Read Mission Local often?

Help grow our newsroom , joining the hundreds of San Franciscans who support us by giving below. Donate today!

It was the morning Attorney General Pam Bondi visited Alcatraz , and most eyes were on the crumbling prison President Donald Trump wants to re-open.

Coast guard boats bobbed in the waves, news helicopters circled overhead, and tourists squinted from Pier 39. The four-person crew of the Mike Reigle sailed right on by. They were more interested in life underwater.

Since June, the team of researchers aboard the Reigle have been studying how interactions with boats affect the behavior of whales off the San Francisco coast. Bondi’s visit happened to coincide with their fifth outing.

This early into the project, data collection is the researchers’

See Full Page