“We were doing the last of our surveys when the fires happened,” Hoolihan said. “The goal was to get the gobies out before the debris flow came down. So, we all met in Santa Monica - about seven or eight cars - working with endangered species was a dream come true for me, and I’ve always loved the idea of saving an endangered species.”
Armed with three Coleman coolers, hand nets and larger, weighted “seine” nets, Spies, Hoolihan and the other volunteers splashed into the lagoon in full body waders and masks to guard against the smoke.
“We had like 12 to 15 people helping out,” Hoolihan said. “Two people would hold the net and the other people would walk out 10 feet or so. Then we’d put the gobies in five-gallon buckets and somebody would sort them using handheld nets, looking for fungal disease. One fish with fungal disease can spread.”
Heal the Bay and the Aquarium of the Pacific were ready to take the gobies, and cared
for them until June 17, when Spies, Hoolihan, three 91Ƶ first year ESRM students,
and partners returned the gobies to the lagoon while officials from the cooperating
agencies stood by as the scientists and wildlife officials.
“This group of fish are small but mighty, and they have physically grown so much during their time here,” said Aquarium of the Pacific aquarist Stacy Hammond, who helped with the release and care of the fish. “They’ve returned back to their homes more resilient than ever.”
About two inches long and living less than a year, it’s easy to dismiss the relatively unimpressive gobies, but they are a critical link in the health of the overall environment. Found only in California, they can handle extreme changes in salinity, temperature and oxygen levels typical to spots where the fresh water of the streams meets the saltwater of the ocean.
“They’re so small and they don’t have the vibrant colors everybody wants in their aquarium, but they are so important to the ecosystem,” Spies said. “They really are a keystone species. They hold the food web together.”
Tidewater gobies likely had swum in the lagoons of Southern California for thousands of years, but loss of habitat, drought and introduction of non-native predators have taken a toll on the tidewater gobies.
In 2017, Spies worked with representatives from state and government agencies and UCLA to strategize about relocating gobies from the Topanga Lagoon to other locations in order to increase their numbers. Spies involved 91Ƶ undergraduate research students, who regularly tested the health of the goby environments, and when something like a fierce El Niño, the Refugio Oil Spill or the Palisades Fire threaten them, Spies stays on the alert.
“There are very few of us who study the tidewater goby even though it’s endangered,” Spies said. “Very few scientists are permitted to collect them so it’s a niche I’ve had to maintain.”
As for Hoolihan, the emergency relocation and return to their home has inspired her to pursue a master’s degree and stick with her dream of working with endangered species.
For an in-depth look at Spies’ research, visit: Tidewater Gobies.