Photograph Friday: Red, White, and Blue

As 4th of July comes and goes let us take a moment to be thankful for our country. Maybe, go on a hike, take a trail that you haven’t done before. Enjoy the lush black sage found on Black Hill and the white wings of an egret as it soars above the bay. Take a kayak out to enjoy the crisp, cool, calm water of the bay. Red, White, and Blue of the Bay In today’s post, we are celebrating independence day with nature’s own red, white and blue! Red This is an Indian paintbrush (Castilleja affinis) and even though …

Photograph Friday: Elfin Forest

November 30, 2018 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program El Moro Elfin Forest elfin forest live oak los osos MBNEP morro bay morro bay estuary national estuary program native plants photograph friday plant communities pygmy oak Small wilderness areas preservation SWAP Blog Posts Photograph Friday

The El Moro Elfin Forest is full of surprises. Although it lies just on the edge of a neighborhood, near a school, and close to busy South Bay Boulevard, it feels a world apart. The winding boardwalk path brings you to lookout points high above the estuary and salt marsh and then pulls you deep under the cover of pygmy live oaks in Rose’s Grove. And, though the preserve covers only 90 acres, it boasts eight distinct habitat types. (You can read about some of these distinct plant communities in our Native Plant blog series.) Each season brings new …

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 …