Day 8 Saturday, October 13

It’s hard to believe that the trip has already come to an end! The class split into two groups on our last day, with interest divided by a tolerance for cold water and desire for more shopping. The first half of us ventured out to Lover’s Point, a local hot spot for snorkeling. Convincing John that preventing hypothermia was more important than looking cool turned out to be a challenge, one which was almost as hard as getting into our old, too-tight, 6.5 mil wetsuits, gloves, hoods, and booty rentals. The snorkel through a Monterey Bay kelp forest was amazing, and not too cold thanks to our excessive gear. Sea stars, fish, jellies, and crabs were the main attraction. Unfortunately, we were wearing so much buoyant neoprene that we couldn’t dive deeper than about four feet, even with a 20 pound weight belt. The beautiful kelp forest and abundant sea life combined with unsinkable wetsuits and a nearby diver’s uncontrollable sneezing fit to make snorkeling in Monterey a remarkable, hilarious, and unforgettable event.

I heard rumors that the second group had a great time, too. Admittedly, I was skeptical that they could have had more fun walking through streets of tourists than swimming through forests of kelp. To ease my doubts, I elicited evidence from Pam, my fellow video-maker. Pam showed me pictures and told me stories about strolling around Cannery Row with our knowledgeable guide, Larry. Pam had me fully convinced that touring downtown Monterey was equally as amazing as snorkeling when I saw a video of a street performer fake-playing an instrument known as the “keytar.” A hybrid between a guitar and keyboard, the keytar is an instrument that I: 1) had never heard of or seen before, and 2) feel strongly that all streets performers should play (or pretend to play) at all times. It was sad to say goodbye to California, but I left feeling “extremely yes” about the fun week and incredible course.

For a first-hand look at the California trip (including a glimpse at a master keytar player), check out our clipumentary, coming soon to the Marine Lab website!

--Sarah Rider

Day 7 Friday, October 12

We had a leisurely wake up and headed down to Stanford's Hopkins Marine Lab to meet their impressive faculty and students. First we were indulged in a lecture and discussion with Dr. Steve Palumbi on using genetic variation in gray whales (the most abundant whale on the west coast) to estimate historic population sizes.

Next we scurried across the campus in the crisp air to the Block Tuna Center. Dr. Barbara Block was out of town, so her students and technicians gave us the royal treatment tour. We observed the mid-morning feeding frenzy and a yellowfin dissection by some UC-SF med students doing heart research. We were enlightened by hearing about their on-going tagging (Tag-a-Giant) and metabolic studies.

Our last stop at Hopkins was chatting with a PhD in the Block lab, George Shillinger, about his leatherback sea turtle research. Working with the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program George tagged leatherbacks down in Baja.

It was a very full morning and after digesting all of this new information we parted ways to fill our bellies. We reconvened on Cannery Row to listen to Larry's version of Ricketts' biography in front of "Doc's" lab.

We returned to Hopkins for their TGIFriday evening cookout and happy hour to socialize with the grad students. There were some impressive burgers and delicious pies shared. After we went out to toast an amazing week and to lament our return to EST.

Day 6 Thursday, October 11

There is a building with smoke stacks at the end of Cannery Row that resembles what it once was, a sardine factory. Fishes still make this building the hub of a prosperous business, with one major difference from the past, these fish are "canned" alive in giant display tanks. The purpose of these large "cans" of fish is to teach and inspire the public to conserve our ocean resources.

We went inside Monterey Bay Aquarium before it officially opened for a behind-the-scenes tour with Allison Barrett. And Wow! Inside we saw a million gallon exhibit with 2 massive ocean sunfish, several adult yellowfin tunas cruising around the tank with impressive speed, sardines, California barracudas, and a juvenile great white shark, despite its young age it still ruled the tank.

Next stop on our very unique aquarium tour was backstage of the largest jellyfish exhibit in the world. After learning about how to culture jellyfish, we met 2 cute black sea turtles. Another impressive exhibit was the enormous kelp forest tank that was showcasing leopard sharks, giant kelp, rocky fishes, and giant sea bass. The Aquarium housed many more interesting displays like the sea otters and touch pools. But one room was quite different from the rest and still drawing people's attention. The Seafood Watch section aimed at raising awareness about the health of our oceans and encouraging the public to take action now to protect marine wildlife.

We followed this conservation idea to its origin at the Center for the Future of the Oceans to meet the Seafood Watch staff. We then put our conservation ethic into practice at dinner. We dined at Passionfish in Pacific Grove. Owner Cindy Walter told us that it was one of the first "green" certified restaurants in the area. Lisa, Rachel, and Lauren dressed for the occasion and made sure that our distinguished professor/captain of our trip was as well.

--Daylin Munoz-Nunez

Our fearless and fashionable leader, Capt. Crowder

Day 5 Wednesday, October 10

At 9am we boarded a whale watch boat and set out on Monterey Bay for a 5 hour adventure. After passing sea lions and sea otters we spotted some harbor porpoises in the distance. They swam off before we could get closer, but shortly after we found what we had really been looking for -- a humpback whale! It would surface for a bit, then dive for a bit, then surface again. Until, finally, it came up and BREACHED -- TWICE! Near the whale there was also a small pod of Risso's dolphins including several small calves who all seemed happy to have our attention.

Later in the afternoon we headed south to Point Lobos to go tidepooling. The geology was much different here from Pigeon Point and it was a higher energy environment. There were fewer anemone and many more mussels and barnacles. Low tide never got very low because of an increasing swell, so our tidepooling was limited. After warning us to watch for big waves coming in, Larry ended up getting soaked by one! In the meantime we all enjoyed exploring the rocky outcroppings and cliffs and watching the waves crashing against them.

