Coastal Cleanup Day Volunteers

A fun family competition lead to this group of dedicated volunteers picking up 664 cigarette butts. Wow!

Thousands of volunteers participated in local Coastal Cleanup Day events Coastal Cleanup Day calls family and friends together to tend to the health of California’s coast by picking up trash and recycling. For the past fourteen years, local nonprofit ECOSLO has organized the cleanup efforts countywide. This year, 1,312 volunteers picked up 5,688 pounds of trash and recycling from 36 cleanup sites. Ten of those sites were located inland. This might seem odd, but trash left on the ground storm drains that are miles from the beach run into creeks that empty directly into bays or the open …

Native Plant Series #5: Riparian

September 14, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program creek estuary estuary program groundwater los osos morro bay native plant native plants phreatophytes riparian water table watershed willow Blog Posts

This series of native plant blog posts has explored the different plants found throughout the Morro Bay watershed. A watershed is an area where freshwater creeks and streams flow from higher ground down towards the ocean. Riparian zone plants reach deep when streams run dry In the Morro Bay Watershed, some creeks and streams flow year round, and some don’t. Even though they’re not full of water, dry creek beds are still bordered by vegetation. This is due to the presence of groundwater, which is water that exists beneath Earth’s surface in soil pore spaces (the space between …

Field Updates August 2018: Monitoring Eelgrass Restoration Plots in Morro Bay

September 7, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program california conservation eelgrass estuary field update field work fieldwork MBNEP morro bay restoration seagrass transplant Blog Posts Field Updates

This eelgrass plot, transplanted in March of 2017, is thriving.

Fulfilling our mission to protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary for people and animals requires a lot of hard work in the field. At the Estuary Program, that often means spending time doing research, restoration, and monitoring work out on the water. Read on to see what we’ve been up to during the past month. This past spring, we were busy planting eelgrass. We planted just over 3,000 eelgrass shoots throughout the estuary. We chose transplant sites where naturally occurring eelgrass was found nearby. The five transplant locations in 2018 represented a range of conditions throughout the …

Opt Outside this Fall with Hikes Around Morro Bay

August 31, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program broderson elfin forest estuary hike hiking los osos MBNEP monarch monarch grove morro bay nature outdoors outside recreation stress relief wellness Blog Posts Recreation

A view from the Elfin Forest during the summer.

The land that surrounds the Morro Bay estuary is contoured by hills and valleys, studded with trees, and etched by creeks that take their time winding down to the salt marsh and entering bay. In short, it is a beautiful place that offers many opportunities to get outside and explore. But, as summer winds down, students head back to school, and the sun starts to set earlier in the day, many of us spend more time inside than out. Studies show that making time to enjoy the natural spaces around us by hiking, walking, or even just visiting …

Photograph Friday: The Little Things

August 24, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program close-up closeup estuary estuary program exoskeleton macroinvertebrate MBNEP morro bay photograph friday pickleweed stonefly Blog Posts Photograph Friday

There is a whole world in a few drops of water from the bay. This photograph shows plankton from a water sample under a microscope.

In her recent blog post, Executive Director Lexie Bell discussed the detail-oriented nature of our work at the Estuary Program. “We deal in parts per million of analytes in water, concentrations of bacteria, and blades of eelgrass,” she said. “But in the end, we want this bay to remain a beautiful place of light and inspiration, a place to connect with the Earth and each other. We are preserving the opportunity for countless future experiences of awe.” Sometimes, it is those details—the curve of a blade of eelgrass, the shape of plankton under a microscope, or the abundance of …

Upward Bound Students Impress With Estuary Program Projects

August 17, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program cal poly CalPoly education estuary learn by doing marine debris morro bay outreach students trash art trash sculpture upward bound Blog Posts Education and Outreach

Students pose with their finished prototype during the post-presentation reception.

One of our goals at the Estuary Program is to engage students in learning about the bay, its wildlife, and the challenges that face it. The more they understand and appreciate the estuary, the more likely they are to help keep it healthy and clean. We often go into classrooms, host students in our Nature Center, and take small groups of students on field trips around the bay. This July, we were privileged to work with students in a new capacity, by participating as clients in Cal Poly’s Upward Bound Summer Academy. This program combines classes in math and …

From the Director’s Desk: Finding Inspiration on Morro Bay

August 10, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program central coast estuary program inspiration kayak lexie bell MBNEP morro bay paddle paddleboard Blog Posts Directors Desk

Lexie Bell, Executive Director of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program.

From the Director’s Desk is a twice-yearly blog series, written by Executive Director Lexie Bell. Lexie plans and directs the program’s work, and collaborates with the Estuary Program’s many partners to expand our collective success in the watershed. Lexie first began working in Morro Bay as a graduate student at the UC Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. Her graduate work analyzed the economic impact of visitors’ perceptions of environmental quality in Morro Bay. In addition to her Master’s degree, Lexie graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science and Biology. …

Field Updates July 2018: Reports, Mollusks in Eelgrass, and Fish in the Creeks

August 4, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program cal poly CalPoly eelgrass estuary fieldwork MBNEP morro bay national estuary program navanax sea hare sea slug SeaGrant Blog Posts Field Updates

We commonly spot this nudibranch, Hermissenda crassicornis, in depressions along the mudflat.

Fulfilling our mission to protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary for people and animals requires a lot of hard work in the field. At the Estuary Program, that often means spending time doing research and monitoring work out on the water. Read on to see what we’ve been up to during the past month. Data and reporting July was a quiet month for fieldwork. This has given the monitoring staff time to get caught up on data entry and report writing. Keep an eye out for a series of reports related to the health of the estuary …

Morro Bay Wildlife Spotlight: California Sea Lions in the Estuary

July 27, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program estuary marine mammal morro bay morro bay national estuary program sea lion seal wildlife spotlight Blog Posts

Sea lions took to the new dock right away.

California sea lions are the largest and fastest marine mammal that live year-round in Morro Bay. They can weigh as much as 860 pounds and swim as fast as 25 miles per hour. They also have between 34 and 38 formidable teeth, including four long canines. They use their teeth to catch their prey, but not to chew it. They swallow their food, mostly fish and squid, whole. Morro Bay’s sea lions have their own dock Sea lions like to rest out of the water on docks or even boats. In a busy harbor like Morro Bay, this habit …

Shark Week 2018: Help Scientists Track these Essential Predators

July 20, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program estuary program great white shark MBNEP morro bay shark conservation shark population shark recovery shark week Blog Posts

When you think about sharks, what comes to mind? Chances are, you’ll picture a tall, angular fin cutting through the waves and rows upon rows of sharp teeth. You might even picture a shark attack from the movies, with people fleeing up the beach and away from the waterline. It’s less likely that you’ll picture one of the three sharks that thrive in Morro Bay’s protected waters, the swell shark, leopard shark, and horn shark. These diminutive sharks are not the stuff of horror movies, unless you’re a small fish, clam, innkeeper worm, crab, or any of the other mollusks …