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Seymour Center Docent Training 2010, share your passion for the ocean Santa Cruz, CA — Do you have a passion for the ocean? Would you like to learn more about marine science? Make a difference in the world, have fun, and get involved while you spread the importance of ocean science and conservation. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Lab has a rewarding volunteer experience to offer you. 2010 Docent Training Classes begin Wednesday, January 13, 2010 and continue every Wednesday evening and most Saturday mornings through March. This class is offered only once a year––don’t miss out! Applications are now being accepted for 2010 Docent Training and must be received by Friday, December 4, 2009. To join the docent team, you must be at least 18 years old by the day training begins in January, and willing to commit to one four-hour shift, one day every other week, for a year. All suitable applicants will be interviewed prior to the training start date. As a docent at the Seymour Center, you will interact directly with our human visitors as well as with the marine invertebrates who inhabit our seawater table. You will lead guided tours throughout the exhibit hall and to spectacular teaching locations around the marine lab, including the marine mammal overlook. Most importantly, you will join in our efforts to teach the public about the innovative research and conservation work happening right here at Long Marine Lab. This intensive marine science interpretation course will give you the knowledge and skills you need to inspire curiosity in visitors from across California and around the world about ocean conservation and marine science. Visit our website at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu for more information and to download your application or call (831) 458-3800. Let our dynamic team give you an amazing learning opportunity in ocean science. Join us today! The Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory is located at the end of Delaware Avenue, Westside Santa Cruz, on the bluffs overlooking Monterey Bay. The Seymour Center provides exciting and engaging ocean education programs for the visiting public and for students of all ages. It is dedicated to educating youth, families, and the general public about the role science plays in the understanding and conservation of the world’s oceans. The Seymour Center is open six days a week, year-round, and serves more than 55,000 people each year.
2009 Ken Norris Memorial Lecture Series; Sea Otters ~ Barometers of Ocean Health Santa Cruz, CA — What is happening to the California sea otter, and what does it mean to us? To help answer these questions, the 2009 Ken Norris Memorial Lecture Series at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab features six prominent marine scientists who will broaden our understanding of why sea otters serve as a barometer of ocean health. These free public lectures will take place Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. on October 1, October 22, and November 12. Few marine mammal species are as charismatic and beloved as the sea otter. Their frequent sightings and near-shore antics have made them an iconic symbol of the Monterey Bay and a poster “child” for the Endangered Species Act. Once hunted to near extinction for their fur and, more recently, accidentally captured and drowned in fishing nets, the sea otter has been a protected species since the enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. The California sea otter population has recovered from fewer than 50 animals near Big Sur in the early 1900s to more than 2,600 animals along the California coast today. Despite this good news, recent data indicates static or declining population. WHY? We don’t hunt them for fur. We don’t trap them in nets. They are a protected species. Three distinct lectures—The Human Factor, Blooms and Bugs, and Exxon Valdez: Oil to Olive—will cover the new obstacles facing sea otters today, what their declining population tells us about the health of our oceans, and what we are doing to prevent further decline of this compelling and important “keystone” species. Lectures are free to the public. Seating is limited. For more information, please call (831) 459-3800 or visit our website at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. Lecture schedule and speakers: October 1: The Human Factor October 22: Blooms & Bugs November 12: Exxon Valdez: Oil to Olive The Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory is located at the end of Delaware Avenue, Westside Santa Cruz, on the bluffs overlooking Monterey Bay. The Seymour Center provides exciting and engaging ocean education programs for the visiting public and for students of all ages. It is dedicated to educating youth, families, and the general public about the role science plays in the understanding and conservation of the world’s oceans. The Seymour Center is open six days a week, year-round, and serves more than 55,000 people each year.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center Open Seven Days a Week in August SANTA CRUZ, CA—The Seymour Marine Discovery Center will be open seven days a week during August 2009 to better serve the visiting public. Typically closed on Mondays, this year the Seymour Center will throw open its doors for five additional summer days. “A big chunk of our visitation comes during the summer months and these extended hours give us a better opportunity to share ocean science and conservation with people both locally, and from around the world,” says Julie Barrett Heffington, Seymour Center Director. Overlooking the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Seymour Center is a “living classroom” featuring aquariums, exhibits, touch tanks, blue and gray whale skeletons, full-scale elephant seal models, the Ocean Discovery Shop, and unsurpassed ocean vistas. Aquarium and exhibits feature the everyday tools of ocean exploration and focus on research conducted by scientists locally and around the world. Interactive stations provide hands-on learning experiences, and docents lead tours and bring marine science to life. Tours are offered from 1 to 3 p.m. daily (last tour ends at 4 p.m.). Admission: Location: Directions from Santa Cruz: Information:
Friends of Long Marine Lab's Annual Whale of an Auction, a Benefit for the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, set for Saturday, June 20 SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Friends of Long Marine Lab (FLML) will hold its 24th annual "Whale of an Auction," the group's popular annual fundraiser, on Saturday, June 20. The event will take place in a new location this year, the newly refurbished Cowell College on the beautiful University of California, Santa Cruz campus. Festivities begin at 6 p.m.
New this year is an online auction, offering 31 fabulous trips and treats for early bidding! Go to http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu to view and bid, or to preview the live auction items. Auction highlights this year include an adventure to the North Coast with Gary Griggs and Sandy Lydon, private photography workshop with National Geographic’s premier photographer Frans Lanting and acclaimed videographer Christine Eckstrom; “extreme” birding with falcon expert Glenn Stewart; behind-the-scenes trips to Año Nuevo, Long Marine Lab’s sea lion and seal research lab, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; exotic getaways to Costa Rica, Hawaii, and Mexico; rare opportunities such as poker lessons with a pro or Stem Cell treatment for your dog; private parties including the Crow’s Nest lobster and clambake for 20, Boardwalk bumper car for 50, and sailing on the Chardonnay for 49; or dazzling trips to San Francisco, Desert Springs, Laguna, and Washington D.C.! This charity auction provides crucial support for the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, the community education hub at Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz. Although part of UCSC’s marine science campus, the Seymour Center remains primarily self-funded. While the economic downturn has made funding more difficult for many museums and related organizations––including the Seymour Center––the institution has served a record number of children and families during the past year, helping them discover why ocean science is important, both immediately, and for the future of our planet. Community support has never been more important. The Whale of an Auction raises funds directly for K-12 and community education programs, the care and feeding of more than 400 aquarium animals, and the volunteer program. Last year's successful auction raised $80,000 for the Seymour Center. The 2009 Whale of an Auction is sponsored by Nordic Naturals, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Michael's on Main, and Pacific Publishing/Community Printers; many generous table sponsors; and advertising sponsors Good Times and Santa Cruz Weekly. The Seymour Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue on the west side of Santa Cruz. Regular public visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call (831) 459-3800 or visit the Center's web site at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu.
Friends of Long Marine Lab will honor alumnus Brent Constantz with Global Oceans Award SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Friends of Long Marine Lab will honor entrepreneur and UCSC alumnus Brent Constantz at the group's annual Global Oceans Awards Gala on Saturday, February 28. The award recognizes Constantz for developing technology to make "green" cement that could slow global warming and ocean acidification. When Constantz invented a revolutionary product for healing broken bones, he was inspired by the research on coral reefs he had conducted as a UCSC graduate student in the 1980s. Now, drawing on the same source of inspiration, he has come up with a new process for making cement that sequesters carbon dioxide. The standard manufacturing process for the cement used in concrete releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Constantz's process not only eliminates a major source of greenhouse gases, it actually captures carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, trapping the carbon in the cement. The company he founded to make this "green cement," Calera Corp., was recently profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle. Calera's subsidiary, Moss Landing Cement Company, is operating a pilot plant at Moss Landing, just down the coast from Santa Cruz. Constantz earned his Ph.D. in Earth sciences from UCSC in 1986. He was honored with the campus's Alumni Achievement Award in 1998. UCSC graduate students Kristine Okimura (ocean sciences) and Brenna Mahoney (ecology and evolutionary biology) will also receive awards at the dinner. They had the top-ranked proposals among the 15 students who received research support from the Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards this year. The Global Oceans Awards were established in 2004 to recognize individuals who make outstanding contributions to the understanding and conservation of our oceans. The event, hosted by the Bittersweet Bistro in Rio Del Mar, is a benefit to support the education programs of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory. For more information about the Global Oceans Awards Gala, contact Lisa M. Rose at (831) 459-3694.
Long Marine Lab's Whale of an Auction goes online starting Sunday, June 29
Each year, the Whale of an Auction provides crucial operating support for the Seymour Center. This year, however, the popular event was affected by local wildfires. The fundraiser was scheduled for Friday, June 20, but many supporters were unable to attend due to the fires and road closures in the South County area. While the silent auction items were sold during the evening's activities, live auction items were only previewed. The auction packages planned for the live auction portion of the evening will now be available for online bidding. The online auction will begin on Sunday, June 29, and will last for two weeks. Details are available on the Seymour Center web site at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. Seymour Center director Julie Barrett Heffington said the center's staff and volunteers send their heartfelt wishes for a positive and swift recovery to their neighbors and supporters who are dealing with the aftermath of major wildfires in the Santa Cruz area.
Free admission offered at the Seymour Center on World Ocean Day, Sunday, June 8 SANTA CRUZ, CA--To celebrate our blue planet, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center will offer free admission on World Ocean Day, Sunday, June 8. Created in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, World Ocean Day is the perfect time to find out more about the 71 percent of our planet that's blue. Visit the Seymour Center to learn to safeguard our seas, as you explore exhibits, aquariums, touch tanks, or take an afternoon tour. Extras for World Ocean Day include children's activities, music, crafts, and hands-on learning opportunities. Plus the Seymour Center will showcase a sampling of businesses utilizing ocean–friendly practices in creating their products or providing services. The Seymour Center is part of UCSC's Long Marine Lab and is dedicated to advancing human understanding of the world's oceans. The Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue on the west side of Santa Cruz. Regular public visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call (831) 459-3800 or visit the Center's web site at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. This event is sponsored by Morgan Stanley and John and Enid Rusev.
Santa Cruz Celebrates California Museums Month SANTA CRUZ, CA—Across our state, museums, science centers,
zoos, botanic gardens, and cultural centers are celebrating California
Museums Month in hundreds of different ways. Locally, the Seymour
Marine Discovery Center, The Museum of Art & History at the
McPherson Center, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
have joined together to encourage people to visit the rich resources
in their own backyard. California’s diverse museums and cultural institutions increase public awareness of a wide range of topics pertaining to the natural and cultural world and preserve and interpret their collections for the public’s benefit. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is open from 10 AM-5 PM Saturday and noon-5 PM Sunday; it’s located on the Long Marine Laboratory campus at the end of Delaware Avenue in Santa Cruz; (831) 459-3800; http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. The Museum of Art & History is open from 11 AM-5 PM on weekends and is located at 705 Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz; (831) 429-1964; http://www.santacruzmah.org. The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History is open from 10 AM-5 PM on weekends and is located across from Seabright Beach at 1305 East Cliff Drive; (831) 420-6115; http://www.santacruzmuseums.org.
Special presentation on albatrosses by Frans Lanting on Saturday, February 2, will benefit the Seymour Center SANTA CRUZ, CA--In "Albatrosses: Birds of Legend in a Time of Trouble," renowned nature photographer Frans Lanting will share the remarkable story of the world's most majestic seabird, the albatross. This special presentation will take place on Saturday, February 2, at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz, with show times at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory. Tickets ($20 general admission, $15 for Seymour Center members) are available at the Seymour Center, Bookshop Santa Cruz, and the Frans Lanting Gallery. For more information, contact the Seymour Center at (831) 459-3800. Of all the animals Lanting has worked with, few have amazed him like albatrosses have. For this event, he will tell a story that connects the legends of the albatross's past with new knowledge about its present and concern over its future. Soaring on wingspans of up to 11 feet, albatrosses roam the world's oceans and come ashore only to mate and nest on faraway, windswept isles. Some aspects of their lives parallel those of humans more closely than almost any other animal: they live for many decades; they spend years in courtship with mates to whom they remain devoted until death; and they grieve. Their powers of flight are legendary, and their complex feeding trips cover thousands of miles over the open sea. Lanting traveled to some of the most remote islands on the planet to photograph these majestic seabirds. He will present new images and describe his experiences from a wide-ranging assignment recently completed for National Geographic magazine. (His photographs are featured in the December 2007 issue.) This presentation will also include video by Christine Eckstrom and describe the research of UCSC biologist Scott Shaffer, who has tracked albatrosses across the North Pacific.
Elephant seal film and talk kicks off lecture series at Seymour Center Santa Cruz, CA--The Seymour Marine Discovery Center will host a two-part film and lecture series this fall on two consecutive Thursdays, September 27 and October 4. Both events run from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $6 for the general public and $4 for members. Advance tickets are available by calling (831) 459-3800, and reservations are encouraged. The September 27 lecture begins with the Santa Cruz premiere of A Seal's Life, a documentary about northern elephant seals. The 47-minute film, directed by Drew Wharton and narrated by renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle, features spectacular underwater footage of the seals during their harrowing annual migration across the Pacific Ocean. Wharton will be on hand to answer questions about the film. In the second half of the evening, Daniel Costa, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, will expand on the theme with "From the Beach to the Sea: Our Quest to Understand the Biology and Ecology of the Northern Elephant Seal." Costa has spent more than two decades studying and photographing elephant seals and other marine mammals in the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica. The following Thursday, October 4, features two presentations by UCSC scientists. Jim Estes, adjunct professor of marine ecology and conservation biology, will present "From Killer Whales to Kelp Forests," a review of his pioneering work understanding kelp forests of the Pacific coast. Terrie Williams, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, will speak about "Holes in the Global Landscape: How Marine and Terrestrial Mammals Cope with a Changing World." Williams has been named one of the top 50 women scientists in the U.S. by Discover magazine. The events mark the inaugural season of the Ken Norris Memorial Lecture Series, named for the eminent naturalist and beloved UCSC professor, who died in 1998 after a long career studying life in the oceans and on land. Best known for his work on communications and sociality in dolphins and whales, Norris helped establish UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory, which now includes the Seymour Center, and played a major role in building UCSC's marine science programs. He also founded the University of California Natural Reserve System. The Seymour Center is located at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory at the end of Delaware Avenue in Santa Cruz. For more information and directions, call (831) 459-3800 or visit the center's web site, http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. A trailer for A Seal's Life is also available online.
