As with all things in nature, the plant and animal species shown in Photo Gallery One and Photo Gallery Two enjoy a wide range of size, color, and even shape.  San Diego vernal pools are up to 400,000 years old. The indigenous peoples who lived here made full use of the bounty of life existing in these habitats. Only three percent of San Diego's original pools remain. It was in the early 1980s that we began to lose the remainder of what has always been here.   Some of the pools have been identified in the Miramar and Mira Mesa areas of San Diego.  Click on the thumbnail pictures below to see: 1, an aerial view of vernal pools around Challenger Middle School in Mira Mesa; 2, a wet season vernal pool habitat; and 3, a dry season vernal pool habitat.    

Vernal pools are naturally occurring depressions in the boulder-filled, hard red clay. The hardpan, or clay liner, prevents rainwater from percolating through the soil. When the pools fill with winter rains, water ponds on the surface, creating a temporary wetland. The water evaporates or transpires, leaving the pool to dry.