Twenty-Five Years After the Highway 41 Fire of August 1994

The smoke plume grows as the Highway 41 fire spreads. Photograph by Ruth Ann Angus, August 1994.

Watching the Highway 41 Fire from the Morro Bay estuary On August 14, 1994, the Highway 41 fire broke out on the Cuesta Grade. Ruth Ann Angus, local photographer, writer, and long-time supporter of the Estuary Program, was out kayaking on the bay with a friend when the Highway 41 blaze began. As Ruth Ann recalls, “We paddled all the way back to Sweet Springs and as we turned around there, I spotted the puff of smoke in the sky. I knew it was bad so we immediately began paddling back to the Marina area….” She took photos on …

The truth about sunscreen: its effects on us and the environment

June 11, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program chemical sunscreen clean water coral reef environment estuary estuary program morro bay morro bay national estuary program Oxybenzone physical sunscreen skin sunburn Sunscreen Titanium oxide white goop Zinc Oxide Blog Posts

Summer is coming in hot! Iced tea, pool days, and movie nights are fast approaching. With all the excitement that comes with summer, you might not be thinking about the invention that allows our skin to survive the brutal rays of the sun—sunscreen. Whether you are a fan of old-school white goop or spray-on, most sunscreens are made out of the same basic ingredients. The main difference lies in how the active ingredients work to keep you from burning. There are two types of sunscreen, chemical sunscreen and mineral sunscreen, which is also known as physical sunscreen. Chemical sunscreen vs. …

Document Morro Bay’s Biodiversity During Snapshot Cal Coast

May 31, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program bio blitz bioblitz biodiversity cal coast calcoast California Academy of Sciences estuary program heron rookery MBNEP morro bay morro bay estuary morro bay mpa mpa snapshot cal coast 2019 Blog Posts

Most of California, and the entire California coast, is identified as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot, called the California Floristic Province. Like the other Global Hotspots, this area has a high number of species that are endemic, meaning that they are native to this area and are found nowhere else. Every year, The California Academy of Sciences (CAS) asks people to document this extreme biodiversity through a bioblitz event called Snapshot Cal Coast. During the bioblitz, citizen scientists use iNaturalist to document all of the flora and fauna that they find in a specific coastal location. This year, Snapshot Cal Coast …

Morro Bay Wildlife Spotlight: Mystery Species Revealed

May 24, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program abedus caddis fly caddisfly caddisfly case common salp creeks estuary program ferocious water bug MBNEP morro bay morro bay national estuary program mystery species pale swallowtail butterfly salp vs jellyfish toe-biter true bug wildlife spotlight Wildlife spotlight

In last week’s post, we shared photographs of four species native to San Luis Obispo County and asked you to identify them. Today’s post reveals all four mystery species and shares information about each one. Wildlife Spotlight: Mystery species #1 Common salp (Salpa fusiformis) These ethereal-looking creatures are sometimes mistaken for jellyfish, but they are much more complex. In fact, they are more closely related to humans than they are to jellies. This is because, as larvae, salps have a simple backbone called a notochord, which is composed of a tissue similar to cartilage. Though the notochord all but …

Get Ready for Clean Boating on Morro Bay

April 12, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program clean boating estuary estuary program green boating MBNEP morro bay morro bay national estuary program Blog Posts

With the spring winds whipping along the Embarcadero and whitecaps on the bay, summer might seem far away. But, in just a couple of months, school will let out and prime boating season will begin. Helping boaters keep our bay clean This fall, the Morro Bay Harbor Department distributed kits that included spill prevention, containment, and response materials to all 27 boat-docking stations along Morro Bay’s shoreline. These kits make it easier for boaters to avoid spilling oil and other hazardous materials into the estuary. They also provide instructions, personal protection equipment, and cleanup materials that enable boaters and …

The Red-Throated Loon and Pacific Wildlife Care

March 8, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program birds in morro bay Cal Poly Journalism Charlotte Ross estuary program help injured animal marine mammal MBNEP morro bay morro bay estuary morro strand beach pacific wildlife care red-throated loon wildlife rescue Guest post

We found this injured bird, which we later discovered was a red-throated loon, lying injured on the wet sand of Morro Strand Beach.

