Field Updates, August 2019: Creeks, Stream Profile Survey, Upper Watershed Views

As summer winds down here along the Central Coast, schools are back in session and fall is just around the corner. Though this time of year is slower for field work as most of the field team is busy entering data and writing reports on our various projects, we still got to check out a few different places in our beautiful watershed. Creeks Our long-term monitoring program in the creeks continues with our staff and the help of volunteers. To see what we use the data we gather for, or learn more about what we do out at …

Be Sea Otter Savvy 2: Guidelines for Observing Sea Otters Safely

August 23, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program ca friends of the sea otter Gena Bentall how to help sea otters marine mammal marine mammal act marine mammal protection morro bay protect sea otters sea otter sea otter savvy seaotter where to find sea otters where to find sea otters in morro bay wildlife disturbance Be Sea Otter Savvy Guest post

The best sea otter picture is one where the sea otters aren’t looking at the camera because they don’t even know you’re there. The photographer who captured this shot stayed quiet and kept far enough away from the otters so they could carry on resting, as they need to do to stay healthy.

This is the second post to our blog series, Be Sea Otter Savvy, written by Gena Bentall, sea otter biologist and Program Coordinator for Sea Otter Savvy. Future posts in this series will include tips on how to help sea otters thrive and information about sea otters’ behavior, biology, and their role in the estuary and ocean ecosystems. When humans and sea otters overlap Disturbance to the natural behavioral patterns of sea otters can occur anywhere that human marine recreation activities and sea otter habitat overlap. Locations like harbors and bays, with easy access to the ocean and calm, …