Field Updates September 2017: Pikeminnow and Eelgrass

Collected seeds are held in mesh bags in the estuary until they mature. Mature seeds will have a hard, longitudinally ribbed coat and can vary in color, including olive, dark brown and black.

Protecting and restoring the bay and estuary takes a lot of boots on the ground. See what our volunteers and field staff have been working on during the past month. Pikeminnow Management Chorro Creek used to be home to a healthy population of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), however their numbers have declined. While there are multiple factors that contribute to this, a fish called the Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis) put pressure on steelhead. Pikeminnow eat juvenile steelhead and compete with steelhead for food and habitat. While native to other parts of California, pikeminnow are not native to the Morro …

Community Grants Benefit Morro Bay

August 11, 2017 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program ccspa central coast state parks association community grants estuary program morro bay morro bay in bloom Of Marshes and Morros sealife stewards simo nylander slo film festival Blog Posts

Two SeaLife Stewards volunteers, ready to go out on the water safely.

The Estuary Program does a lot of boots-on-the-ground conservation, restoration, research, and monitoring work. Our staff members visit classrooms to help students learn how to be good stewards of the bay, and we reach out to locals and visitors alike through our Estuary Nature Center. No matter what we accomplish, we know that there is always more work to be done. We are lucky that so many other local organizations and individuals have great ideas for projects to benefit the bay, its wildlife, and the people who know and love this special place. Because of this, we fund a …

Sea Star Wasting Disease | Monitoring in Morro Bay

May 26, 2017 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program catie michel citizen science estuary estuary program MBNEP monitoring morro bay sea star sea star wasting disease seastar starfish Blog Posts

Infected sea star; photograph taken on day one, June 27, 2014 on Guemes Island, Washington. Credit: Kit Harma, Evergreen Shore monitor.

A mysterious disease called Sea Star Wasting Disease Syndrome (SSWS) has been causing mass mortality of sea stars along much of the Pacific Coast from Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska. Twenty-two species of sea stars have been affected by it, making this a die-off event of the greatest magnitude, spread over the greatest geographic area to date. Melissa Douglas, Associate Research Specialist at University of California, Santa Cruz, is an expert on the syndrome. She is concerned about the spread of the disease. As she says, “Past SSWS outbreaks were restricted to Southern CA and Baja Mexico. …

Eelgrass Restoration in Morro Bay Spring 2017

April 21, 2017 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program cal poly eel grass eelgrass estuary estuary program marine biology morro bay sea grass seagrass Blog Posts

Greetings, readers! This is Catie, the Morro Bay National Estuary Program’s Communications and Outreach Intern. I had the privilege of participating in the Estuary Program’s most recent small-scale experimental eelgrass restoration effort. We want to fill you in on the process here. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) plays a number of important roles in the function and health of the Morro Bay ecosystem. Its long blades form an underwater forest, which provides a diverse crowd of creatures a place to rest, find food, and spawn. These are some of the creatures that we found during the replanting effort: The …

State of the Bay 2017: Eelgrass, Sedimentation, and Climate Change

March 24, 2017 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program climate change coastal resilience estuary estuary program morro bay resilience state of the bay Blog Posts

Our State of the Bay 2017 report contains data that the Estuary Program and our partners have collected over the years. We release this report every three years to answer common questions about the health of Morro Bay and its watershed. Last week’s blog post discussed the condition of water quality in the bay and creeks. This week, we address eelgrass, sedimentation, and climate change. Eelgrass: Tracking Current Conditions Eelgrass is a blooming underwater grass that puts down roots in sandy soils. Its long blades form an underwater forest, offering wildlife a place to rest, find food, and spawn. …

Countdown to State of the Bay 2017

March 10, 2017 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program clean water estuary program morro bay Morro Bay events April state of the bay water what to do in morro bay Blog Posts

Every three years, the Estuary Program releases a State of the Bay report. This science-based assessment of the health of Morro Bay estuary and watershed presents data collected over the years. Through interesting articles, graphs, and illustrations, this publication shares what the data means for water quality, sedimentation, bird populations, eelgrass beds, and many other important aspects of a healthy bay. We are happy to announce that the 2017 State of the Bay report is here. Read it online, or pick up a copy in our Estuary Nature Center or office. One of the best parts of our State of the …

December Field Updates, 2016

January 13, 2017 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program eelgrass estuary estuary program field work horn shark MBNEP morro bay rain rainfall seagrass watershed stewards wsp Blog Posts

This horn shark hid in the eelgrass bed at State Park Marina as the tide receded. Horn sharks aren’t known for their speed and graceful swimming. Rather, they move slowly and like to hide among crevices in rocks, in kelp, and in eelgrass beds like this one was doing.

Fulfilling our mission to protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary for people and animals requires a lot of hard work in the field. Read on to see what our staff and volunteers have been up to during the month of December. Eelgrass Monitoring In 2005, with help from the Battelle Marine Sciences staff, we established four permanent transects for annual eelgrass monitoring in Morro Bay. These transects were chosen to represent different zones of the bay and capture differences between these zones. We added an additional transect in 2012. In December, we monitored two of these transects along with our other surveys. …

Director’s Letter: A Window on the Bay

December 30, 2016 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program estuary estuary program lexie bell morro bay photo contest poetry contest Blog Posts

We sometimes see mother otters with pups on their chests floating by.

Lexie Bell has been with the Estuary Program for more than six years. 2016 was her first full year as Executive Director, and it’s been a year full of progress and inspiring partnerships. Below, you’ll find Lexie’s reflections on the past year and her hopes for the year to come. Hello Friends, Have you visited our office lately? Our work here at the Estuary Program has a lot of perks (paddleboarding for science, anyone?), but one of the most immediate is the simple pleasure of looking out our office window. The view of the bay is stunning …

Help Scientists See the Future in King Tides

December 9, 2016 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program citizen science climate change estuary estuary program King Tides morro bay sea level rise Blog Posts

The boat ramp was also inundated by the high water.

At the Estuary Program office, tides rule much of our work. We plan our eelgrass monitoring surveys around them. We schedule our dawn patrol and bay bacteria volunteer sessions based on them. We watch as boats, birds, and marine mammals move with the pull of the high and low tides outside our office windows. King Tides are the highest tides of the year, and they demand extra attention. Before the boardwalk trail was built at the State Park marina, King Tides regularly inundated the dirt trail along the salt marsh’s edge. They raise docks to their uppermost limits and …