Expedition to Antarctica is topic of lecture by UC Santa Cruz biologist Daniel Costa on Saturday, August 4, at the Seymour Center SANTA CRUZ, CA--Daniel Costa, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, will describe his expeditions to Antarctica in a lecture and slide show on Saturday, August 4. Costa's presentation will take place at 2 p.m. at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. Admission (which includes Seymour Center exhibits) is free for members of the Friends of Long Marine Lab and children under 4, $6 for adults, and $4 for seniors and students. For more information, call (831) 459-3800. Costa's Antarctic expeditions are currently featured in an exhibit at the Seymour Center called Eyes on the Ice: The Scientist's Lens. Costa and other members of his "Seal Team" used cameras to record their research activities as well as the spectacular beauty of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean during several expeditions to study crabeater seals and southern elephant seals. Costa has spent ten field seasons in Antarctica, starting in 1978. He is currently lead investigator on a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the foraging ecology of crabeater seals and southern elephant seals. He also served as chief scientist aboard the research ship L. M. Gould for two winter cruises in 2001 and 2002. Funded by NSF, the expeditions focused on better understanding the relationship between climate change and the ecology of the Southern Ocean. This year, members of the Seal Team continued their research during another expedition to Antarctica. They also continued their brilliant photographic documentation. Through computer technology, Costa sent daily updates and photos directly from the ship back to California. Although the researchers returned in June, their experiences are on display throughout the summer on a large-format monitor in the Seymour Center. In his talk, Costa will tell the stories behind the photos featured in the exhibit. He worked with an international research team, including scientists from Chile and the United Kingdom, as well as several UCSC graduate students. A local veterinarian also accompanied Costa on his most recent expedition. David Shuman, a UCSC alumnus, volunteered his time to work with the seals. Shuman earned his D.V.M. at UC Davis and returned to Santa Cruz to establish the Westside Animal Hospital. The Seymour Center is located at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory at the end of Delaware Avenue in Santa Cruz. For more information, call (831) 459-3800.
2007 Auction—a Whale of a Success!
Auction chair Virginia Guhin led an exceptional team of volunteers to make this year’s auction especially festive. Giant jellies floated beneath shimmering blue waves while bright bubbles floated upward from the luminous sea floor. The event, which included both live and silent auctions, brought more than 400 people to Porter Hall at UC Santa Cruz on what turned out to be a spectacular Santa Cruz evening—brilliant sunset, warm outdoor dining, and stunning views of the Monterey Bay. Tasty appetizers and sparkling champagne began the evening that included a delicious dinner, delectable desserts, and spirited bidding. Winning bidders went away with one-of-a-kind field trips with renowned scientists, vacations in exotic places, art glass and jewelry, exclusive dinners, wines, and so much more. The most sought after item this year was a magical trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico that was capped off by a private horseback ride with former Friends of Long Marine Lab board member Richard Beal. We are grateful to all the sponsors, donors, guests, and volunteers who helped make this year’s auction one of the most successful ever! All education programs and daily operations of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center depend on community support. Donations to the Whale of an Auction help bring marine science alive for everyone. 2007 Whale of an Auction sponsors and donors – click here 2007 Whale of an Auction photos – click here
Nature photographer Frans Lanting presents "The Making of Life: A Journey through Time" on Saturday, March 17 Gary Griggs, director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences , will introduce Lanting at 2 p.m. , and Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, will introduce him at 7 p.m. Tickets for this event are $20 for general admission or $15 for Friends of Long Marine Lab members. For tickets or information, call (831) 459-3800. Tickets are also available at Logos Books & Records in downtown Santa Cruz. "Ken's approach to natural history influenced many people, including myself, and that inspiration is evident in the Life project, which is an experiential way to explore natural history through time," Lanting said. A world-renowned photographer and a photographer-in-residence
at National Geographic magazine, Lanting will discuss
how he created the acclaimed multimedia performance Life: A
Journey through Time. The work, which has also been published
as a book, consists of photographs from all over the planet that
encapsulate and symbolize Earth's history, from hot springs that
harbor ancient microbes to the complex ecosystems of the rain forest.
Jingle Shells Art and Book Festival at the Seymour Center on Saturday, December 9 SANTA CRUZ, CA--The 87-foot blue whale skeleton at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory will again brighten the holiday season. Fondly known as Ms. Blue, the world's largest mounted whale skeleton will glow each evening starting December 9 at the lab's Seymour Marine Discovery Center. To celebrate the holidays, the Seymour Center will host the Jingle Shells Art and Book Festival on Saturday, December 9, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the festive "whale lighting" ceremony at 5:30 p.m. The festival features ocean-themed books and gifts, live music, refreshments, free gift wrapping, and children's activities. Meet artists and authors, shop for unique holiday gifts, and explore the Seymour Center's exhibits, aquariums, and touch tanks. Proceeds directly support marine science education. Entrance fees to the center will be waived for children 16 and under during the entire day. The Seymour Center will stay open for extended holiday hours until 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, December 12 and 19. From 5 to 9 p.m., the public can enjoy free admission, holiday treats, free gift-wrapping on Ocean Discovery Shop purchases, and the opportunity to behold the glowing glory of Ms. Blue. Located on the bluffs overlooking Monterey Bay, Long Marine Lab is dedicated to advancing human understanding of the world's oceans. The lab welcomes visitors to the Seymour Center, where exhibits feature research conducted by UCSC scientists in the Monterey Bay and around the world. The Seymour Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue on the west side of Santa Cruz. Regular public visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call (831) 459-3800 or visit the center's web site at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu.
Fall lecture series at the Seymour Center will focus on global climate change SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Fall Lecture Series at UC Santa Cruz's Seymour Marine Discovery Center will focus on climate change and global warming, with six speakers providing a range of perspectives on climate science, the effects of global warming, and policy options. The lectures will take place on consecutive Thursday evenings, October 5, 12, and 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the La Féliz Room at the Seymour Center. There will be two speakers each evening. Admission is $6 for the general public and $4 for members. For tickets and information, call (831) 459-3800. Thursday, October 5 Thursday, October 12 Thursday, October 19 This lecture series is sponsored by Aptos Animal Hospital and UCSC's Center for the Dynamics and Evolution of the Land-Sea Interface (CDELSI). Proceeds from the lectures help fund the Seymour Center's education programs. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is a science education center located at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory. Overlooking the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Seymour Center features aquariums, exhibits, touch tanks, an 87-foot blue whale skeleton, a gift and book shop, and more. Visitor programs include docent-led tours, field trips, and workshops. The center also offers school programs, teacher training, summer youth programs, and opportunities for college students. Information is available by calling (831) 459-3800.
Long Marine Lab's annual "Whale of an Auction" a huge success! SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The 2006 Whale of an Auction - All Jazzed Up - was a whale of a success. Under the leadership of auction chair Virginia Guhin, the Friends of Long Marine Lab raised over $120,000, including $7,500 for scholarships, through a community effort by an ambitious board, generous artists and business donors, 120 event volunteers, and generous bidders. A social and gastronomic occasion as well as an auction, the evening included a catered buffet, fine wines, champagne, music, and lots of excitement. The event, which included both live and silent auctions, raised funds to support Long Marine Lab's Seymour Center and its public education programs. Items up for bid at this year's auction included one-of-a-kind field trips with renowned scientists, vacations in exotic places, art glass, exclusive dinners, wines, and much more. Among the excursions offered this year were a photography and biology outing for four with Frans Lanting and Christine Eckstrom; a geology and history tour with geologist Gary Griggs and historian Sandy Lydon; a wild-foods foraging dinner; scientist-led behind-the-scenes and after-hours trips to Año Nuevo, Elkhorn Slough, and on research vessels on Monterey Bay; and private dinners by chefs Emile Mooser, Robert Morris, and Jozseph Schultz. The auction also offered exclusive getaways in St. Bart's, Paris, Cabo San Lucas, and San Diego, and an abundance of unique ways to enjoy the culture and beauty of Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay. All education programs and daily operations of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center depend on community support. Donations to the "Whale of an Auction" help bring marine science alive for everyone. The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Located at the end of Delaware Ave. in Santa Cruz, the Seymour Center is open to the public every day except Mondays.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center unveils new exhibit on fisheries research SANTA CRUZ, CA--What is an otolith? How long do rockfish live? What affects salmon populations? The number of people who can answer these questions is about to increase dramatically, thanks to a new exhibit on fisheries research at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz. The exhibit will be officially "unveiled" on Friday, April 21, with free admission to the Seymour Center from 3 to 5 p.m., light refreshments, and remarks from local marine scientists. The new exhibit features the work of scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Santa Cruz Laboratory. The NMFS lab is located next to UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory, home of the Seymour Center. According to the volunteer docents who lead tours and interpret exhibits at the Seymour Center, visitors began asking questions about what goes on at the NMFS lab as soon as it opened in 2000. NMFS is an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and is sometimes called "NOAA Fisheries." Scientists at the Santa Cruz lab study Pacific Coast groundfish (including rockfish and other bottom-dwellers) and Pacific salmon and steelhead. Their findings influence decisions about the management of important fisheries and protection of threatened and endangered species. Wendelin Montciel, visitor programs manager at the Seymour Center, worked closely with a team from the NMFS lab to develop the new exhibit. The kid-friendly, interactive exhibit is designed to appeal to various age groups and includes hands-on activities and three-dimensional models, as well as text and image panels, Montciel said. One aspect of the exhibit is a comparison of the life histories of salmon and rockfish, showing how scientific research provides the information needed to plan successful strategies for managing fisheries. Both salmon and rockfish are popular with commercial and recreational fishers, but their life histories are dramatically different. Salmon are born in freshwater streams, migrate to the ocean, live four to six years, grow up to 48 inches, and return to the streams where they hatched to spawn. Rockfish are born in the coastal ocean, grow slowly to 18 inches, reach sexual maturity at age 20, give birth to live young each year, and can live to be more than 100 years old. Management strategies for these species must take into account these differences in their life histories. Another part of the exhibit explains what an otolith is (it's an ear bone that plays a role in hearing and balance) and how scientists can use otoliths to learn valuable information about individual fish. A third aspect of the exhibit is called "Be a Scientist." It features images of NMFS scientists as children who grew up pursuing their interest in marine science and gives kids a fun opportunity to picture themselves as scientists. The Seymour Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors, and $4 for children ages 4 to 16. Admission is free the first Tuesday of each month. The center will be closed for the Easter holiday on Sunday, April 16. Additional information about the Seymour Center is available on the web at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. Information about the NMFS Santa Cruz Laboratory is available on the web at http://santacruz.nmfs.noaa.gov.
April lecture series marks centennial of 1906 San Francisco earthquake SANTA CRUZ, CA--With 1,100 miles of geologically active coastline and most of its 36 million people living near the coast, California is at risk from both earthquakes and tsunamis. In a series of lectures in Santa Cruz on April 19 and 20, titled "Quaking 'n' Breaking: Earthquakes to Tsunamis: Then and There, Here and Now," experts will examine these risks in the context of local disaster history and recent global calamities. The talks mark the centennial of the April 18, 1906, San Francisco earthquake. On Wednesday, April 19, local historian Sandy Lydon and UC Santa Cruz geologist Gary Griggs will discuss the earthquake history and present-day geological realities of central California. On Thursday, April 20, oceanographer Bruce Jaffe and geologist Harvey Kelsey will examine the threat of tsunamis. Sponsored by the Seymour Center at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory, the lectures will take place at 7 p.m. at the UCSC Inn and Conference Center, 611 Ocean Street, in Santa Cruz. Tickets cost $6 per evening or $10 for the series for the general public ($5 per evening or $8 for the series for Friends of Long Marine Lab members). For tickets and information about the lectures, call (831) 459-3800. Griggs, a professor of Earth sciences and director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at UCSC, and Lydon, who teaches history at Cabrillo College, are coauthoring a book on the history of natural disasters in the Monterey Bay Area. In their talks, Griggs and Lydon will discuss the major seismic events that have struck the area during the past several hundred years, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Griggs will provide insights into the geological mechanisms underlying the quakes, and Lydon will describe how human populations responded to the calamities. Jaffe and Kelsey are former students of Griggs who earned their Ph.D.s in Earth sciences at UCSC. Jaffe is now an oceanographer at the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Science Center in Santa Cruz. He will present highlights from his trip to Sri Lanka and Indonesia to study the effects of the devastating tsunami that struck southern Asia in 2004. Triggered by an undersea earthquake, the tsunami rose 100 feet above the coast and traveled 3 miles inland. Jaffe found vast and widespread devastation, especially in northwest Sumatra. In some areas, however, the inhabitants had escaped destruction by wisely fleeing inland after sensing the quake. Kelsey, an adjunct professor and research associate in geology at Humboldt State University in Arcata, specializes in the study of earthquake history. He will present findings on the Cascadia subduction zone, a major offshore fault that extends from southwestern Canada to northern California. The Cascadia fault has been the main source of earthquake-generated tsunamis that have struck the West Coast in the past. Layers of sand deposited in an Oregon coastal lake during the past 4,600 years bear testimony to past earthquakes and tsunamis along this zone, Kelsey said.
Friends of Long Marine Lab will honor Secretary of State Bruce McPherson with Global Oceans Award SANTA CRUZ, CA --The Friends of Long Marine Lab will present a Global Oceans Award to California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson at the group's annual Gourmet Dinner benefit event on Sunday, March 12. The award recognizes McPherson for his leadership in the Friends of Long Marine Lab and his commitment to the local coastal environment. Awards will also be presented to two promising marine sciences students at UC Santa Cruz. The Global Oceans Awards were established in 2004 to recognize outstanding individuals who are making a difference for the world's oceans. The annual dinner, held this year at the Bittersweet Bistro in Rio del Mar, is one of the most popular fundraising events for the Friends of Long Marine Lab. McPherson became secretary of state in 2005 after 11 years in the state legislature. A fourth-generation Santa Cruz native, he served three years in the assembly representing Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties , followed by eight years in the state senate. While in the legislature, McPherson earned a reputation as a moderate and nonpartisan officeholder--a fiscal conservative who fought to protect California 's environment and scenic coastlines. Prior to his election to the assembly, McPherson served as the founding president of the Friends of Long Marine Lab, a community support group dedicated to supporting and promoting the public outreach activities of the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory at UCSC. As an assemblyman, McPherson advocated and played a key role in obtaining state funding for construction of UCSC's Earth and Marine Sciences Building , home to the Institute of Marine Sciences . As a state senator, he helped secure funding for the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building , which houses Environmental Studies and other programs. Throughout his tenure in California politics, McPherson has helped to protect coastal open space and promote public access. He also helped to fund the "mussel watch" program, which tests for toxins in shellfish, and cast the deciding vote to ban offshore oil drilling in state waters. Graduate students Leslie Roland and Dana Wingfield will also receive awards at the dinner. They had the top-ranked proposals among 16 students who received research support from the Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards this year. These awards provided more than $11,000 in total funding for undergraduate and graduate student research projects in the marine sciences. Roland, who works with UCSC assistant professor of ocean sciences Matthew McCarthy, is identifying the composition of particles suspended in the water below the ocean surface and sinking into the "twilight zone." Wingfield, who works with UCSC professor of Earth sciences Gary Griggs, is elucidating habitat use of foraging juvenile loggerhead turtles in Baja California Sur , Mexico. For more information about the Global Oceans Gourmet Dinner and Awards Gala, contact Lisa M. Rose at (831) 459-3694.
