Yesterday, 30 June 2023, was deemed by the National Museum of Natural History to be International Polychaete Day, and the Smithsonian had an entire day of talks and activities for visitors to learn about the marine segmented worms. And you know me: I’m in favor of any event that draws…
Tag: natural history
An inadvertent voyeur
A week ago I was with a group of students at Moss Landing, where we spent a couple of hours watching birds on our way down to Fort Ord Natural Reserve for an overnight camping trip. The visit was well-timed: we arrived at low tide so there was a lot…
The odd couple
Today my co-teacher, Gabe, and I took our Ecology students up the coast a bit for the first field trip of the semester. We spent the morning at the bottom of Big Basin State Park, where we did a little walking and a lot of looking and talking. In 2.5…
An ocean and a lagoon
Yesterday and last night California was hit by an atmospheric river bringing lots of rain and the flooding that comes along with it. Combined with a spring high tide, the storm surge gave us tremendous swells and surges along the shores of Monterey Bay. At this moment it isn’t raining…
After the breach
California is currently being slammed by another atmospheric river. A series of storms is blowing through, bringing lots of rain, which we always need. The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning and a high wind advisory here, lasting through tomorrow evening (New Year’s Eve). It is indeed blustery,…
A different perspective
Yesterday I had the great fortune to visit a new intertidal site. It can be accessed only by crossing private property. The property owner is my next-door neighbor, and he said I can visit any time. As I said, lucky me! The site is a little north of Pigeon Point,…
Rock stars
Some organisms, like some people, have a charisma that just can’t be explained. For me, the sea palm (Postelsia palmiformis) has always been one such organism. Maybe part of its charm is the fact that it’s not very common; it lives on rocky outcrops on exposed outer coasts, which aren’t…
Earthwatch 1: Counting crowberry
This summer we finally got to take a trip that had originally been scheduled for 2020. It was an Earthwatch expedition to Acadia National Park in Maine. It was also the first time I’d traveled outside the Pacific time zone, flown, and taken public transit since the COVID-19 pandemic began….
Natural Bridges
Last week we had some of the best low tides of the season, and I was grateful to spend three consecutive mornings in the intertidal. The picture-taking conditions were fantastic when I went to Natural Bridges, and I snapped away like a madwoman. Unfortunately, last week was also finals week,…
Trip report: Big Creek Natural Reserve
For the final field trip of the quarter for Introduction to Field Research and Conservation, I took the class to the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve. Located in the Santa Lucia Mountains south of Big Sur, Big Creek was the fourth of the UCSC Natural Reserves we visited this quarter. The…