--Laura Wallach

post-breach whale

Day 4 Tuesday, October 9

We began our day with a tour of Elkhorn Slough by Rebecca Martone, a former Duke CEM. It is the largest estuary on the west coast, but is a fraction of the size of your average east coast estuary. Before we entered the estuary, we had to dip our shoes in Lysol as a preventative measure against sudden oak death. Then, armed with binoculars, we began our walk down to the water while searching for birds. This watershed has been heavily impacted by agriculture and industry in the area and has a railway line going right through the middle of it. Despite the negative effects on the estuary, we were still able to observe an abundance of wildlife -- snowy egrets, brown pelicans, and birds of prey, as well as some giant mullet fish!

We then made our way to the Long Marine Lab at UC Santa Cruz where we had a talk by Mark Carr on the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. The MLPA is a state initiative involving a collaboration between various stakeholder groups to develop marine protected areas along the coast of California. This talk was followed by a presentation from Scott Shaffer on the TOPP program (Tagging of Pacific Predators). http://www.topp.org/ He focused on how remote-sensing technology can be used to reveal the distribution and abundance of top marine predators (tuna, seals, sea lions, whales, seabirds, sea turtles, sharks) with regard to oceanographic factors.

The highlight of the day was tour of the marine mammal lab where we met two ex-navy bottlenose dolphins who performed for us and loved the attention! We also saw: Astro, a stellar sea lion who was very connected to people so had to remain in captivity; Rio, a California sea lion who was incredibly agile; and Sprouts, a Pacific harbor seal who we all got to touch!

We got to witness Sprouts taking a hearing test to evaluate which frequencies he could sense. We all packed ourselves inside a little room with Sprouts lying at our feet. Depending on which frequency was played, Sprouts would touch his nose to a paddle and if it was correct he was given a fish from a tube in the wall. He was definitely capable of hearing things that we could not!

The Long Lab marine mammal research center also had a 14-year old female Northern elephant seal named Bernice who amazed us with her incredible size!

We ended the day by having a social with the PhD students at the Long Marine Lab to discuss our programs and interests, organized by Sara Maxwell, current UCSC PhD student and former DUML summer visitor and employee. Then, we went to dinner at Palomar, an amazing Mexican restaurant in Santa Cruz.

--Teagan Ward

Day 3 Monday, October 8

This morning I woke early to go for a run. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to run next to the coast line while watching the sun rise, not a bad way to start a day.

The common theme to today was driving, and lots of it! Once we packed up and left Pigeon Point lighthouse we headed south to Moss Landing to meet with scientists from MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute). The tour started with an introduction about the Institute by Marcia McNutt, executive director and CEO, and then our tour was given by Steve Haddock who was a lead scientist studying deep sea invertebrates and bio-luminescence (the little wonders of the deep).

I think the whole group decided that working at MBARI must be a scientists dream because they do not have to worry about finding funding, MBARI gets 80% of their funds from the Packard Foundation. After our stimulating tour we headed over to Phil's Seafood Market to sample come locally caught sea food and other yummy treats.

Our next meeting of the day took us back North to UC Santa Cruz's Long Lab to pick up Guy Oliver, the elephant seal man. We then headed further North to Ano Nuevo State Park where we had one of the coolest experiences of the trip so far. We got to stand very close to hundreds of elephant seals (the largest seal in the ocean). It was AMAZING!!!!! I wanted to take one home with me but I didn't know how I would sneak a 400lb seal onto an airplane.

After our elephant seal encounters, which none of us wanted to leave. We packed up the vans and headed south to Monterey to pick up Lisa. In Monterey we grabbed Lisa and headed back up to Davenport to have dinner at J. Nichols's house, former CEM and turtle worker extraordinaire. We had a beautiful dinner with him and his family with wild-caught pacific salmon and many local organic veggies they had bought from their local farm. All of the food and beer we consumed were local delicacies. It was delicioso!

I think we totaled about 5 hours in the car that today, I think I vote for walking tomorrow! (editor's note: But it was all worth it to have Lisa join the group!)

--Rachel Thompson

Day 2 Sunday, October 7

The rest of the group arrived in "the city" and we toured Muir Woods, posing with colossal redwoods. We ate lunch at Larry's fav Tres Amigos in Half Moon Bay, as we made our way south to Pigeon Point. The lighthouse hostel we set-up camp at for the night was magnificent. Very remote and right on the coast, amazing views, great to wake up to in the morning. We explored the rocky intertidal along Pigeon Point, very algal dominated. For dinner we cooked up a pasta feast at the hostel. The days keep getting better, can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!

Day 1 Saturday, October 6

As we all arrived individually, Larry picked us up from the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transportation) station in Millbrae one by one. We spent the afternoon resting up, some of us (me) finishing "Cannery Row" by Steinbeck. Once we had all made it in, we took the BART to San Francisco and walked around the town. It was very exciting walking from Pier 3 to 39, checking out the waterfront and all the places along the way.

When we arrived at Pier 39 we got some great photographs of Alcatrez and the famous California sea lions on the docks. We admired the sea lions for a bit and got pictures and video. Because we were starving we wandered around for a restaurant, we found Boudin's -- a place with great clam chowder and sourdough, among other things. On the way back to BART we got Ben and Jerry's, even though we were freezing. So delicious though :) and they had hot chocolate, too!

We made our way back to Millbrae via BART and crashed to rest up for the fun week ahead!

--Pam McCarthy