Seymour Center offers marine science resources for local schools Santa Cruz, CA – More than 11,000 schoolchildren visited UCSC's Seymour Marine Discovery Center on class field trips last year. They got to study live sea creatures from Monterey Bay, discovered how marine scientists think and work, and stood in awe before the 87-foot skeleton of a blue whale. The Seymour Center 's school programs are designed to immerse students of all ages–from kindergarten through community college–in the world of marine science. The center also offers a K-12 student art contest, teacher workshops and other resources for educators. According to Youth Programs Manager Suzanne Hebert, "Our goal is to provide schools with a hands on, content rich field experience in which the students become the scientists by making observations, asking questions, creating hypotheses, and conducting experiments." Classes come from far and wide to enjoy these programs--one school in Washington state sends its students every year, said Seymour Center director Julie Barrett Heffington. But most come from schools in Santa Cruz County taking advantage of an outstanding educational resource right in their back yard. Several options are available for class field trips, ranging from self-guided tours to Discovery Lab programs taught by teams of science educators and volunteers. These hands-on lab programs incorporate the California Science Content Standards in a series of engaging, age-appropriate activities. For more information about these programs, visit the Seymour Center web site and click on the "Learning Programs" link.
Fall lecture series at the Seymour Center will focus on sustainable fisheries SANTA CRUZ , CA --The Fall Lecture Series at UC Santa Cruz's Seymour Marine Discovery Center will focus on sustainable fisheries, with six speakers providing a range of perspectives on the serious challenges facing important fisheries on the West Coast and around the world. Lecture topics will include the future of seafood, the politics of fish and the oceans, and the management of West Coast groundfish fisheries. The lectures will take place on consecutive Thursday evenings, October 6, 13, and 20, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the La Féliz Room at the Seymour Center. There will be two speakers each evening. Admission is $8 for the general public and $6 for members. For tickets and information, call (831) 459-3800. Thursday, October 6 Current Approaches and Recent Developments in Managing
West Coast Groundfish Fisheries Thursday, October 13 The Politics of Fish and the Oceans Thursday, October 20 It Takes a Community to Sustain Fisheries The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is a science education center located at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory. Overlooking the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Seymour Center features aquariums, exhibits, touch tanks, an 87-foot blue whale skeleton, a gift and book shop, and more. Visitor programs include docent-led tours, field trips, and workshops. The center also offers school programs, teacher training, summer youth programs, and opportunities for college students. Information is available online at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu or by calling (831) 459-3800.
Long Marine Lab's annual "Whale of an Auction" set for Friday, June 17 Over the past 20 years, the auction has grown from humble beginnings into a lavish affair featuring a catered buffet, fine wines, champagne, and lots of excitement. The event includes both live and silent auctions. Tickets for the evening are $75 at the door. For additional information, call (831) 459-3800. Highlights of the items up for bid at this year's auction include exclusive vacation retreats in Paris, St. Barts, Kauai, La Quinta, Puerto Vallarta, Napa, San Francisco, and other exciting locales; a private history and geology tour of Point Lobos with UCSC geologist Gary Griggs and historian Sandy Lydon; field trips, research cruises, private presentations, and behind-the-scenes tours with renowned Long Marine Lab scientists; specialty wines and private wine-tasting tours; private art, baking, and cooking classes; a bumper-car party for 50 at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk; a lobster and clambake for 20 on the beach catered by the Crow's Nest Restaurant; artwork, jewelry, and exquisite blown glass; sports equipment and tickets to sporting events; and much, much more. All education programs and daily operations of the lab's Seymour Marine Discovery Center depend on community support. Contributions to the Whale of an Auction help bring marine science alive for the community. Last year's event was a great success, with more than 400 bidders who helped raise more than $80,000 in crucial funds for the Seymour Center . The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Research conducted by UCSC scientists in Monterey Bay and around the world is featured in the center's exhibits, along with galleries of aquaria, seawater tables, an 87-foot blue whale skeleton, and much more. Located at the end of Delaware Ave. in Santa Cruz , the Seymour Center is open to the public every day except Mondays. Long Marine Lab is a research facility of the Institute of Marine Sciences at UCSC.
Peregrine falcons released to the wild at Long Marine Laboratory SANTA CRUZ , CA -- For the next few weeks, visitors to UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory will have the rare opportunity to see young peregrine falcons learning to fly and hunt in the wild. The six-week-old falcons were raised in a captive breeding program and are now being released to the wild by the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (SCPBRG), which is affiliated with the Institute of Marine Sciences and based at Long Marine Lab. Glenn Stewart, SCPBRG program manager, said the release is a six- to eight-week process during which the group's staff and volunteers will be keeping an eye on the birds and providing them with food at the release site until they are able to capture prey on their own. In the wild, peregrine falcon parents provide food for their young during this stage, but the young birds do not learn their hunting skills from their parents, Stewart said. "It's a completely instinctive activity. They will soon be dominating the air space around the lab and chasing other birds as they begin to learn pursuit skills--it's quite an impressive aerial display to observe," he said. The three falcon siblings, two males and a female, were five weeks old when Stewart brought them to Long Marine Lab last week and put them in a specially-built box (called a "hack box") set up on a third-floor landing of the Center for Ocean Health building. Today (Monday), Stewart will open the box to allow the birds to take their first flights (known as fledging). The fledglings can be a bit clumsy at first and often land on the ground after their first flight. This is the most dangerous time for the birds, but Long Marine Lab is a very forgiving location, Stewart said. "In other locations, we have to worry about coyotes or bobcats getting them when they land on the ground. But even here we need to make sure they get back to a safe perch before nightfall, so we'll have people out there every daylight hour to monitor them for the next two months," he said. The birds have been outfitted with small radio transmitters to enable the researchers to keep track of them during the release process. The volunteers helping to monitor the birds at Long Marine Lab include six student interns from UCSC and Cabrillo College who are receiving course credits for their work with SCPBRG. This is the third year in a row that Long Marine Lab has served as a release site for peregrine falcons. Stewart said the falcons typically use the whole lab area as a home base and can often be seen perching on the roofs of the buildings and flying overhead. Until they begin catching their own prey, the falcons usually return to the hack box once a day to eat the fresh quail the attendants leave there. SCPBRG biologists have released more than 1,000 peregrine falcons into the wild since the 1970s, helping to bring the species back from the brink of extinction. Their release method, known as "hacking," is based on an old falconry technique. A detailed description can be found on the group's web site. The releases at Long Marine Lab are being carried out under a contract with Caltrans as mitigation for the potential disturbance of nesting peregrines during seismic retrofitting work on the San Francisco Bay Bridge and other bridges. The SCPBRG is dedicated to the recovery of endangered predatory birds and applies its expertise to a wide range of bird species. The organization's work is entirely supported by foundation grants, gifts from individuals, and contracts awarded by state and federal agencies.
Seymour Center to receive funding from surf industry SANTA CRUZ , CA -- For the third year in a row, the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) will provide a grant to support education programs at UCSC's Seymour Marine Discovery Center . The Seymour Center is one of 10 environmental organizations chosen by SIMA to receive proceeds from the Waterman's Weekend, the surf industry's annual environmental fundraiser. The SIMA Environmental Fund provides grants to environmental organizations based on their commitment to specific projects that will protect and preserve oceans, beaches, or surf breaks. The Seymour Center will use the funds from SIMA to educate young people about the role marine science plays in understanding and conserving the world's oceans. The exact amount of the grant depends on the funds raised during the Waterman's Weekend. Last year, the Seymour Center received over $12,000 from the SIMA Environmental Fund. The annual Waterman's Weekend serves as the primary fundraiser for the SIMA Environmental Fund through the Waterman's Classic Golf Tournament and Waterman's Ball and Auction. This year's Waterman's Classic will take place August 26 at the Monarch Beach Golf Links. The Waterman's Ball and Auction will be held August 27 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point, California.
Save Our Shores Launches 2005 Stewardship Series at the Seymour Center: Marine Protected Areas, Tuesday, April 26, 2005, 6:30–8:30 PM SANTA CRUZ, CA -- Save Our Shores and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center have joined together to champion and support the role of public participation in the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, California’s inspiring vision for sustaining, conserving and protecting our abundant marine life, coasts and ocean. Admission is free. Seating is limited. The forum, designed for all ages and levels of knowledge, will provide residents and visitors with meaningful perspectives on marine protected areas and the MLPA from fishing, science, and conservation experts. Attendees will also be encouraged to take an active role in the designation of marine protected areas on the Central Coast through the Blue Ribbon Task Force designated by Governor Schwarzenegger to oversee the implementation of the MLPA. The event begins with a special presentation, “Marine Protected Areas 101,” given by Jane De Lay, executive director of Save Our Shores. The evening will also feature an underwater photo documentary by Marc Shargel presented by the Coalition of Organizations for Ocean Life. A panel presentation and an interactive Q&A session with the audience will follow. Featured speakers include:
In addition, attendees will learn how their voice can make a difference in ocean conservation from Kirk Brown, communications specialist and co-director of Resource Media in San Francisco. WHAT: Get On Board: A Citizen’s Role in the Marine Life
Protection Act Initiative About the Expert Panelists: Dr.Mark Carr: As associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), Dr. Carr’s research focuses on the ecology of coastal marine fishes and their habitats, particularly species associated with shallow rocky and coral reefs. His research on temperate and tropical reef fishes and kelp forest ecosystems has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals. He is conducting studies on the long-term dynamics of central California kelp forest ecosystems and the ecology of rocky reef fishes (i.e., their larval dispersal, recruitment, habitat associations, and movement) in association with the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO). Dr. Carr is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow sponsored by the Ecological Society of America. He served on the steering committee for the California Marine Life Management Reform Project, an advisory committee for implementation of the California Marine Life Management Act, and was a science/education representative on the Monterey Regional Working Group of the Marine Life Protection Act. He was a member of the Science Advisory Panel for the Channel Islands Marine Reserve Working Group and is a science/education representative to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s working group on Special Marine Protected Areas. He is currently serving as a member of the MLPA Science Advisory Team. He has published several peer-reviewed papers on the application, design and evaluation of marine reserves. Zeke Grader: As executive director, Grader leads the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations (PCFFA), an organization of commercial fishing groups throughout California, with members in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. He is also executive director of the Institute for Fisheries Resources, a non-profit established to address fish habitat protection, restoration and research. Grader was raised in the fishing industry in northern California where his father was a fish processor and his mother a journalist. During his 25 years with PCFFA, Grader has been responsible for drafting legislation and regulations affecting fishing. Grader is a past member of the Department of Commerce's Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, past president of the West Coast Fisheries Development Foundation, a member of the Environmental Law Section of the California Bar, the American Fisheries Society and the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, and a 1988 recipient of the Department of Commerce's "Environmental Hero Award." Kaitilin Gaffney: As California Central Coast Program Manager for The Ocean Conservancy, Ms. Gaffney works on a wide variety of ecosystem protection, water quality, fish and marine wildlife issues relating to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and California Central coast. Gaffney is the Conservation Representative on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and chairs the Sanctuary's Conservation Working Group. She also serves on the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network Steering Committee and has recently represented conservation interests in the Agricultural Advisory Panel of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Gaffney holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law, and a master's degree in Commerce and Administration from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand where she served as a Fulbright Scholar. She is also a Planning Commissioner with the City of Santa Cruz, formerly served as a Board Member of the Coastal Watershed Council and as a member of the San Lorenzo Urban River Restoration Plan Task Force. Kirk Brown: Mr. Brown has a background in regional, national and international sustainable energy advocacy as co-director of the San Francisco office for Resource Media. In the early 90s, he served as policy director for the Business Council for Sustainable Energy in Washington , D.C. His responsibilities have helped to direct the Council's climate change advocacy efforts with business, national media, and national and international policymakers. Most recently, Brown served as assistant director of the San Francisco-based Center for Resource Solutions in support of renewable energy and energy efficiency use in the United States . About Save Our Shores: Save Our Shores is a nonprofit, grassroots organization operating throughout the central coast region including San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo counties. Founded in 1978 as a citizen action campaign to prevent offshore oil development, Save Our Shores implements programs that protect and conserve the marine ecosystems of California’s central coast for all generations. Through education, policy, and citizen action, the organization addresses the issues important to central coast communities such as maintaining clean beaches, improving water quality, establishing marine protected areas, and promoting marine education. Web site: http://www.saveourshores.org About SeymourMarineDiscoveryCenter: The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Open year round to the public, the Seymour Center is part of the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory, a research and education facility of the University of California Santa Cruz which serves as a base for field research in Monterey Bay and the ocean beyond. Web site: http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu About California’s Marine Life Protection Act Initiative and the Blue Ribbon Task Force: Web site: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/mlpa/highlights.html About the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999 (Summary): Web site: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/mlpa/background.html For more information contact: Save Our Shores: (831) 462-5660.
Friends of Long Marine Lab will Honor Photographer Frans Lanting with Global Oceans Award SANTA CRUZ , CA --The Friends of Long Marine Lab will present a Global Oceans Award to renowned nature photographer and conservationist Frans Lanting at the group's annual Gourmet Dinner benefit event on Sunday, March 20. The award recognizes Lanting for his outstanding contributions to the public awareness of the natural environment. Awards will also be presented to two promising marine science students at UCSC. The Global Oceans Awards were established in 2004 to recognize outstanding individuals who are making a difference for the world's oceans. UCSC Chancellor Denice D. Denton will be a special guest at the Gourmet Dinner, which raises funds for the education programs at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center . The dinner, held this year at the Bittersweet Bistro in Rio Del Mar, has long been one of the most popular fundraising events for the Friends of Long Marine Lab. The event will be hosted this year by the proprietors of the Bittersweet Bistro, chef Thomas Vinolus and his wife Elizabeth. Lanting, a photographer-in-residence at National Geographic magazine, has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. He portrays wild creatures as ambassadors for the preservation of complete ecosystems, and his many publications have increased worldwide awareness of endangered ecological treasures in the far corners of the Earth. Lanting serves on the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund and is a UCSC Foundation Trustee. Olivia Cheriton and Itchung Cheung, both graduate students in ocean sciences, will also receive awards at the dinner. They had the top-ranked proposals among the 19 students who received research support from the Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards this year. These awards provided more than $11,000 in total funding for undergraduate and graduate student research projects in the marine sciences. Cheriton is studying the dynamics of thin layers of ocean water in Monterey Bay that are associated with the periodic upwelling of cold, deep water and subsequent "relaxation" events. These oceanographic conditions play a significant role in the life cycles of various species of rockfish. Cheriton is working with Margaret McManus, who was an assistant professor of ocean sciences at UCSC and is now at the University of Hawaii . Cheung, who works with professor of ocean sciences Mary Silver, is studying harmful algal blooms. In particular, he is investigating possible marine toxin contamination in dungeness and rock crabs in Monterey Bay. For information about the Global Oceans Gourmet Dinner and Awards Gala, contact Lisa M. Rose at (831) 459-3694.