Guest post by Charlotte Ross Charlotte Ross is a third-year journalism student at Cal Poly. In addition to her major, she is working toward dual minors, one in Spanish and the other in Biology with a concentration in Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation. Charlotte would like to pursue a career in travel and wildlife reporting so that she can surround herself in nature and see the beauty of the world while writing about it. Outside of work and school, she likes spending time at the beach, hiking, traveling, playing with her dog or chameleon, and watching the sunset in …

Chorro Creek: home to steelhead and voracious non-native pikeminnow

February 8, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program chorro creek eDNA electro-fishing estuary program Ken Jarrett morro bay Morro Bay fishing non-native nonnative pike minnow pikeminnow sacramento pikeminnow steelhead stillwater sciences Guest post

Sacramento pikeminnow are a non-native voracious predator found in Chorro Creek. This pikeminnow is an adult that is about 20 inches long.

Guest post by Ken Jarrett, Fisheries Biologist Ken Jarrett’s interest in fisheries biology began at an early age while fishing in the Sierras, the Central Valley, and in San Francisco Bay. He began his career in Alaska and has slowly worked his way south to California’s Central Coast. Although Ken works with many fish species, steelhead have captured his heart. He is currently working in several Central Coast watersheds including the Salinas River, Santa Rosa Creek, San Luis Obispo Creek, and Chorro Creek. In his spare time, you can find Ken playing with his two daughters or fishing for …

Field Updates October 2018: bioassessment scouting, Pismo Preserve, sharing data, and getting ready for rain

November 9, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program bioassessment Camp SLO chorro creek eelgrass report erosion estuary program macroinvertebrates macros MBNEP morro bay morro bay eelgrass Pismo preserve sediment monitoring winter storms Blog Posts Field Updates

Fulfilling our mission to protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary for people and wildlife requires a lot of hard work in the field. At the Estuary Program, that often entails doing research, restoration, and monitoring work out on the estuary and along the creeks that feed into it. Read on to see what we’ve been up to during the past month. Scouting a new bioassessment site on Camp SLO Monitoring Coordinators Tim and Karissa ventured out to upper Chorro Creek, on Camp SLO property, to scout out new locations for conducting bioassessment surveys. This site would help …

2018 Volunteers of the Year

October 19, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program eelgrass estuary estuary program los osos MBNEP morro bay volunteer volunteering water quality Blog Posts Volunteering

The Morro Bay National Estuary Program, like many nonprofits, relies on volunteers who generously donate their time and expertise. Volunteers make up our governing board and committees, reach out to students at events and in classrooms, collect and analyze water samples, transplant eelgrass, and keep our Mutts for the Bay dog waste bag dispensers stocked and ready. Estuary Program volunteerism by the numbers During the past year: Volunteers spent 156 hours working to restore eelgrass to Morro Bay and another 27 hours on other restoration work in the watershed. 55 people volunteered through our Monitoring Program, spending 805 …

FIELD UPDATES SEPTEMBER 2018: Fish Surveys, Fish Habitat, and Sharing What We’ve Learned

October 12, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program e-dna electrofishing environmental dna estuary estuary program field notes field updates field work fish barrier fish ladder fish passage MBNEP morro bay pikeminnow santa lucia fly fishers Club steelhead trout stillwater sciences volunteers Blog Posts Field Updates

We observed this juvenile steelhead trout during a fish survey on Chorro Creek.

Fulfilling our mission to protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary for people and wildlife requires a lot of hard work in the field. At the Estuary Program, that often entails doing research, restoration, and monitoring work out on the estuary and along the creeks that feed into it. Read on to see what we’ve been up to during the past month. Fish surveys Our field highlight for September was heading out with Stillwater Sciences and volunteers to complete fish surveys in Chorro Creek. We conducted fish sampling, a process of catching, identifying, measuring, and releasing fish, that …