News from Malta submitted by Robert, Team 5:

Last Sunday 3rd December, the HSBC Cares for the Environment Fund (HCEF) - Malta, organised a tree planting activity for HSBC staff and their families at a place called Xrobb l-Ghagin in Marsaxlokk. (The Xrobb l-Ghagin project site is a major project in the south of Malta and will be used for afforestation, educational and recreational purposes. The HCEF is the main contributor of the afforestation part of the project and is contributing over three years to plant a total of 15,000 trees.)

Also there was an ecological guided walk of the park and during the rest of the day animators entertained us with games.

Attached please some photos of this activity with my wife and kids. Also in the photo is Eugene from Team 6.

Also as part of our local environmental project, Celine, Eugene and myself and possibly other staff members will be collaborating with an organisation called BICREF (Biological Conservation Research Foundation) led by Dr. Adriana Vella Ph.D. who is a senior lecturer at the University of Malta and a conservation biologist. Their work is mainly based on dolphins around the Maltese islands and they been doing this research since 1996. Please take a look at their site http://sites.keyworld.net/bicref

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Update from Renee, Team 7:

I have been able to present the Monterey Bay marine mammal program to grades k-8, over 300 children. They have really enjoyed the pictures and stories. They have many questions each time we share the project and stories of their own too! It has been engaging and fun for them.

The pic was taken at the Cabrillo tidepools in San Pedro. We are involved in a watershed/ conservation project; to minimize run-off into the ocean. We are addressing the environmental issue of too much wasted water through improving land and garden irrigation. I will send more info/ lessons, etc. as we develop them.

Greetings from Hong Kong,

Hello there, Tom Jefferson here. I have been in Hong Kong for the past month or so, conducting research on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Team 3 members will remember that I have been working on these dolphins for almost 12 years. We have learned a great deal about these dolphins over the past decade, but there are still some important conservation questions that remain unresolved. One of these is: How are the high levels of pesticides and other organochlorines in the dolphins' environment affecting their health and survival?

To answer that question, we have crafted a program in which we collect small bits of skin and blubber from living dolphins by using a crossbow and lightweight darts that are designed to only penetrate about an inch into the dolphins' bodies. These biopsy samples can tell us much.

So, for the past few weeks I have been spending my days out on the water searching for dolphins and attempting to collect biopsy samples when we see them. Weather problems, and the unpredictability of dolphin behavior have made things more difficult than originally expected. We have only been able to collect 9 samples in as many days at sea. We are hoping that our luck will improve and we can collect most of our remaining 14 samples in the next 10 days or so. Wish us luck…

Since heading overseas, I also have also done a side-trip from Hong Kong. I spent 12 days in the Maldives (for those of you who don't know where that is, look at a world map or globe and search just southwest of the tip of India). This Indian Ocean country consists of several hundred islands perched on low coral atolls - the highest point in the country is only 10 feet above sea level. Obviously, Maldivians are quite concerned about global warming and subsequent sea-level rise!!

In the Maldives we searched for whales and dolphin every day, and found a wide variety of species - spinner dolphins, spotted dolphins, striped dolphins, common bottlenose dolphins (same species as our friends in Monterey Bay… ), Blainville's beaked whales, dwarf sperm whales, and sperm whales. We even had the first confirmed record of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin in the Maldives! But, the highlight of the trip, to be sure, was the sighting of two large (200+) schools of Fraser's dolphins. This is a species of dolphin that was virtually unknown until 1973, when the first specimens were examined, allowing us to finally know what it looked like. Previous to that it was only known from a single skull in the British Museum of Natural History. It turns out that the species is not really rare, but there is still quite a bit of mystery about it. The photograph shows the short beak, tiny dorsal fin and flippers, and unique color patttern that characterize the species.

Although the work that we are doing in Asia may seem more exotic than Monterey Bay, we are actually using many of the same research techniques, and there are some interesting similarities. Perhaps some of the lessons we learn will help us next year in Monterey Bay!

Live well,
Tom

Speaking of right whales....

A note from Marie, Team 7:

Now I finished my first presentation on my expedition to my boss/colleague and I have two more presentation within this fiscal year. I shared my experience with my colleagues and they were very pleased to see the great pictures of humpback wheals that Peter took our first day. One of my colleagues provided me of the information about a regulation to protect right whales in east coast. I remember Peter told me that a merchant ship is a problem for whales to hit and kill them during their traveling. My colleague told me that it seems difficult for Japanese Government to impose the similar legal controls around the Japanese neighboring waters. I feel guilty as an employee of a shipping company. In my next presentation to the employees in my company including top management, I will remind them of this problem.

An article submitted by Lynn, Team 5:
Mating Season Can Be Perilous for Right Whales

A note from Elizabeth, Team 2:

We are fast approaching "whale watch" season. Those beautiful gray behemoths will be heading to within viewing distance of many habitual observers on their southern migration during December and January. There is a well trained (by Bruce Mate, et al) plethora of whale watch volunteers who station themselves along the Oregon coast twice a year. They announce their presence with "Whale Watching Spoken Here" placards and offer interested observers written information about cetaceans and pinnepeds, show small models of females and young, and run a 45' rope along the ground to illustrate the body length of gray females. They offer binoculars for observing and samples of baleen to touch. They also keep records of visitors' home states/countries. Amazing the number of people from abroad!