K-12 Marine Masterpieces Exhibit Opens March 12 at Seymour Center The public is invited to attend an awards ceremony and reception for the artists that will be held Saturday, March 12, at 2 p.m. at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center , 100 Shaffer Road , in Santa Cruz . Nearly 300 students entered the Marine Masterpieces Student Art Contest & Exhibition, which attracted entries from as far away as Wisconsin . The contest was open to individuals and groups that produced works that "communicate something about marine life/science, ocean conservation, or marine scientists." Individual winners were selected in each of four categories: K-1st grade, 2-3rd grade, 4-6th grade, and 7-12th grade. Winners were also selected from a separate category for group artwork. The names of winning artists will be posted on the Seymour Center web site http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu . "We had a really good response," said contest coordinator Kevin Keedy, who manages youth programs at the Seymour Center . "The artwork is fantastic." The contest provides an opportunity for marine enthusiasts to express themselves artistically, and it encourages others to study the oceans in order to produce a work of art, said Keedy. "It's a neat way to get kids involved, and the exhibit gives the public an opportunity to see and enjoy the art," he said. A total of 288 artists produced 236 pieces that were judged by a panel of six judges. First-place winners will receive one-year student memberships to the Seymour Center , while their teachers will receive a voucher for $100 toward a class field trip to the center; other prizes include T-shirts and books. The contest was sponsored by Don and Peggy Schmitz. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Part of the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California , Santa Cruz , the center offers exhibit halls, aquaria, touch tanks, and public tours overlooking the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Seymour Center Hosts Sneak Preview of “Coastal Clash,” a KQED Documentary on California’s Coastal Conflicts, on November 11 SANTA CRUZ, CA--On Thursday, November 11, the Seymour Center at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory, in partnership with KQED Public Television, presents a sneak preview of Coastal Clash, a new documentary that takes an in-depth look at the struggle between public and private interests along the California coast. After the screening, Deanna Zachary, host of KUSP Radio's Talk of the Bay, will moderate a panel discussion on local and statewide coastal issues, including public access, property rights, coastal erosion, and coastal policy. The sneak preview begins at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 11, at the Seymour Center. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is free and open to the public. Coastal Clash will be broadcast on Friday, November 12, at 9 p.m. on KQED Public Television Channel 9. For more information on coastal issues, educational materials, and repeat air dates, visit the KQED web site at http://www.kqed.org/coastalclash. Coastal Clash is a production of KQED Public Television in San Francisco. Gary Griggs, director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences and an expert on coastal geology, provided background information for the producers and is featured in the documentary. He will also take part in the panel discussion at the Seymour Center. "Let's go to the beach" has always been an entitlement of California living, with 80 percent of Californians living within 30 miles of the water's edge. But as urbanization continues to encroach on the 1,100-mile-long coast, our shoreline has come under siege. Development is swallowing up miles of coastline; access to beaches is being cut off; and seawalls may be causing beaches to disappear. A battle is raging around the fundamental question: Whose coast is it, anyway? Many Californians believe that the passage of the Coastal Act in 1976 and the subsequent creation of the California Coastal Commission and California Coastal Conservancy effectively saved the coastline. But despite the fact that California leads the nation in its protection and management of coastal resources, few locations in the United States rival California for its constant, intense pressure for development or for the politics that plague the operations of the California Coastal Commission. Coastal Clash travels the California coastline and introduces representatives from all sides of the issue. Environmental experts, coastal scientists, government representatives, community leaders, and property owners reveal the state's history of tension between public and private coastal interests, examine the science of seawalls and their effect on beaches, and offer examples of both failed and successful attempts at coastal development. Exploring the effects of seawalls, Coastal Clash visits the communities of Solana Beach and Pacifica. Beach access is examined in Malibu and Mendocino County, development in Santa Barbara County, and land trusts in San Luis Obispo County and the San Mateo Coast. The Coastal Clash project draws upon KQED Public Broadcasting's multiple platforms to offer a public radio companion series, a content-rich web site, and extensive educational outreach. For more information about the sneak preview, contact the Seymour Center at (831) 459-3800.
Seymour Center Lecture Series Focuses on Women in Marine Science SANTA CRUZ, CA--The annual fall lecture series at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center this year highlights extraordinary women in marine science. The series, "Women Who Turn the Tides: Setting New Benchmarks in Marine Science," includes presentations on three evenings in October, starting with a panel discussion on Wednesday, October 6. The other lectures will take place on Tuesday, October 12, and Wednesday, October 20. All three events start at 7 p.m. and will be held at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory. Admission is $8 for the general public and $6 for members of the Friends of Long Marine Lab. Information and tickets are available from the Seymour Center at (831) 459-4352. Wednesday, October 6, 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, October 12, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 20, 7 to 9 p.m. (two lectures)
New Elephant Seal Sculpture at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center Honors Long Marine Lab Volunteers The life-size sculpture includes a female with her pup and a rearing bull elephant seal. It was unveiled at the Seymour Center's Volunteer Celebration in June and dedicated to "the Long Marine Laboratory Volunteers--Past, Present, and Future." The idea of putting some kind of sculpture near the entrance was part of the original plans for the Seymour Center's exhibits, said director Julie Barrett Heffington. "As our plans developed, it became clear that this was an obvious place to make a tribute to the volunteers who do so much to help us share the wonders of marine science with the public," Heffington said. Since the founding of Long Marine Laboratory in 1978 as a research facility of the University of California, Santa Cruz, volunteers have been at the heart of the lab's public education programs. Those programs are now based at the Seymour Center, which opened in 2000. Among the discoveries by UCSC scientists that the volunteers have helped share with the world are the amazing feats of the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris). The seals, which reproduce on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Reserve 20 miles north of Santa Cruz, have been a focus of research at UCSC for more than three decades. Long Marine Lab scientists discovered many of the remarkable diving, feeding, and reproductive behaviors of this impressive animal. With satellite tracking technology and other new tools, scientists at the lab are now unveiling the mysteries of elephant seal behavior during the long periods the animals spend at sea. The elephant seal sculptures were made from molds originally created in the late 1980s by the California Academy of Sciences. The academy agreed to let Long Marine Lab borrow the molds, and the new sculptures were fabricated by David Caldwell at Edge Innovations in Alameda. Edge Innovations is known for producing lifelike animatronic creatures and other special effects for feature films, including the movies Free Willy, Anaconda, and The Perfect Storm. Steve Davenport, manager of Long Marine Lab and assistant director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences, credited both Caldwell and the original artists who created the molds for producing a superb display that captures the striking appearance of elephant seals. "David Caldwell did a wonderful job, and it's all based on the incredible artwork of the originals," Davenport said. One of the original artists, Gloria Nusse, worked with Caldwell on the final details. Nusse was one of a team of artists who sculpted the originals out of clay (about 1,000 pounds of it) and made latex molds from the clay sculptures. The other artists involved were Steve Carr, Lindsay Dixon, Jane Eckenrode, and Frank Tose. They were advised by elephant seal experts at the academy and even spent four days on Año Nuevo Island as guests of UCSC biologists, drawing and observing the seals, Nusse said. "Working on the seals was a wonderful blending of art and science that does not happen all the time," she said. Caldwell used the academy's molds to make the Seymour Center's sculptures out of fiberglass and polyester resin. The sculptures are filled with rigid foam and anchored to cement bulkheads in the ground. The original sculptures include two bull elephant seals in a fighting pose, along with a mother and pup, but the mold for one of the bulls was damaged and could not be used. The originals have been on display for years at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. With those facilities undergoing a major rebuilding project, the academy is making arrangements to find a temporary home for its elephant seal sculptures, which are not among the exhibits in the academy's temporary museum at 875 Howard Street in San Francisco. The Seymour Center is a science education center located at Long Marine Laboratory at the end of Delaware Ave. on the west side of Santa Cruz. Overlooking the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the center features aquariums, exhibits, touch tanks, an 87-foot blue whale skeleton, a gift and book shop, and more. The center's exhibits focus on the work of researchers at UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences, which operates Long Marine Lab. Interactive stations provide hands-on learning experiences, and trained docents lead tours and answer questions. Tours of Long Marine Lab are offered from 1 to 3 p.m. daily (last tour ends at 4 p.m.). The Seymour Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It is closed Monday. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for seniors, students, and youths (ages 6 to 16); and free for children ages 5 and under. Admission is free the first Tuesday of each month.
Scientists Will Discuss Marine Animals and Human Noise in a Free Lecture at the Seymour Center on Thursday, June 3 SANTA CRUZ, CA--The effects of human noise on marine animals is the subject of a special presentation by three marine mammal experts on Thursday, June 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory. Admission is free. Seating is limited and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The speakers will be Donald Croll, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz; David Kastak, a researcher at UCSC's Long Marine Lab; and Brandon Southall, director of the NOAA Fisheries acoustics program. Their talks are part of a nationwide lecture series sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries). Southall, who earned his Ph.D. in ocean sciences at UCSC studying hearing in seals and sea lions, will give an introduction on the subject of human-produced sound in the marine environment. Southall has been traveling around the country since March as part of the NOAA Fisheries lecture series, which aims to present the public with current scientific information on marine animals and human noise. The series will continue through November. Kastak, who earned a Ph.D. in biology at UCSC, will talk about the physics of sound and hearing in the ocean and the effects of human-produced noises, mostly in relation to pinnipeds (seals and sea lions). Kastak has studied the hearing abilities of different pinniped species and the effects of human-produced noise on pinnipeds. He leads an ongoing research program on pinniped acoustics at Long Marine Lab, and is also involved in research with the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program. Croll will discuss the role of sound in the lives of the great whales and how the noise created by human activities in the ocean might affect those animals. Croll has studied the loud, low-frequency sounds produced by fin whales and blue whales, gaining new insights into how and why the whales use these vocalizations. He has also done research on how whales respond to human-produced noises.
Biologist Terrie Williams to Read from her Book, The Hunter’s Breath, at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on Thursday, May 13 SANTA CRUZ, CA-- The Seymour Marine Discovery Center will host a celebration of the new book by Terrie Williams, The Hunter's Breath: On Expedition with the Weddell Seals of the Antarctic, on Thursday, May 13, starting at 6 p.m. Williams, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, will read from the book, talk about her experiences in Antarctica, and answer questions from the audience. Her presentation will be followed by a wine-and-cheese reception and book signing. The reception is sponsored by the Aptos Animal Hospital. Copies of the book will be on sale at the Seymour Center's Ocean Discovery Shop. Admission to this special event is $10 per person. Seating is limited. For reservations, call (831) 459-3800. In six trips to Antarctica, Williams endured brutal conditions on the coldest, driest, windiest continent on Earth in order to learn the secrets of the mysterious Weddell seals, the only wild mammals capable of surviving Antarctic winters. In The Hunter's Breath, Williams interweaves two amazing stories from those expeditions: One is the story of the seals and their remarkable adaptations to life on and beneath the Antarctic sea ice, while the other is a human story of adventure and discovery in one of the most punishing environments on Earth. Williams is based at the Center for Ocean Health, part of UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory. The Seymour Center runs the marine lab's science education and visitor programs.
SIMA to Donate Proceeds from 2004 Waterman’s Weekend to Ten Proven Environmental Organizations SAN CLEMENTE, CA, May 4, 2004 — The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) announced today that the proceeds from the 2004 Waterman’s Weekend, the surf industry’s annual environmental fundraiser, will be distributed among ten environmental organizations that will dedicate those funds to programs that will address water quality and ocean pollution issues, defend beaches and surf breaks from development, or provide public education about ocean conservation. The ten environmental organizations selected to receive a percentage of the proceeds from the Waterman’s Weekend in the form of a 2004 SIMA Environmental Fund grant are: Surfrider Foundation, Ocean Institute, Wildcoast, Heal the Bay, Orange County CoastKeeper, Surfing Education Association, Alaska Wilderness League, Seymour Marine Discovery Center, Algalita Marine Research Foundation and Save the Waves Coalition. Each organization was chosen by the SIMA Environmental Fund Board of Directors based on their commitment of funds to specific projects that will protect and preserve oceans, beaches and/or surf breaks. All of the organizations are returning beneficiaries, with the exception of Algalita Marine Research Foundation and Save the Waves Coalition, which are new grant recipients this year. “The focus of the SIMA Environmental Fund is on funding and supporting ocean-based environmental concerns. We have zeroed in on groups that best protect the ocean environment, that cover a broad spectrum from educational to activist,” said Paul Naude, chairman of the SIMA Environmental Fund Board of Directors and CEO of Billabong USA. “There has been an increase in environmental awareness and victories have been achieved, but there are still battles that need to be fought. Poor water quality and beach closures affect this industry financially and, as a result, surf industry companies have a vested interest in ensuring that our oceans continue to be healthy and accessible.” The SIMA Environmental Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation formed by the surf industry to provide support in the form of grants to environmental organizations. The annual Waterman’s Weekend serves as the primary fundraiser for the SIMA Environmental Fund through the Waterman’s Classic Golf Tournament and Waterman’s Ball and Auction. This year’s Waterman’s Classic will take place August 27 at the Monarch Beach Golf Links. The Waterman’s Ball and Auction will be held August 28 at The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point, California. In addition to raising money for the environment, the Waterman’s Ball will be the venue for the surf industry to honor six-time world champion Kelly Slater as Waterman of the Year for his decade-long impact on competitive surfing, revolutionary filmmaker Greg MacGillivray as Environmentalist of the Year for his efforts to create environmental consciousness through film, and legendary surfer Miki Dora with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his lasting influence on surfing style. The SIMA Board of Directors also elected to bestow a special award this year on Bethany Hamilton for her remarkable bravery and poise after surviving a shark attack last fall. In choosing the 2004 SIMA Environmental Fund grant recipients, the SIMA Environmental Fund Board of Directors requested that applicants submit a proposal detailing how the funds would be used to improve the ocean ecology or surf locations. Each organization’s proposal included a description of the specific program that the grant would be directed to, including a justification of the program and expected environmental impact. “The support from SIMA through the Waterman’s Ball makes it possible for Wildcoast to keep up our fight to save the point breaks of Baja. The Ball is the surfing world’s most important event for the support of the warriors who battle to keep our waves clean and pristine,” said Serge Dedina, executive director of Wildcoast and 2003 Environmentalist of the Year. Following is a list of the 2004 SIMA Environmental Fund grant recipients along with a description of the program(s) to which the organizations will be directing their grants: Surfrider Foundation Grant will enable efforts to provide the public with an annual report on the health of our beaches, to protect or enhance surf locations through a coastal mapping program, and to ensure or protect the quality of water in the surf zone through grassroots efforts. Ocean Institute Grant will bring fifth grade students in the communities once removed from the beach to the Institute for hands-on education about the environmental impact of their behaviors. Wildcoast Funds will support continued efforts to save surf breaks in Baja California by stopping the Mexican National Tourism Fund (FONATUR) from illegally building marinas that would destroy unique point breaks. Heal the Bay Funds will support programs to ensure that Los Angeles area waterbody quality regulations conform to the clean water act and a study of the impact of Southern California coastal power plants on marine life. Orange County CoastKeeper Grant will support efforts to reduce the health threats to wave riders and swimmers caused by urban runoff pollution in the coastal zones of Orange County, California. Surfing Education Association Dedicated funds will be used to prevent destructive legislation from being passed that would threaten surfing sites at Waikiki Beach and other surfing areas on O’ahu. Alaska Wilderness League Dedicated funds will help protect sensitive marine and coastal areas offshore of the Arctic Refuge from oil exploration or development. Seymour Marine Discovery Center Funds will be used to educate young people about the role marine science plays in understanding and conserving the world’s oceans. Algalita Marine Discovery Center Funds will be used to cover the costs of increasing the length, duplicating and distributing a documentary video that illustrates the harmful effects of non-biodegradable plastic debris on marine life. Save the Waves CoalitionFunds will assist in the production of a full-length documentary film intended to share the history of surfing in Madeira, Portugal, and to raise awareness of the threats to Madeira’s surf spots. Sponsorship packages for both the 2004 Waterman’s Classic Golf Tournament and Waterman’s Ball and Auction are currently on sale. Individual tickets for the Waterman’s Ball are scheduled to go on sale in July. To reserve a sponsorship package or for sponsorship information, please contact Melinda Carter at SIMA by calling (949) 366-1164 or via e-mail at melinda@sima.com. The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) is the official working trade association of more than 300 surf industry suppliers. Founded in 1989, SIMA is a non-profit organization that serves to promote awareness of the surf industry and participation in the sport of surfing through public relations efforts and a variety of services, educational programs and research. In addition, SIMA actively supports oceanic environmental efforts through its 501(c)(3) charitable environmental foundation, the SIMA Environmental Fund. In the past 14 years, the SIMA Environmental Fund has raised more than $2.3 million for environmental groups seeking to protect the world’s oceans, beaches and waves. For more information contact: Megan Tompkins, SIMA Marketing & Communications Manager, (949) 366-1164, megan@sima.com.
