Santa Monica Baykeeper

Santa Monica Baykeeper along with the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission trekked into the Santa Monica Mountains in October to conduct the yearly New Zealand Mudsnail Survey. New Zealand Mudsnails (NZMS) are a tiny invasive species that was first documented in the Malibu Creek watershed in spring of 2005. Since their appearance, yearly surveys have been conducted to track the density and spread of the invasive snail.

NZMS range in size from a grain of sand to 1/8 of an inch and wreak havoc on native organisms and watershed ecosystems. They outcompete native species that are food for fish such as Steelhead Trout. NZMS are great hitchhikers and attach to shoes (especially waders), equipment such as fishing gear, trekking poles and bike tires as well as animals traveling from stream to stream. It only takes one snail to infest an entire stream because they reproduce asexually.

Unfortunately, the surveys have found that NZMS are alive and well in the Malibu Watershed, increasing to 7 streams in 2008 from 5 streams in 2007. One of them being Cold Creek, a pristine stream in the Malibu Watershed. Since 2007, the snail population densities increased and spread further upstream.

PLEASE HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF NZMS!

Avoid contact with water when ever possible but if your activity involves water contact, follow these simple steps to reduce the chances of spreading this invader to other streams:

1. Don’t be a carrier! Avoid transferring anything wet (especially waders, boots and gear) from stream to stream.

2. Keep it DRY! After every trip to a stream or lake, remove all mud and debris, visually inspect, and completely dry your belongings. If you can, put your wet things in the dryer on high heat for a minimum of 2 hours. Freezing items for 48 hours will also kill mudsnails.

Please help protect our creeks and streams!