Historically, the gray whales are farther out to sea during winter months, not only to avoid the rough weather waves in shore but also to enable them to swim more swiftly in deeper water, so they are usually harder to spot without binoculars. Although, on one occasion, through a wall of dense fog, a whale watch volunteer and I clearly heard a series of blows! Very eerie - quite sensational!

The sun is out and it is HAILING. This coastal weather is a mystery to me! Sort of like Monterey!

Volunteers on teams 4, 5, and 6 certainly had the pleasure of meeting one of our HSBC fellows from Malta: Celine, Robert and Eugene all came from this small island in the Mediterranean to make a big contribution to our efforts in Monterey. As part of their fellowship, they must spreak the word about their adventure to their colleagues and community. Below are some excepts from the write-up they submitted to HSBC Malta and their local media.

"2006 was the final year of this five-year Partnership with Earthwatch. During these years, 2000 HSBC employees worldwide, together with experienced scientists, worked as field assistants on international research projects. The objective of these expeditions was to give employees the opportunity to make an active contribution to a conservation research project and to the environment in general. Three Maltese employees, namely Celine Schranz, Robert Mallia and Eugene Schembri were selected as volunteers to participate on one particular project in Monterey, California, USA The Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay Project. The expeditions took place between August and October, and seven different teams where involved. This participation was possible thanks to the full sponsorship, and as part of HSBC’s global Corporate Social Responsibility. This project laid particular emphasis on Bottlenose Dolphins and Sea Otters. Each expedition lasted ten days, and teams were made up of around 6-10 people from all over the globe. "
...
"On a particular day, Robert’s team was out at the field at 05:30am to observe the different behaviour patterns at different times of the day. In fact initially they counted the number of Sea Otters in the Slough, which in those early hours amounted to about 80, but which by noon had reduced to 45. Such observation revealed that after sunrise Sea otters move, either out in the Ocean or up towards Elkhorn Slough. Celine’s team on the contrary carried out a survey at dusk till late at night. At this point all otters gathered all in one raft and most of them were just resting. The same team, as well as Eugene’s team, also carried out an “Otter Census” in the slough, with Tom Kiekhefer the chief surveyor on the census."
...
"Another interesting activity from Celine’s group was participating in a Coastal Clean Up Day at California’s Coastal State Beach. This Clean-Up Day was organized by the Ocean Conservancy, and the group agreed that it would benefit otters and dolphins. They were provided with two sets of bags- one for garbage and one for recyclables and they also took along a data sheet to keep track of select items that were found such as cigarette butts, food wrappers, boating materials etc. Along the beach, they encountered all types of debris, such as a few dead marine mammals which included a harbour seal and a very bloated sea lion. They also found lots of balloons, which are extremely harmful to marine wildlife. After 90 minutes of combing the beach, they turned in 25lbs of waste! Hopefully their efforts, combined with others across the California Coastline, made a significant impact in cleaning up the marine habitat."
...
"Robert and Eugene’s teams were quite lucky with a lot of Dolphin sightings. In fact on one particular day, they could observe more than 30 dolphins which were on either side of the boats. They kept them company for a long time with some bow riding and others surfing and milling. Both teams came across Humpback Whales just in front of their boats. "
...
"This opportunity was certainly an unforgettable experience for all the 3 Maltese participants. What could normally be enjoyed through TV documentaries was at an arm’s length, and a hands on experience. Moreover the chance of joining up other bank colleagues from all around the globe, and meeting other people with different cultures and backgrounds, but yet sharing the same environmental ambitions, was an opportunity in itself. Surely an experience that left an impact at a personal level which will encourage others to participate in and contribute the HSBC’s monetary grant towards Malta’s environmental projects."


Thank you, Robert, for submitting this for the blog!

Celine, Robert Eugene- we look forward to hearing about your community project!

Update from Daniela: (charts with data analysis to come- Anna)

Dear Teams,

The season is really over. The house has been locked, the staff is returning home from the field and there is lots and lots of work to do to analyze the data, summarize the information and, yes…prepare for next year. Our field season is starting again next August and will again run until the end of October. There will be some slight changes based on your observations, your comments and the evolution of the work as we get answers to some questions and move on to others. One big change is going to be the accommodations. Although Pacific Grove served us well as a base and I love the town, we would like to be closer to the field and to the animals so we decided to move to Pajaro Dunes Colony. You have seen it…from the boat: that funky line of houses right on the beach. Well, that will be our new base. The house is very nice and close to the beach…maybe not as big as the Pacific Grove one but certainly close to Moss Landing and the wildlife.