UCSC's Seymour Center Premieres on UCTV Primetime in Santa Cruz Tuesday, May 18 at 9:00PM
Global Oceans Awards to be Presented at Long Marine Lab’s Annual Gourmet Dinner Benefit SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Friends of Long Marine Lab will present the first Global Oceans Awards at the group's annual Gourmet Dinner benefit event on Sunday, March 21. The awards are a new addition to the annual dinner, which raises funds for the education programs at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. Congressman Sam Farr will make the award presentations at the gala event, which will take place at the Bittersweet Bistro in Rio Del Mar. The first Global Oceans Awards recognize two of the top students engaged in ocean-related research projects at UC Santa Cruz. Veronica Vigilant, a third-year graduate student in ocean sciences, is studying domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by certain marine algae, and how it affects marine life in Monterey Bay. Morgan Bond, a first-year graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology, is studying the growth and survival of steelhead trout on the Central California Coast. "We believe students like these will play a crucial role in promoting a better understanding and appreciation for the oceans in the decades to come," said Richard Beal, education chair of the Friends of Long Marine Lab Board of Directors. The Gourmet Dinner has long been one of the group's most popular fundraising events. It is hosted this year by the proprietors of the Bittersweet Bistro, chef Thomas Vinolus and his wife Elizabeth. The dinner will feature a five-course feast paired with fine wines from award-winning California vintners. Beal said that when the Friends of Long Marine Lab Board of Directors discussed making an award ceremony part of the annual fundraising dinner, they decided to honor young scientists at the start of their careers, and to have the awards presented to them by someone noted for lifetime achievements in marine conservation. The group chose Congressman Farr, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and has been a reliable champion of ocean conservation efforts, to be the first presenter of the Global Oceans Awards. Vigilant and Bond had the top-ranked proposals among the 15 students who received research support from the Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards this year. These awards provided nearly $10,000 in total funding for undergraduate and graduate student research projects in the marine sciences. Vigilant is working with Mary Silver, professor of ocean sciences, who has been studying the domoic acid toxin and the algae that produce it since the early 1990s. Blooms of the toxin-producing algae occur periodically in Monterey Bay and have been linked to poisonings of sea lions and seabirds. Previous research has shown how the toxin moves through the food web in surface waters, accumulating in sardines and anchovies that feed on the algae, and eventually poisoning animals that eat those fish. Vigilant is investigating whether the toxin also moves into deep waters offshore, where other organisms might be affected. Bond is working with Mark Carr, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Bruce MacFarlane, a researcher at the National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Santa Cruz, to study the steelhead that spawn in Scott Creek north of Santa Cruz. This and other coastal steelhead populations in California are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Bond's research focuses on the juvenile fish as they move downstream and make the transition from the freshwater habitat where they hatched to the ocean where they will grow to adulthood. In particular, he is interested in the factors that influence the growth rates of the juveniles and their subsequent survival in the ocean. For more information about the benefit Gourmet Dinner, or to make reservations, call Lisa Rose at (831) 459-3694. Reservations are $150 per person.
Long Marine Lab Research Building Named in Honor of William T. Doyle, Founding Director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences SANTA CRUZ, CA--A monthlong celebration of
the 25th anniversary of UC Santa Cruz's Long
Marine Laboratory culminated in a ceremony
on Saturday, October 25, at which one of the
lab's original research buildings was dedicated
in honor of William T. Doyle, professor emeritus
of biology and founder and long-term director
of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS).
UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory Celebrates its25th Anniversary With a Special Lecture Series and Public Programs SANTA CRUZ, CA--Long Marine Laboratory turns
25 this fall, and the oceanside research facility
will be celebrating its silver anniversary
with a variety of public programs, tours, and
lectures during the first 25 days in October.
Highlighting the October celebration is a stellar
lineup of speakers for the lab's annual fall
lecture series. In addition, there will be
special exhibits and commemorative activities
throughout the month at the lab's Seymour Marine
Discovery Center. Fall Lecture Series
Peregrine falcons take flight at Long Marine Lab
Glenn Stewart, SCPBRG program manager, said the birds may remain in the area of the laboratory for a month or longer, taking food provided by the researchers, while they develop their flying and hunting skills. Visitors to the lab's Seymour Marine Discovery Center have enjoyed many opportunities to see the falcons, especially during the first week after their release. Later, they began spending increasing amounts of time away from the lab, returning to the nest box about once a day for food, Stewart said. "In the wild, it takes about a month for them to learn to hunt for themselves and become independent from their parents," he said. The three falcons, all males, were released using the same methods that SCPBRG biologists have used since the 1970s to help bring the peregrine falcon back from the brink of extinction. The group has released more than 950 peregrine falcons into the wild, mostly in California. These are the first to be released at Long Marine Lab. "We use a release method known as 'hacking,' after an old falconry method for getting young birds in shape before taking them up for hunting. The difference is that we are returning them to the wild," Stewart said. (A detailed description of hacking can be found on the SCPBRG web site at http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/hacksite.htm.) The release at Long Marine Lab was planned as mitigation for the disturbance of a nesting pair of wild peregrines during seismic retrofitting work on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Caltrans contracted with SCPBRG to carry out the release, which was required under state and federal wildlife regulations. The young falcons were hatched by captive parents and raised in a large aviary with minimal human contact to prevent tameness toward people. When they were five weeks old, they were transferred to the release site, called a "hack box," set up on a third-floor landing of the Center for Ocean Health building at Long Marine Lab. The box, with a gravel-covered ledge, is similar to a natural eyrie. It has a hatch where food can be dropped in surreptitiously, so the birds aren't aware that they are being fed by people and don't become tame. The falcons were held in the hack box for about a week while their flight feathers grew in. On April 3, Stewart slid back the bars that covered the front of the hack box, giving the birds their first opportunity to try their wings. One bird took its first flight the next day, and the others soon followed. A supply of fresh quail ensured that the birds would continue to associate the hack box with food as they explored their surroundings. "They usually return to the box daily for up to six weeks for food that we secretly provide in the box, but it's very unpredictable how much time they will spend at the front of the box," Stewart said. When SCPBRG began its work in 1975, only two nesting pairs of peregrine falcons remained in California. Peregrine populations throughout North America had been decimated by the pesticide DDT, which caused the birds to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke or dried out. In 1999, when the peregrine falcon was removed from the endangered species list, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave the SCPBRG an award in recognition of its "pioneering efforts" to restore wild peregrine populations. The group is currently engaged in a survey to quantify the current population of peregrine falcons in California. The researchers estimate that there are more than 250 breeding pairs in the state, but the last comprehensive survey was done in 1992. "We used to be able to observe every nesting site, but there are so many now that we don't have the staff to keep track of them all," Stewart said. The group has been recruiting a large network of volunteers throughout the state to provide information about nesting pairs of peregrine falcons. People who know of peregrine nest sites and are willing to make at least two visits to the sites this spring are encouraged to contact the SCPBRG at falconet@ucsc.edu. More information about the survey is available on the group's web site at http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/peregrine_survey.htm. The SCPBRG is dedicated to the recovery of
endangered predatory birds and applies its
expertise to a wide range of bird species.
The organization's work is entirely supported
by foundation grants, gifts from individuals,
and contracts awarded by state and federal
agencies.
UCSC Researcher Will Describe Scientific Voyages to Antarctica in a Public Talk at the Seymour Center on Wednesday, March 12 SANTA CRUZ, CA--As chief scientist aboard the research vessel Laurence M. Gould, Daniel Costa led a research team investigating the ecology of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica on two cruises in 2001 and 2002. Costa, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, will share his experiences conducting research during the harsh Antarctic winter, along with breathtaking photos he took along the way, in a public lecture and slide show at Long Marine Laboratory. The lecture will take place at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on Wednesday, March 12, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is $6 for the general public and $4 for members of the Friends of Long Marine Lab. The biologically productive waters off Antarctica support trillions of shrimplike crustaceans called krill that play a central role in the ecology of the Southern Ocean. Animals that feed on krill include commercially important fish, seals, whales, penguins, and other seabirds. How the krill and their predators survive the long, cold polar winter is one of the questions the researchers on the Laurence M. Gould set out to answer. The cruises were part of the Southern Ocean component of the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics survey (SO GLOBEC), which is part of a wider international GLOBEC program funded in the United States by the National Science Foundation. The program was set up to study how marine life is affected by environmental change. Costa serves on the executive committee of the SO GLOBEC program, in addition to his role as chief scientist on the two cruises. Because so many top predators concentrate on krill as their primary food source, scientists have been concerned about the vulnerability of the Southern Ocean ecosystem to environmental perturbations, such as climate change, Costa said. "One of our main goals is to understand the role of climate in driving the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean," he said. "We'd like to know, for example, what factors determine the number of krill that survive the winter." The program's field studies involved two research vessels, the Laurence M. Gould and the Nathaniel B. Palmer. As chief scientist of the Laurence M. Gould, Costa was responsible for coordinating the work of a diverse group of researchers, while conducting his own research on crabeater seals. Despite their name, crabeater seals eat mainly the shrimplike krill. They have evolved elaborately shaped interlocking teeth that they use to filter krill from the water. Although they are probably the most numerous seals in the world, crabeater seals have been difficult to study because of their remote habitat. To follow the movements of crabeater seals and study their feeding behavior, Costa used electronic tags that transmitted signals to the researchers via satellite. Satellite tags were also used to study the movements of Adélie penguins. Other researchers on the cruise focused on whales, krill, the algae that live in sea ice, and various aspects of the physical environment. An unexpected finding from the 2001 field studies was the occurrence of "hot spots," areas of abundant Antarctic krill where predators such as minke whales, humpback whales, seals, and penguins were also found in large numbers. Conducting field studies in the Antarctic winter was hard work, but the researchers also found time to have fun, Costa said. In his talk at the Seymour Center, Costa will try to convey a sense of what life was like on the cruises, while presenting some of the scientific findings to come out of the SO GLOBEC program. This release is available electronically at the following web site: http://press.ucsc.edu.
Lecture Promises"Behind the Headlines" Look at Keiko the Whale SANTA CRUZ, CA--Keiko the killer whale has been making headlines since the early 1990s, when he starred in the popular Free Willy movies. For a look behind the headlines at the effort to return Keiko to the wild, the public is invited to a talk at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory by Charles Vinick, executive vice president of the Ocean Futures Society. Vinick directed the society's Keiko Project from 1999 to 2002 and is still involved as an adviser. The lecture will take place at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on Wednesday, February 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is $6 for the general public and $4 for members of the Friends of Long Marine Lab. This lecture is best suited for ages 9 and up. The Ocean Futures Society was responsible for Keiko during the three and a half years he spent in Iceland, living in a sea pen in Klettsvik Bay and periodically venturing into the open ocean. Vinick accompanied Keiko aboard the U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane that took the famous whale from the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, to Iceland in 1998, two and a half years after he had been moved to Oregon from a Mexico City amusement park. Vinick spent every summer in Iceland and made regular visits during the rest of the year. Summers were a time of peak activity, when Keiko spent increasing amounts of time in the open ocean, interacting with wild orcas. Vinick will discuss his experiences working with Keiko, the scientific work his organization has been able to accomplish, and the challenges of working on a project that has been the subject of such intense public interest and media attention. "The media tends to need a controversy to make a good story, and a lot of times the controversy has overshadowed what Keiko himself has achieved," Vinick said. In the summer of 2002, Keiko left Iceland on his own, traveling eastward across the North Atlantic for 30 days until he reached the coast of Norway. Management of the Keiko Project is now overseen by the Free Willy/Keiko Foundation and the Humane Society of the United States, with the Ocean Futures Society serving an advisory role. "Keiko has demonstrated that he has the capacity to travel over 1,000 miles in the open ocean and to sustain himself without being fed by humans," Vinick said. "When he arrived in Norway, the public and media attention was overwhelming. Children swam with him and people fed him. Media attention focused on his interest in people more than on what he had accomplished in his travel to Norway. That truly misses the point. Keiko has proven time and again that he is remarkably resilient and self-sufficient, and he tends to push the envelope beyond what people think he can do." Nevertheless, Vinick said there are a number of challenges facing Keiko in the weeks and months ahead. Later this month, wild orcas are expected to arrive in Taknes Bay, Norway, where Keiko has been since December. Last summer, Keiko spent most of his time in the open ocean interacting with wild Icelandic orcas. No one knows whether that will happen with the new whales he will encounter in Norway, Vinick said. More information about Keiko is available
on the web site of the Ocean Futures Society
at http://www.oceanfutures.org.
