Fall is in full effect here on the Central Coast, and we are enjoying the crisp mornings and clear days that go along with it. Fall is typically the slowest time of year for fieldwork so we are mostly catching up on activities back here at the office and planning upcoming projects, but that’s not to say we haven’t been out in the field this month.
Thank you, cleanup volunteers!
We hope some of you got out this month for Creeks to Coast Cleanup Day, where nearly 2,000 wonderful volunteers picked up about 11,500 pounds of trash from our creeks, parks, open spaces, and coastlines on International Coastal Cleanup Day. Check out our last blog post for photos and information about the 2019 effort.
Here at the Morro Bay Estuary Program, we were leading the cleanup effort along the Embarcadero as well as across the bay on the sandspit. We found many different items including: cigarette butts, plastic and glass bottles, and construction debris. It was a lot of fun connecting with members of the community who all share the same concerns about trash in our environment.
Don’t worry if you missed this day though, we think every day is a good day for a cleanup, and encourage all of you to get out when you can and pick up a few pieces of trash! A little bit goes a long way.
Stream profiling
Besides that, we were busy continuing our stream profiling project to look at how streams in the watershed are changing over time. Are they getting deeper? Shallower? Are the banks changing shape? All important questions for us to figure out. This information is helpful to determine what the causes of erosion or deposition can be, along with further understanding our local watershed characteristics.
Trying to find the exact location that has been set up previously in years past has led us to hiking through all sorts of creek foliage from grass fields to thick blackberry and poison oak thickets looking for the markers. It might be surprising to hear, but we actually really enjoy this type of work!
Bay monitoring
September is often one of the best months for paddleboarding and kayaking on the bay. The winds die down and the persistent summer fog burns off, which typically results in fantastic water visibility and glassy paddles. Field staff got out a few times to measure water conditions in the bay and check on eelgrass.
We hope you enjoyed reading about some of our month’s field activities; check back in next month for some more updates!
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Help us protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary!
- Donate to the Estuary Program today and support our work in the field, the lab, and beyond.
The Estuary Program is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. We depend on funding from grants and generous donors to continue our work. - Support us by purchasing estuary-themed gear from ESTERO. This locally owned and operated company donates 20% of proceeds from its Estuary clothing line and 100% of Estuary decal proceeds to the Estuary Program. Thank you, ESTERO!
- Purchase items from the the Estuary Program’s store on Zazzle. Zazzle prints and ships your items, and the Estuary Program receives 10% of the proceeds. Choose from mugs, hats, t-shirts, and even fanny packs (they’re back!) with our fun Estuary Octopus design, our classic Estuary Program logo, or our Mutts for the Bay logo.