Invasions at the Lake

Lake Merritt was the birthplace of an increasingly important field of science--the study of marine invasions. It started in the early 1960s when the staff of the Rotary Nature Center guided Oakland teenager Jim Carlton into doing a science project on the animals in Lake Merritt. The Lake, which is really a brackish-water lagoon and not a freshwater lake, is home to an exotic stew of organisms from around the world. Carleton found Korean shrimp, Japanese gobies, Australian tube-worms, Atlantic Ocean sea squirts, and Mediterranean mussels. While still in high school, he discovered a Chilean beach-hopper--a small shrimp-like organism that does not occur anywhere else in North America. Carlton's discoveries led to a career studying marine invasions. Today, he is the world's leading expert in the field.

Andrew Cohen
University of California, Berkeley

  "Walk Along the Water"
  © Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.

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Jim Carlton's work on aquatic invaders in San Francisco Bay - PBS

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