For reservations and information about Vinick's
lecture and other events at the Seymour Center,
call (831) 459-3800 or visit the center's web
site at http://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu.
Seymour Center Lecture Series 'Voices From the Sea' Celebrates Marine Sanctuary's Tenth Anniversary SANTA CRUZ, CA--The annual fall lecture series at the Seymour Center
at Long Marine Laboratory marks the tenth anniversary of the Monterey
Bay National Marine Sanctuary this year with a program called "Voices
from the Sea: Three Evenings in Celebration of Monterey Bay and Beyond."
Speakers include sanctuary superintendent William Douros and UCSC professor
of ocean sciences Mary Silver, recipient of the 2002 Mary Sears Woman
Pioneer in Oceanography Award. Program Schedule for "Voices from the Sea" September 19: Celebrating the Sanctuary
September 26: Focusing on Research
October 3: Teaching and Reaching the World
Marvelous marine mammals get the spotlight at the Seymour Center SANTA CRUZ, CA--Local marine mammals are starring in the Seymour Center's winter program at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory. From January through March, the center presents "Marvelous Marine Mammals," a series of events focused on Monterey Bay's sea lions, sea otters, dolphins, whales, and elephant seals, and the scientists who study them. Events include three science lectures, a whale-watching trip, and ongoing activities and presentations inside the exhibit hall at the Seymour Center, which is located at the end of Delaware Avenue in Santa Cruz. Lecture Series Thursday, January 31: Tom Kieckhefer, president of the Pacific Cetacean Group, will speak on "Whales and Dolphins of Monterey Bay." Kieckhefer's talk will highlight local whales and dolphins, particularly humpbacks, and will also review the work of the Pacific Cetacean Group. Thursday, February 21: Daniel Costa, UCSC professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, will discuss "The At-Sea Biology of the Northern Elephant Seal." Considered "extreme animal athletes," elephant seals can dive for two hours at a time to depths of more than 5,000 feet. Thursday, March 7: UCSC graduate student Laura Yeates will present "Warm and Fuzzy? How Sea Otters Manage in a Cold Ocean." Sea otters are the only marine mammals to rely solely on fur insulation rather than blubber to stay warm. Yeates has been working with otters at Long Marine Lab to study how they can survive frigid ocean temperatures. All lectures will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Seymour Center. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $4 for members. Tickets and information are available from the Seymour Center at (831) 459-3800. Whale-Watching Trip View migrating gray whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and orcas up close from the decks of the Star of Monterey. Educator Christy Walker will lead the annual whale-watching trip on Sunday, February 3, 8:30-11 a.m., at Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey. Cost is $30 for the general public, $25 for members, and $20 for children 16 and under. Reservations are required, as space is limited; call (831) 459-3800. Other Events All winter, visitors to the Seymour Center can help track the migration of gray whales from Baja to Alaska or participate in one of the center's four "See More" Labs. Dress up like Rocky the California sea lion and find out what she's teaching scientists about sea lion vision and hearing; discover how the athletic abilities of human scuba divers compare to those of dolphins; play marine mammal Jeopardy; or explore "Otter Fodder," the surprising diets of sea otters. The Marine Mammal Research Tour offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at marine mammal research at Long Marine Lab. Experience the world of marine mammal researchers and learn how they study dolphins, sea lions, elephant seals, harbor seals, and blue whales. The tour is offered on the second Thursday and fourth Sunday of each month beginning at 2:15 p.m. For advance registration, call (831) 459-3799. During spring break, March 23 to April 7, a variety of special marine mammal demonstrations, tours, and arts-and-crafts projects will be featured daily. The center will be closed Easter Sunday.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Lab offers volunteer training. Santa Cruz, CA - Do crabs bleed when they lose an arm? Can an octopus live out of water? Do sea stars have a brain? These are just a few of the challenging questions asked of the docents out at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory. The answers are but a scientist away for the highly trained volunteers who donate their time to lead school groups and visitors on tours of this working research facility. Through our volunteers' efforts, more than 45,000 visitors each year have the opportunity to observe marine scientists in action, gaze in awe at the moon jellies in the aquarium, and learn about the marine environment of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Center volunteers are a dedicated group of people from a variety of backgrounds, whose common interest is a love of the ocean, a curiosity about marine science, and a desire to share knowledge. They feed the critters in the aquarium, help with special events and fund raising, work in the Ocean Discovery Shop and much more. Our docents go through an extensive training class taught by UCSC scientists and staff. The upcoming training class will prepare volunteers to interpret the exhibits in the Seymour Center, prepare them to engage visitors with the many interactive activities in the classrooms and wet lab, as well as to lead tours of the lab and marine mammal research area. Some volunteer guides will specialize and help teach an array of exciting school programs. Applications are now being accepted for the next interpretive guide training class, scheduled to begin January 23rd. Space in the 10-week course is limited, so early registration is suggested. No prior knowledge is required, just a commitment of time, a willingness to volunteer for one year, and a desire to get your hands wet at the seawater table! Are you curious about all the ways to get involved as a volunteer at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center? Call Christy Walker at (831) 459-3854 for further information, to apply for the class, or to find out about upcoming informational orientation sessions.
Seymour Center's Jingle Shells features unique, ocean-themed gifts and supports marine science education. Santa Cruz, CA -- Meet artists and authors, shop for unique holiday gifts, enjoy live music, refreshments, children's activities, and explore the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab exhibits and aquaria, all free, at Jingle Shells art and book sale. What: Jingle Shells Holiday Art and Book Festival Featured are ceramics, art glass, jewelry and photography; slide shows and presentations by authors; live music; children's craft activities and story telling with puppets; refreshments, free gift wrapping, free gift with any new membership, 15% sale on all gift shop purchases. Plus festive whale lighting ceremony at 5 PM. All proceeds support the Seymour Center's education programs. Additional special Holiday Shopping Hours at the Seymour Center -Tuesday evenings, December 4, 11, & 18, 5 - 7 PM.
The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab is at the end of Delaware Avenue,
on the west side of Santa Cruz. Regular public visiting hours are Tuesday
through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sunday, noon to 5 PM. Call (831)
459-3800 for information.
Seymour Center presents Relationships at Sea Santa Cruz, CA -- Why share space when you have the whole ocean? Join
educator Suzanne Hebert in this family workshop on November 10, to discover
how animals utilize relationships to enhance their own survival, then
become a sleuth and conduct your own investigations. Suitable for ages
11 and up; children must be accompanied by an adult. Relationships
at Sea will be held Saturday, November 10, 1 - 2 PM, at the Seymour
Center at Long Marine Lab. No class fee, although Seymour Center Admission
applies. The Seymour Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue,
on the west side of Santa Cruz. Call (831) 459-3799 for information or
to register.
Artist Ket Tom-Conway displays her vivid, ocean-inspired watercolors at the Seymour Center through Thanksgiving weekend Santa Cruz, CA -- Local artist Ket Tom-Conway displays her vivid, ocean-inspired watercolors including her newest work designed especially for the Seymour Center. In combining nature themes with decorative designs and borders Ket says: "I wish to celebrate the mystery of life in all its forms... the astounding variety and strange beauty found in the natural world humbles me and makes me realize that I am only a part of this magnificent puzzle of life." In recent paintings Ket has taken a more whimsical and sometimes symbolic approach. Fish are a reoccurring "theme because of their symbolism of life, fertility and change." In combining nature themes with decorative designs and borders she wishes to celebrate the mystery of life in all its forms. The show, entitled, Whimsical Visions of Undersea Life, will be
on display at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab, October 25 through
November 24, 2001. Free with Seymour Center admission ($5 adults, $3 students,
seniors and children. Free members and children 5 and under). The Seymour
Center is at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the west side of Santa Cruz.
Call (831) 459-3800 for information or seymourcenter.ucsc.edu.
Talk and Walk with the Birds at Long Marine Lab's Seymour Center Santa Cruz, CA -- Join UCSC Researcher, Breck Tyler for an early morning
talk and walk among the sea birds at Younger Lagoon and the adjacent coastline
at Long Marine Lab. Breck will focus on the adaptations of birds at sea.
Suitable for ages 10 and up; space is limited to 25 attendees. Saturday,
October 27, 8:30 - 11:00 AM. Class fee: $7 Public, Members $5, Children
(10 years and above) $3. Call (831) 459-4568 to register. The Seymour
Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the west side of Santa
Cruz. Call (831) 459-3800 for information or seymourcenter.ucsc.edu.
Fall lecture series on marine research and conservation hosted by UCSC's Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Save Our Shores SANTA CRUZ, CA--Tuesday evenings in September, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Save Our Shores (SOS) will cohost an exciting lecture series titled "Ebb and Flow: Tales of Marine Research and Conservation." The series focuses on the natural synergy between scientific findings and environmental protection, highlighting the exchange between scientists, resource managers, and communities in protecting our marine environment. The lectures will take place on September 11, 18, and 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab. Admission is $5 for members of the Seymour Center or SOS, and $6 for the general public. Tickets for the series are $12 for members and $16 for the general public. Tickets are available at the Seymour Center admissions desk and at the SOS main office at the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. Call (831) 459-3800 for ticket information. Each evening will feature two presentations by speakers such as Wallace J. Nichols, director of the Wildcoast international conservation team, and Donald Croll, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz and cofounder of Island Conservation. The speakers are all people who work with one foot in the world of scientific research and the other in the world of conservation and environmental activism, said Lisa Borok, visitor programs manager at the Seymour Center. The following list provides details of each evening's presentations. September 11 Sea Turtle Tales: Conservation and research in Baja California Wildcoast works to preserve the endangered marine species and coastal wildlands of the Californias. The group is working to implement a sea turtle recovery program for Baja California, and is using satellite tracking to study sea turtle migrations. Nichols is also coauthor of a children's book about sea turtles (Chelonia), and the presentations this evening will be suitable for school-age children. Returning Home: Bringing the common murre back to Devil's Slide Rock Parker helps direct three agencies working to restore a breeding colony of common murres that was wiped out by an oil spill near San Francisco in 1986. The spill killed 9,000 seabirds, of which 6,000 were common murres. September 18 Croll conducts research on the ecology of whales, seabirds, and other marine animals, and studies the effects of introduced species on ecosystems. In 1995, he and Bernie Tershy, an assistant research biologist at UCSC, founded Island Conservation, a science-driven conservation organization that works with local people and agencies to protect seabirds and other native species on islands. Pacific Salmon and the Endangered Species Act In the past four years, nearly all of the Pacific Coast of the continental United States has been covered by salmon listings under the Endangered Species Act. According to Adams, the effort to protect endangered Pacific salmon species will be the largest environmental conservation effort ever attempted, potentially affecting everyone living in the western states. September 25 Coastal and marine conservation in the Nature Conservancy
Learn All About Seaweed At Seymour Center's Family Workshop August 5 Santa Cruz, CA -- Adult otters wrap their pups in it, abalone munch it,
and some species grow up to 14 inches per day. What is it? We're talking
about seaweed, those amazing marine plants that range from microscopic
phytoplankton to giant Macrocystis kelp. Come learn more about these fascinating
plants on Sunday, August 5, at 1 p.m., when the Seymour Marine Discovery
Center will offer a public workshop designed especially for families.
Fossils are featured throughout July at the Seymour Center Santa Cruz, CA -- Marvel at Monterey Bay's amazing prehistoric past. Special walk-in programs throughout July bring geology and fossils to life! Explore fossils from extinct creatures, then try to match them to living relatives. Call (831) 459-3800 for walk-in program days and times. Swim through Time Explore millions of years of Monterey Bay marine history with Seymour Center Youth Programs manager, Kevin Keedy. Learn about gigantic sharks and ancient "hippos." Discover how fossils are formed, then create your own "Fab Fossil." Bring a picnic or reserve a light meal. Call (831) 459-2784. Information: (831) 459-3800. The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab is at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the westside of Santa Cruz. Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday, noon to 5:00 PM.
LONG MARINE LAB'S ANNUAL 'WHALE OF AN AUCTION' SET FOR JUNE 15 SANTA CRUZ, CA-- The Friends of Long Marine Lab will hold a "Whale
of an Auction," the group's popular annual fundraiser, on Friday,
June 15. The event will take place in the Porter College dining hall on
the UC Santa Cruz campus at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for the evening are $40 for members, $50 for non-members (if purchased by June 7), and $55 at the door. Sponsored tables of 10 are $800. To purchase tickets, please contact Teri Sigler at (831) 459-5828. Auctioneer Larry Wolfsen will lead the silent and live auction. Many exciting and unique items will be up for bid, including field trips with researchers, a special gourmet dinner with UCSC Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood, a picnic with Congressman Sam Farr, a children's birthday party at the Seymour Center, trips to exotic locales, art, jewelry, and vintage wines. Tickets to sporting events, wetsuits, surfboards, snowboards, and skis are also among the items to be auctioned. The Friends of Long Marine Lab welcomes contributions of auction items
and services. To donate items, please contact Lisa M. Rose at (831) 459-3694
or Ruth Elder at (831) 459-2784. To volunteer, contact Ruth elder at (831)
459-2784.
Living Life on the Rocks at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab Santa Cruz, CA -- Get tickled by a hermit crab, or prickled by a sea urchin; make a virtual tidal creature of your own and learn about the amazing ways small creatures adapt to life in the hectic waters of the tidal zone. Join us after hours at the Seymour Center on Thursday, May 17, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Bring a picnic or order a light supper (831. 459-2784). Free for members, admission fees for non-members: Adults $5, students and seniors $3, children 5 years and under, free. Memberships available at the door. The Seymour Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Exhibits feature research conducted by UCSC scientists in the Monterey Bay and around the world. The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab is at the end of Delaware Avenue,
on the westside of Santa Cruz. Visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday,
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday, noon to 5:00 PM. Call (831) 459-3800
for information.
Nuts for Nudibranchs at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center Santa Cruz, CA - Looking for spring break family fun? Visit the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab for Nuts for Nudibranchs on Friday, April 13, 2001. Attend a special exploratory session with Kevin Keedy, Youth Programs Manager, and marvel at the amazing beauty of Monterey Bay's sea slugs. Two sessions are offered: 11:00-11:45 a.m. for children 6-9 years of age and 2:00-2:45 p.m. for ages 10 and above. All children must be accompanied by an adult.. Reservations are required. Call (831) 459-4568. The Seymour Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Exhibits feature research conducted by UCSC scientists in the Monterey Bay and around the world. The Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the westside of Santa Cruz. Seymour Center admission: General admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors and students, free to members and children 5 years and under. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m. Call (831) 459-3800 for information or seymourcenter.ucsc.edu.
