Photograph Friday: Wildlife in the Morro Bay Estuary Watershed

An adult California newt stands on rocks in a stream in the Morro Bay estuary watershed. It is orange with yellow eyes.

Morro Bay estuary and watershed provide habitat for a wide range of species You never know what amazing wildlife you’ll see in, on, or around the Morro Bay estuary. This area is a biological diversity hot spot, meaning that we have a wide range of species that are native to this area, including some species that are found nowhere else in the world, like the Morro kangaroo rat and the Morro manzanita. Morro Bay Estuary and Watershed Biodiversity Project on iNaturalist To get an idea of the range of species that live in the Morro Bay estuary and surrounding …

Bioassessment Survey Results 2020: Tracking the Health of Local Creeks

March 26, 2021 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program bioassessment creeks habitat habitat assessment habitat survey healthy habitat macroinvertebrates macros MBNEP morro bay morro bay national estuary program wildlife Field Updates

One of the goals of the Estuary Program is to monitor the bay and the lands that surround it to better understand conditions and how they are changing over time. As part of this effort, the Estuary Program conducts spring bioassessment surveys. This data allows us to assess the health of our creeks and determine if they support sensitive aquatic life. What is bioassessment? Each spring, staff and volunteers head out to local creeks to collect habitat measurements. These measurements include the depth of the water, the size of the rocks in the stream, and the amount of tree cover …

Catch Up On Morro Bay Estuary Wildlife Blog Series

August 7, 2020 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program MBNEP morro bay morro bay estuary morro bay national estuary program native plant series native plants native wildlife nature walk sea slug sea slugs wildlife Blog Posts

Most of us are spending more of our free time time at home, taking socially-distanced walks along the bay or finding refuge on less-traveled trails. Whether you’re taking time to notice all the details of the green spaces you already knew well or branching out to new near-home destinations, you may be seeing some wildlife you don’t yet know. To help you identify and get to know a little bit about some of our native species, we’re sharing a few of our favorite series with you this week. Learn Native Plants by Habitat Type This series introduces you …

Your Top Blog Posts of 2019

December 27, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program eelgrass Gena Bentall monarch butterflies morro bay morro bay estuary nudibranchs Robin Agarwal sea lions in Morro Bay sea otters sea slugs top blog posts 2019 wet weather wildlife wildlife spotlight Blog Posts

During 2019, you tuned in to the Estuary Program blog to follow field work projects, to learn about local wildlife, to track the health of the bay, and to see how you can help the estuary and watershed. Today, we’re sharing the posts readers visited most often this year across these four categories. If you haven’t read them yet, now’s a great time to catch up! Top Field Work Post Field Updates February 2019: Wet weather, Eelgrass Restoration, and Creek Monitoring This post shares rainfall totals, details the process of sediment sampling and analysis that we use, and explains …

The truth about sunscreen: Is mineral sunscreen really good for us and the environment?

June 21, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program mineral sunscreen morro bay wildlife physical sunscreen sea urchin spray on sunscreen Summer Sunscreen titanium dioxide wildlife Zinc Oxide Blog Posts

This is part two of our sunscreen series, so if you missed the first part click here. Is mineral sunscreen really a good replacement for chemical sunscreen? The answer is, kinda? So it’s true that mineral sunscreen is much better for you and the environment than chemical sunscreens. However, there is still a negative side to mineral sunscreen. Evelyn is shocked to find out her mineral sunscreen can have negative effects on the environment *gasp* it’s okay we convinced her to keep it. But, hold on! Don’t throw away all your mineral sunscreen just yet. You need to protect your …

Photograph Friday: Morro Bay Mystery Species Contest

May 17, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program central coast california estero guessing game MBNEP morro bay morro bay national estuary program mystery species wildlife Photograph Friday

Today, we bring you four photographs of species native to San Luis Obispo County. Do you know what they are? Share your guesses for a chance to win an Estuary Octopus mug! Post your answer and tag us @mbestuary on Facebook or @MorroBayNEP on Instagram and Twitter. Use #MBmystery1, #MBmystery2, MBmystery3, and MBmystery4. We’ll be looking for your guesses through Wednesday, May 22. You will be entered into the drawing one time for each correct answer you submit. So, if you correctly identify all four species, you will be entered into the drawing four times. The winner will be …

Field Updates December 2018: Eelgrass, Wildlife Sightings, Creeks, and Rainfall Totals

January 4, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program bivalve chorro creek creeks eelgrass los osos creek monitoring rainfall total restoration seagrass transect monitoring wildlife Blog Posts Field Updates

Watershed Stewards Program members Melia and Doug work on counting the number of eelgrass shoots within a 0.5m by 0.5m area.

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. Eelgrass monitoring Each fall, we monitor eelgrass on our permanent transects. These transects are sample areas across the bay where eelgrass has grown historically. We chose the specific locations of the transects to represent different zones in the …

Exploring the History of Morro Bay

September 30, 2016 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program cabrillo chumash estuary history maritime museum morro bay san salvador wildlife Blog Posts

Morro Bay History is Alive On September 29, 2016, a replica of explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s ship, the San Salvador, docked in Morro Bay. Cabrillo made several voyages by sea during the 1500s. His most famous journey to find the Northwest Passage led him along the California coast. In 1542, he landed his ship, the San Salvador, in what is now San Diego Harbor and claimed the land for the King of Spain. He then continued his expedition north along the coast and past Estero Bay. Cabrillo is credited with naming Morro Rock “El Moro” after the style …

The Morro Bay Estuary Poetry Contest Goes Wild

March 18, 2016 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program animals of morro bay estuary morro bay morro bay animals morro bay estuary nature center poetry contest sea hare wildlife Blog Posts

While monitoring eelgrass, our staff spotted this California sea hare under the water at Coleman beach.

Our annual poetry contest opens on April 1, and we’re excited to announce a new twist on the contest’s theme. We will continue to accept haiku that focus on any and all aspects of the estuary—we still can’t resist the haiku’s history and its ability to preserve the moment and capture the beauty of nature. We’re also introducing a new contest category that asks writers to pen poems that focus on wildlife native to the estuary or the surrounding watershed. (See our complete contest rules, here.) We hope that this new contest category will give people a chance to learn …