Only three decades ago, a handful of California gulls tending nests on a jut of land near Alviso were a wildlife novelty in the region, as they preferred such inland areas as Mono Lake to rear chicks. But they've been wildly successful since that discovery in 1980, multiplying at a dizzying rate -- from 24 adult gulls to 46,800 in 2008 -- a 2,000-fold increase. Their numbers jeopardize the success of a key goal of a $1 billion wetland restoration project under way in the South Bay.