Birthday Celebration Concert at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center Santa Cruz, CA - In celebration of the oceans and the Seymour Center's first birthday, ZunZun will present a family concert at the Center on Saturday, March 31, 2001 at 1:00 PM. This dynamic duo delights audiences with highly interactive musical entertainment. They have performed in 13 countries and appeared on national and international television and radio. Their music blends genres of different regions of the Americas to express the beauty and importance of our environments. Bring some kids and have some fun! Cost -- $4.00 (plus Seymour Center admission: $5 adults. $3 seniors and
students. Free, Members and children 5 years and under). The Seymour Center at UCSC's Long Marine Lab is located at the end of
Delaware Avenue, on the westside of Santa Cruz. Call (831) 459-3800 for
information.
UC Santa Cruz congratulates the top teams of the 2001 Otter Bowl
1st Place Mission San Jose High School (Fremont, CA) The Otter Bowl is northern California's regional competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. This competition is a "Jeopardy" style contest, where high school students answer rapid-fire questions on ocean-related sciences, economics, and current events. Each placing team receives an experiential field trip with a local sponsoring research institution. The five 1st place students from Mission San Jose High School will be traveling to Miami Florida in early April to compete against students from 18 other regions across the United States. Good luck to the regional winners! For more information about the 2001 competition, click
here.
UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory celebrates the return of its newly refurbished blue whale skeleton on Sunday, February 25 SANTA CRUZ, CA--It's back and better than ever. The 87-foot blue whale skeleton at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory has been painstakingly refurbished and reassembled next to the lab's Seymour Marine Discovery Center. To celebrate the return of this beloved icon, the lab will hold a "re-dedication" ceremony on Sunday, February 25, from 1 to 1:30 P.M. A new blue whale weather vane atop the sign at the entrance to the Seymour Center will also be unveiled. The event, which is open to the public, will take place outside the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab, located at the end of Delaware Avenue in Santa Cruz. For entrance to the Seymour Center, the usual admission fees will be in effect. The blue whale skeleton was first assembled in 1986 and has been a centerpiece of the lab's public education programs ever since. When the time came to move the skeleton to its new site beside the Seymour Center, lab staff decided to take the opportunity to refurbish it and replace some missing bones. Campus veterinarian Dave Casper was put in charge of the task. "We had always wanted to complete the skeleton, and this seemed like a good time to do it," Casper said. "It ended up taking quite awhile, and people were nervous while it was gone. The whale has always been special to people at the lab. Everybody feels affection for this whale--researchers, students, volunteers, and visitors--so it's a joyful homecoming for it to be up again." The newly refurbished skeleton is a sight to behold, even more imposing than it was before. Mounted on a new steel framework, it now rises 15 feet in the air at the highest point. The tail, now complete all the way down to a thumb-size bone at the end, extends over the sidewalk at a height of about 8 feet. In addition, the flippers are now flexed away from the ribs in a typical swimming position, giving the skeleton a more lifelike pose. Julie Barrett Heffington, director of the Seymour Center, has a view of the skeleton from her office window. "I see people gazing at it all the time, from little kids to adults, and it's wonderful to see how the sheer size of it impresses people," Heffington said. "People are just drawn to it." The skeleton came from a female blue whale that died of unknown causes and washed ashore on Pescadero Beach in 1979. After several days of jurisdictional uncertainty, UCSC biologists and students began working to salvage the skeleton. Removing the blubber and flesh from the bones, a process called "flensing," took nearly a month. Lisa Borok, now visitor programs manager at the Seymour Center, was one of the many students and staffers who volunteered to help. "I'll never forget that smell--it was horrible--but the work was fun," Borok said. "It was kind of weird and gross and fun at the same time. The amazing thing was how heavy the bones were due to all the oil in them--three of us couldn't lift a vertebra that was only about a foot in diameter." Transported by helicopter and truck to the marine lab, the whale's skeleton then lay in a grassy field just downwind of the lab buildings for over a year before being buried. Burying the bones allowed nature's decomposers to clean away the remaining tissue and oil. In the summer of 1985, the bones were unearthed and reconstruction began. Frank Perry, a local geologist and museum specialist, was hired to clean the bones and mount them for display. Working with lab staff and specialists from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the California Academy of Sciences, they constructed a steel framework to support the bones and re-create the proper arch of the spine. The job was completed in late 1986. Most of the whale's skeleton was recovered intact, but some of the bones were damaged or lost as the decomposing carcass rolled around in the surf. To complete the skeleton, Casper had to re-create about 60 lost bones, mostly small ones in the tail and flippers plus a few large vertebrae. He painstakingly created molds of the missing parts from bones loaned by other institutions or from similar bones in the existing skeleton. Teaching himself the techniques from books and getting advice from taxidermists, Casper cast each piece out of polyurethane foam, with an outer layer of fiberglass. Each new bone was primed and painted, and the rest of the skeleton also got a new coat of paint. Funding for the refurbishing project was provided by George and Linda Malloch and Cargill Salt. The new weather vane, an original production, was donated by LizAnne and Ken Jensen, artists and owners of West Coast Weather Vanes.
Great White Shark attracts attention at Long Marine Lab Santa Cruz - Marine scientists don't get many opportunities to dissect a great white shark, so members of the local research community jumped at the chance recently to examine a 14-foot, 1,700-pound specimen of this awesome predator. Researchers conducted a postmortem examination (called a necropsy) of the shark last month at the California Department of Fish and Game facility next to Long Marine Laboratory. For full story and photos, click here.
Do Fish Have Valentines? Find out at the Seymour Center on February 24 Santa Cruz, California - Step into the Curator's Corner to discover the answer with Peter Macht, curator at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab. Together, you can explore the reproductive strategies of creatures under his care. This session affords close inspection of some of the animals and is suitable for all with inquiring minds, over the age of ten. Children should be accompanied by adults. Seymour Marine Discovery Center Saturday, February 24, 2001; 1:00-1:45 PM Reservations are required. Call (831) 459-4568. Fee: $5 (Non-members also pay Seymour Center admissions). The Seymour Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Exhibits feature research conducted by UCSC scientists in the Monterey Bay and around the world. The Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the westside of Santa Cruz. Seymour Center admission: Free to members and children 5 years and under. General admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors and students. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m. Call (831) 459-3800 for information.
UC SANTA CRUZ WILL HOST "OTTER BOWL" ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 SANTA CRUZ, CA-The Northern California Ocean Sciences Bowl, also known as the Otter Bowl, returns to UC Santa Cruz this month, with teams from 14 high schools brandishing their knowledge of marine sciences in a fast-paced academic competition. The event, hosted by the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab, is free and open to the public. It will take place in UCSC's Earth and Marine Sciences Building on Saturday, February 10, from 8:30 A.M. to 5 P.M. UCSC is one of 19 sites across the country hosting regional competitions as part of the fourth annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl. The regional winners will travel to Miami in April to compete in the national finals. Winners at both the regional and national events will receive prizes, which in past years have included educational trips to Portugal and the Florida Keys, cruises on research vessels, visits to oceanographic institutions and aquaria, scholarships, and scientific equipment and books. The competition is meant to broaden the awareness and understanding of the critical value of ocean research among high school students, educators, parents, and the public, said Carrie Cole, regional coordinator for the Northern California regional competition. The event also helps high school students interested in ocean studies to learn more about possible careers in oceanography and marine sciences, said Gary Griggs, director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences. "It's a great opportunity for high school students with an interest in the oceans to pursue those interests in an exciting and well-organized event, to come to the university and meet marine scientists, and to get some recognition for their achievements," Griggs said. It is the kind of experience that can influence the course of a young person's life, added Julie Barrett Heffington, director of the Seymour Center. "The Otter Bowl exposes high school students to cutting-edge ocean-related research, hands-on marine experiences, the UCSC campus, and the thrill of an academic competition, and it increases their knowledge about the oceans," Heffington said. Each team consists of four students plus one alternate and a coach. The format of the competition is similar to the game show Jeopardy, with students competing to answer multiple-choice or short-answer questions within the broad category of the oceans. Questions are drawn from the scientific and technical disciplines used in studying the oceans, such as biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and atmospheric science. Other questions will address the role of the oceans in economics, history, culture, and current events. The judges, scorekeepers, and other officials at the event will be faculty, researchers, marine managers, and others from numerous regional institutions, including UCSC, the Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, U.S. Geological Survey, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, California State Parks, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center. The National Ocean Sciences Bowl was started in 1998 by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) in honor of the International Year of the Ocean. CORE now conducts the event in partnership with the National Marine Educators Association, with sponsorship from several federal agencies. The Northern California competition is sponsored by CORE, California Sea Grant, Monterey Bay Aquarium, the UCSC Office of Admissions, the Institute of Marine Sciences, the Friends of Long Marine Lab, the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab, and the Southwestern Marine Educators Association.
The following schools will be represented in the Northern California Ocean Sciences Bowl: Andrew Hill High School (San Jose, Santa Clara County) Aptos High School (Aptos, Santa Cruz County) DeLaSalle High School (Concord, Contra Costa County) Half Moon Bay High School (Montara, San Mateo County) Independent Learning Center (Woodland, Yolo County) Lowell High School (San Francisco) Mission San Jose High School (Fremont, Alameda County) Monterey Academy of Oceanographic Sciences (Monterey) Salinas High School (Salinas, Monterey County) Selma High School (Selma, Fresno County) Sierra High School (Tollhouse, Fresno County) Soquel High School (Soquel, Santa Cruz County) Watsonville High School (Watsonville, Santa Cruz County) York School (Monterey) Editor's note: Additional information about the Northern California Ocean Sciences Bowl is available on the web at http://admissions.ucsc.edu/nosb/.
SCIENTISTS LAUNCH WORLD'S FIRST MARINE LIFE CENSUS Pacific Grove - More than 60 marine scientists have joined forces on a pilot project designed to track thousands of Pacific Ocean creatures with sophisticated electronic sensors. The project was kicked off last week at a meeting at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station. The effort is a major component of the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year program to assess the distribution of species in the world's oceans. "We haven't spent enough time exploring our own planet," said Barbara Block, a professor of marine sciences at Hopkins. One goal of the meeting was to determine which animals would be the best candidates to launch the remote census project, which is scheduled to begin in 2002. Scientists weighed the pros and cons of putting satellite linked tags, timed data recorders and other electronic transmitting devices on different species of birds, marine mammals and fish. Among the criteria considered were the cost of each device and the amount of effort required to physically tag each creature. Two animals with proven track records among researchers were at the top of the list: the bluefin tuna and the northern elephant seal, a marine mammal that has been the subject of intense research for 30 years. Project scientists intend to place thousands of tracking devices on thousands of animals between 2002 and 2005, with the goal of retrieving data from 30 percent of the instruments. Data will be made available on the Internet so that elementary school students and others can observe the movements of their favorite animals. The project will be finalized next year. Web editor's note: UCSC scientists and the Seymour Center were involved in the meeting and will be part of the census project.
UNDERWATER IN BLACK-AND-WHITE The underwater photography of Art Haseltine Santa Cruz -- Close encounters with fish-eating anemones, humpback whales and kelp rockfish are portrayed in ethereal black and white portraits by local marine biologist and noted photographer, Art Haseltine, in the first art exhibit held in the Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab. These images have a surreal quality-the animals are not as one would actually see them underwater, but as the artist creates them in his mind. Art Haseltine has specialized in art photography since 1984 and has been influenced by the Monterey Peninsula photographic legacy. The Seymour Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Exhibits feature research conducted by UCSC scientists in the Monterey Bay and around the world. The Center is located at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the westside of Santa Cruz. Seymour Center admission: Free to members and children 5 years and under. General admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors and students. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Call (831) 459-3799 for photography exhibition times.
Jingle Shells Holiday Art and Book Festival, Saturday, December 2, 2000, 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM. FREE admission to the Seymour Center Santa Cruz -- Over 20 artists and authors will display and sell their artwork and books at the Seymour Center's NEW holiday tradition. Live music, refreshments, holiday luninarias, children's activities, story telling, crafts, fine jewelry, glass art, watercolors, free gift wrapping, free gift with any new membership, book signings and more in a stimulating marine science environment. Admission to the Seymour Center is FREE for this event! All members receive a special, one-day only 15% discount in the Seymour Center's Ocean Discovery Shop. The Seymour Center is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans. Exhibits feature research conducted by UCSC scientists in the Monterey Bay and around the world. The Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab is at the end of Delaware Avenue, on the westside of Santa Cruz. Regular public visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday, noon to 5:00 PM. Call (831) 459-3800 for information.
SEYMOUR MARINE DISCOVERY CENTER WILL BE CLOSED ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, FOR DEDICATION OF NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES LABORATORY SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory will be closed all day on Tuesday, October 17, to accommodate a dedication ceremony for the center's new neighbor, a state-of-the-art national fisheries research laboratory. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta and Representative Sam Farr are among those who will be on hand to celebrate the completion of the new National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) laboratory. The Seymour Center will host a reception for invited guests following the dedication ceremony. The NMFS Santa Cruz Laboratory will conduct research on fisheries resources in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, focusing primarily on salmon and rockfish. It will also house the first National Science Center for Marine Protected Areas. The $19.4 million laboratory replaces obsolete lab facilities in Tiburon. Located adjacent to UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory, the NMFS lab joins a growing complex of marine research facilities at this site. The Seymour Center is normally open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For additional information, call (831) 459-3800.
