Thirty miles west of San Francisco, the partial government shutdown is having a big impact on scientists studying elephant seals around the Farallon Islands.
Since U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel are not around to help supply the researchers, volunteers clamber onto the craggy island hauling bottles of water for the scientists and jugs of diesel for the research station's generator.
Besides impacting research in our local Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history is threatening research projects all across the country.