LONG MARINE LAB TO OFFER DOCENT TRAINING FOR SEYMOUR MARINE DISCOVERY CENTER Santa Cruz, CA - What causes coastal fog? Why is the ocean so cold each spring? Do sea stars have a brain? These are just a few of the challenging questions visitors ask docents at Long Marine Lab's new Seymour Marine Discover Center. The answers are but a scientist away for the highly trained volunteers who donate their time to serve as docent guides at the Seymour Center. "Because of our volunteers, thousands of visitors each year have the opportunity to learn about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world's oceans," enthuses Sally Real, Volunteer Coordinator. "With the Seymour Marine Discovery Center now open, we're able to increase the number of visitors and school children served. And that means increasing the number of volunteers." The new 17,000 square foot Seymour Marine Discovery Center houses two teaching classrooms, an ocean-view auditorium, aquaria teeming with marine life, a new seawater table (touch pool), and interactive exhibits that profile UCSC marine science research. Seymour Center volunteers are dedicated people from diverse backgrounds whose common interest is a love of the ocean, curiosity about marine science, and a desire to share knowledge with others. They do everything at the lab from feeding the critters in the aquarium to helping with special events and fund raising, to working in the gift shop or garden. Docent guides go through an extensive training class taught by UCSC scientists and staff. The upcoming training class will prepare docents to interpret the exhibits at the new center, engage visitors with interactive activities in the classrooms and wet lab, as well as lead tours of the lab. Some docents will "specialize" and help teach an array of exciting school programs. Applications are being accepted for the fall training class, set to begin September 19. Space in the 9-week course is limited -- early registration is recommended. No prior knowledge is required, just a commitment of time, a willingness to volunteer for one year, and a desire to get your hands wet! Class specifics:
UCSC teams up the Nature Conservancy to study and protect coastal waters A new partnership between the University of California, Santa Cruz, and The Nature Conservancy aims to put the best available scientific information to work in the area of marine conservation and management. A cooperative agreement signed last month provides the foundation for an effective working relationship between UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) and the Conservancy's Coastal Waters Program, said IMS director Gary Griggs. "The Nature Conservancy can help us in our efforts to understand the biology of marine environments, and it also provides an urgently needed conduit to export this knowledge and apply it in marine conservation and management," Griggs said. The Nature Conservancy, a private international conservation organization, focuses on preserving habitats and species by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. The organization currently manages 1,340 preserves around the globe, the largest system of private nature sanctuaries in the world, including more than a million acres in the United States alone. Griggs said he was impressed by The Nature Conservancy's emphasis on scientific research as a foundation for its strategies. The Conservancy uses information on the distribution and abundance of species, as well as other kinds of ecological data, to guide the management of its preserves, to identify and monitor threats, and to decide which sites need protection. "Good scientific information from ecologists and biologists is integral to our work, and I think this is a great opportunity to get topflight researchers together with a large conservation organization with a strong scientific basis," said Michael Beck, director of marine science for the Conservancy's Coastal Waters Program. Beck has set up an office on the UCSC campus, where he plans to establish a modest research program, and has been meeting with IMS researchers. He expects to have opportunities for interns and research assistants, and may also serve on graduate student committees and do a limited amount of teaching. Until fairly recently, most of the Conservancy's efforts in the United States have been aimed at terrestrial species and habitats, although it has had marine conservation programs in the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific regions and in the Florida Keys for many years, Beck said. The Coastal Waters Program was created to help the Conservancy and its partners develop a better understanding of marine organisms and ecosystems and more effective strategies for their conservation. "There was a growing realization that we were missing a lot of biodiversity by focusing on terrestrial species," said Beck, who serves as a link between researchers and field staff. "My responsibilities are to connect with people who can provide us with information on the distribution and abundance of marine species and the ecological processes that impact them, and to help develop scientifically informed strategies for their conservation. There are great studies being done by UCSC scientists, and I want to get that information to our field staff on the ground (and increasingly in the water) at our field sites," Beck said. In recent years, the Conservancy has begun to shift its focus away from individual species and their habitats toward the protection of entire landscapes and ecosystems. This strategy is forcing the organization to deal increasingly with issues on the cutting edge of ecological research, Beck said. He noted that UCSC researchers are involved in several projects relating to marine reserves and how ecological theory should be used to design and manage them. Marine biologists Peter Raimondi and Mark Carr, for example, are leading UCSC's participation in the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO), a five-year, $17.7 million project looking at the coastal environment and ecosystems from Oregon to southern California. Part of PISCO's mission is to communicate its findings to the public so that the findings can be used to develop sound policies. "That kind of communication happens all too infrequently. Through this relationship with UCSC, we hope to provide more pathways for information to move out of the university, and we hope to find more opportunities for funding to support collaborations between the people doing research and the people applying it," Beck said. With staff working at hundreds of field sites around the world, there are likely to be opportunities for the Conservancy to provide support for UCSC scientists conducting field research, Beck said. In addition, the Conservancy has just established a research program that will support 25 postdoctoral fellows over the next five years to work at Conservancy sites. "The impetus for this program was that all too often our field staff are unaware of relevant ecological research, and many researchers are unaware of how their studies can address the most pressing problems in conservation. We want to bring these groups into closer contact," Beck said. The Nature Conservancy has established partnerships with other academic institutions as well, including UC Davis, the University of Florida, and Cornell University. At UC Davis, the partnership focuses on the problem of invasive exotic plant species.
Video cameras reveal seals, whales, and other marine mammals take a laid-back approach to deep diving SANTA CRUZ, CA--For years scientists have puzzled over the ability of dolphins, seals, and other marine mammals to perform long, deep dives that seem to exceed their aerobic capacities. Now, with the help of sophisticated instruments and video technology, a team of researchers has resolved the paradox and discovered a laid-back diving strategy that appears to be widespread among marine mammals. The researchers studied Weddell seals hunting beneath the ice in the Antarctic, a northern elephant seal diving in Monterey Bay, a trained bottlenose dolphin diving offshore of San Diego, and a 100-ton blue whale traveling off the coast of northern California. Video cameras mounted on the animals' backs revealed that they all started their dives with a few powerful swimming strokes, then made the rest of the descent mostly in a relaxed glide. "Basically, they're turning the motor on and off in the course of the dive, and that enables them to reduce oxygen consumption by 10 to 50 percent compared with what they would need if they swam all the way down," said Terrie Williams, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Williams, working with collaborators from several institutions, found that marine mammals take advantage of a change in buoyancy due to increasing pressure with depth, which enables them to sink effortlessly through the water. The researchers describe their findings in the April 7 issue of the journal Science. Williams's coauthors include UCSC biologists Burney Le Boeuf and Donald Croll, Randall Davis and Markus Horning of Texas A&M University, Lee Fuiman of the University of Texas at Austin, John Francis of the National Geographic Society, and John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research in Olympia, WA. The researchers correlated video images of the diving animals with data from other instruments, including time-depth recorders. With the Weddell seals, the scientists were able to monitor heart rates and measure oxygen consumption during dives. By matching diving behavior with physiological monitoring, Williams was able to calculate the energy savings of prolonged gliding during deep dives. "It took some amazing technology and logistics, but the result is a very detailed look at diving behavior and energetics," Williams said. "It really gives you a sense of how finely tuned these animals are to the marine environment, anatomically, physiologically, and behaviorally." The range of animals exhibiting the same diving behavior was striking. Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and pinnipeds (including seals) evolved independently and use quite different mechanisms to propel themselves through the water. The animals studied varied in body size from the 390-pound dolphin to the largest animal on earth, the blue whale, and are found in a wide range of habitats, from Antarctica to the California Coast. Despite their diversity, these and other marine mammals share an anatomical feature that makes a gliding descent possible and also protects them from getting the bends, Williams said. Their lungs are designed to collapse progressively with increased hydrostatic pressure at depth so that air is forced out of the alveoli (air sacs) and into the upper part of the respiratory system. As the increasing pressure compresses the animal's body and the air in its respiratory system into a smaller and smaller volume, a marked change in buoyancy occurs. "The mass of the animal remains the same while its volume decreases, so it starts to sink," Williams explained. In humans and other land animals, air gets trapped in the alveoli as the lungs are compressed, forcing nitrogen into the bloodstream. The result can be nitrogen narcosis, or the bends, a painful and life-threatening syndrome that afflicts divers who return too quickly from deep dives. "The progressive collapse of the lungs in marine mammals preadapts them for taking advantage of the buoyancy change," Williams said. By resting on the way down, the animals are able to extend their dives. "They're pacing themselves, saving energy and conserving oxygen until they need to expend it for hunting or avoiding predators," Williams said. The logistics of these studies were often extremely challenging. The blue whale team, consisting of Francis, Calambokidis, and Croll, had to approach the swimming behemoth in a small boat and attach a camera to its back with a suction cup. The Weddell seal team (Williams, Davis, Fuiman, and Horning) set up camp on the frozen surface of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound and drilled through 15 feet of ice in sub-zero temperatures so they could work with the seals at an isolated breathing hole. The research project was funded by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the National Geographic Society. The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory Public Education Programs The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory is dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the conservation of the world’s oceans. With exhibits focusing on the work of researchers in UC Santa Cruz's Institute of Marine Sciences, which operates Long Marine Laboratory, the center will give schoolchildren and the general public an inside look at the workings of a world-class marine research laboratory. The Seymour Center will enable Long Marine Laboratory to expand its popular public education programs. These programs are made possible by the financial and volunteer support of the Friends of Long Marine Lab, the lab's dedicated community-support organization. The public education programs include: • School Programs: Staff educators and volunteer docents provide hands-on activities for visiting school groups. • Teacher Workshops and Field Trips: Teachers learn how to use marine research as part of an effective science curriculum. • Student Research and Marine Science Education Awards: Provide encouragement and support for creative undergraduate and graduate research and education projects. • Special lectures and public outreach events The Seymour Center will serve a projected 80,000 to 100,000 visitors annually. The center features exhibit galleries, aquariums, teaching laboratories, classrooms, a conference hall, an 87-foot blue whale skeleton, a unique gift and book store, and unsurpassed vistas of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory Funding The $6.25 million Seymour Center was funded almost entirely with private gift support, including a $2 million cornerstone contribution from H. Boyd Seymour Jr. of San Francisco. Seymour's gift honors his father, Harry Boyd Seymour (1896-1997) and his grandfather, Arthur McArthur Seymour (1864-1919). Both men graduated from UC Berkeley and were prominent Sacramento attorneys. Numerous other individuals and foundations also made significant gifts, including Emmet and Leanore Hooper, Paul and Anne Irwin, David and Rebecca Kashtan, the Kresge Foundation, Anne and Paul Levin, the Joseph M. Long Foundation, Zoe Ann Orr Marcus, Frances McAllister, the Moore Family Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Simpkins family, Richard and Mary Solari, Robert Stephens and Julie Packard, the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, and the Dean Witter Foundation. Friends of Long Marine Lab The Friends of Long Marine Lab provide funding for public education, marine mammal programs, and student research awards, as well as the development and operation of the Seymour Center. The benefits of membership in the Friends of Long Marine Lab include free admission, special programs such as the Ocean Explorers summer day camp for children, a quarterly newsletter, and special events. Facilities
The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory Architects, Designers, and Contractors Architecture/Planning/Interiors: SRG Partnership, Portland, Oregon Construction: Bogard Construction, Santa Cruz, California Exhibit Planning and Design: BIOS Inc., Seattle, Washington Exhibit Planning and Science Writing: Eileen Campbell, Pacifica, California Landscape Architect: Joni L. Janecki and Associates, Santa Cruz, California
The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory Adjacent Facilities and Construction Projects The Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center The California Department of Fish and Game opened this 18,000-square-foot facility at the Long Marine Laboratory site in July 1997. Operated by the CDFG's Marine Resources Unit, it is the nation's largest and most advanced facility for research and care of wildlife injured by marine oil spills. When it is not being used for oil spill response, UCSC researchers collaborate with CDFG scientists on studies related to the effects of oil on California's coastal wildlife. National Marine Fisheries Service Santa Cruz Laboratory A $19.4 million state-of-the-art research laboratory for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is now under construction at the Long Marine Lab site. The NMFS Santa Cruz Laboratory, designed primarily for research on salmon and rockfish, will replace an obsolete lab facility in Tiburon, CA. The 50,000-square-foot lab will employ more than 40 fisheries scientists and staff when completed this year. Center for Ocean Health The Center for Ocean Health facility will provide flexible oceanfront research space for Long Marine Lab and other components of the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS). The approximately 23,000-square-foot facility will replace the aging trailers that previously housed the Long Marine Lab staff. It will include offices and laboratories for faculty, researchers, and graduate students, and a 50-seat conference room. Construction of the new center is largely funded by a $5 million grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Seabird/Raptor Facility for the UCSC Predatory Bird Research Group Construction will begin this year on a new facility to house the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (SCPBRG) at Long Marine Lab. It will be located next to the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center. The new facility will support the ongoing activities of the SCPBRG in addition to new research to improve the survival of seabirds after exposure to oil spills. The SCPBRG was formed in 1975 to restore an endangered peregrine falcon population in California. The group has become a resource to state and federal wildlife agencies, industry, and university researchers who require its expertise with problem solving and management of birds, especially raptors. GRAND OPENING OF THE SEYMOUR CENTER AT LONG MARINE LABORATORYSATURDAY, MARCH 11, AND SUNDAY, MARCH 12 What: The Seymour Marine Discovery Center, a new public education center at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory, opens its doors to the general public with a weekend-long celebration. In addition to the center's exhibits and aquariums, there will be special activities for children, lectures by marine scientists, storytelling, music, and food. When: Saturday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. & Sunday, March 12, from Noon to 5 p.m. Where: Long Marine Laboratory, located at the end of Delaware Avenue in Santa Cruz, just north of Natural Bridges State Beach. Who: Participants in the Grand Opening ceremonies will include:
Music by:
Food and drinks from:
Grand Opening Sponsors
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Over the past 24 years, the auction has grown from humble beginnings into a lavish affair featuring both silent and high-energy live auctions. A delicious feast adds to the excitement––caviar, oyster bar, catered buffet, fine wines, champagne––and it’s a green event with all seafood chosen in accordance with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines. Tickets for the live event are $85 for FLML members and $95/public if purchased by June 16; $100 at the door. For tickets and information, call (831) 459-3800.
SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Friends of Long Marine Lab will try a new
approach for its annual "Whale of an Auction" fundraiser
this year, offering online bidding for 26 spectacular auction packages.
SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The 22nd annual Friends of Long Marine Lab’s Whale of an Auction—Under the Deep Blue Sea raised more than
$100,000 that goes towards keeping our “doors open” and
providing scholarships for young students to study marine science.
It was a wonderful evening, full of fun, food and fantasy—fabulous
trips, fine wines, and fantastic dinners were among the many items
donated by our generous community in support of the Seymour Center. 
SANTA CRUZ , CA --Nature photographer Frans Lanting will share
the story behind the making of his multimedia presentation Life:
A Journey through Time at an event on Saturday, March 17.
Presentations of "The Making of Life: A Journey through
Time" will take place at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Rio
Theatre in Santa Cruz.
Proceeds from the presentations will benefit the Seymour Marine
Discovery Center 's Ken Norris Memorial Lecture Series, which will
begin in the fall of 2007. The lecture series is named in honor
of the late Ken Norris, a professor of natural history who inspired
Lanting and many other UCSC alumni.
SANTA
CRUZ , CA --The Friends of Long Marine Lab will hold its 20th annual "Whale
of an Auction," the group's popular annual fundraiser, on
Friday, June 17. The event will take place in the Porter College
Dining Hall on the UC Santa Cruz campus, starting at 6 p.m. 
SANTA
CRUZ , CA -From a toothy shark to a preening pelican, the artistic
talent of dozens of students in grades K-12 will be on display
at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center from March 12 through the
spring. 
SANTA CRUZ, CA--A dramatic new sculpture of northern elephant seals enlivens the entrance to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz and has already become a favorite "photo opportunity" for visitors to the center, located at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory. The exhibit honors the many volunteers who have helped over the years to interpret Long Marine Lab's scientific research for the public and highlights the long history of elephant seal research at the lab. 
SANTA
CRUZ, CA--Three young peregrine falcons drew
crowds of admirers as they took their first
flights last month at Long Marine Laboratory.
The falcons were raised in captivity and released
to the wild by the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird
Research Group (SCPBRG), which is affiliated
with UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences and
based at Long Marine Lab.