Peter has been driving back to Massachusetts with the car and the data. He will be home today. I was in Mexico where I attended a marine mammal conference and then in Florida where I attended another that was especially interesting because of the sea otter workshop which gave me a lot to think about. It was the perfect motivator to get me to look at some of our data from this summer. I looked at the 5-minute sampling intervals that you and the staff collected from the parking lot in Moss Landing throughout the day looking at the sea otter raft and the other otters around it. The story is not surprising but interesting. Most of the sea otters observed in Elkhorn Slough are juvenile males, which confirms that the slough is still a male area and one where juvenile males spend their maturing years waiting to move out and possibly become territorial males by competing with the current “kings of the harems”. Some of them will become harem holders and others will perish trying or will be confined to peripheral areas perhaps managing to sneak into a territory every once in a while and mate with a female while the boss is busy. The interesting question is: How many of these juveniles will actually become territorial males and how many will make it? There is no answer for now and pursuing the question will take some collaborative efforts with other researchers and more funding, but we are exploring this possibility.

In the meantime, back in the slough these animals spend most of their time resting in Area 2, in the large raft you have observed, and foraging (but not in Area 2). We are looking at the data for indications of where most of the foraging occurred. We know that the slough main channel on both sides of the highway bridge is an important foraging area; however, the open ocean just in front of Moss Landing seemed to be as important this year. Figure 1 gives you the frequency of occurrence of the behaviors you have observed in Area 2 through the summer (this is part of the data you have helped collect!). Sea otters rested 47% of their time, groomed 23%, interacted with one another 11%, moved in and out or within Area 2 9% of the time and only foraged 1% of the time in this area. Most of the foraging occurred outside of Area 2.

The largest numbers of otters in Area 2 were found early in the morning between 6 and 7 am, and the numbers varied widely throughout the day. However, the number of otters tended to decrease later in the morning, increase again around noon and decrease in the afternoon as animals went out to forage and use other areas of the slough or offshore. Knowing when otters rest is important. Disturbance of resting patterns by boats and people may affect their ability to recuperate in between energetically demanding foraging trips. When sea otters rest, they become dry and warm which saves them a lot of energy. When they are disturbed, they dive or roll and become wet, therefore consuming more calories to stay warm. Continuous disturbance may therefore have effects on their health as they need to forage longer hours to recuperate calories lost. By identifying times of day and locations of resting areas we can suggest to the public appropriate behaviors to ensure diminished disturbance. Our initial data are giving us a good clue. We are going to continue to test the hypotheses I just mention to figure out the costs of disturbance to sea otters. Thanks for your help in getting these results.

There is still much more data to analyze and I will keep you posted. I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving (for Americans!) and a great Holiday season.

All the best

Daniela

Please be sure to scroll down to read more about our last few days in Monterey!

Anna J on the road:

It was very sad to leave the Monterey Bay area, but to my suprise, I caught another glimpse of our friendly cetaceans. It was a beautiful drive down Rt 1 and around Morro Bay we spotted dolphins in the surf!! I quickly pulled the car over, grabbed the camera and ran to the shore line for some photo ID. I couldn't get as close as we normally do in the Astirix (unless I decided to jump into the waves). But you never know, with Daniela or Shinae's careful eye, we might be able to identify these animals as our pals from Monterey!

In addition to the TUTRU, we also recorded MIRAN at Piedras Blancas and MENO at Morro Bay.

5 POINTS to the first past-team-member to leave a comment correctly identifying these marine mammal species with their species codes and common names!

A late night note from Anna:

Here we are, only a few hours before leaving good 'ol Willow St. I apologize for not updating the blog the past few days, it has been quite hectic packing up the project. Today we spent the day disassembling the office, backed up all of our data and then packed the project materials along with our personal belongings into the cars.

I want to thank every who has been involved in the project over the last three months:
Team 1- Anita, Carole, Lyman, Kat, Claire, Daniel
Team 2- Alison, Eriko, Miles, John, Elizabeth, Marjorie
Team 3- Ruth, Donna, Larry, Joanne, Paul
Team 4- Nick, Andy, Celine, Ashley, Gail, Tom
Team 5- Sarah, Jill, Lynn, Brian, Rania, Robert
Team 6- Larry, David, Bill, Eugene, Donna, Hiroko
Team 7- Alejandra, Renee, Renata, Angeli, Yee, Marie, Elfreida

Special thanks to Shinae, our student visitor on Team 5, Mark from the UK office who was our staff and risk assessment extrodinaire on Team 1, and Tom Kieckhefer, our guest scientist who helped us census the otters in the slough.

Of course, I can't forget the invaluable contributions of my fellow team leaders, Peter and Sean. These two guys were fantastic colleagues, as well as fabulous friends.

Last, but certainly not least, I must thank our two PIs Daniela and Tom. They were excellent leaders and mentors in the field. It was an honor as well as a pleasure to contribute to their research.

Is this the end??? NOT A CHANCE!!

Yes, it may be the end of the field season, but our team will continue to update the blog every week or two (beginning after I return to the Earthwatch office in mid-November). Please check back for reflections on the season, updates on the data and plans for next year! If you have anything to contribute, it is not too late. Please email me your reflections or a fun story from the field and I will post it!

Come August, the web log will be back in full swing, so every one can keep in touch and follow our progess into the second field season. OR....you can join us in the field in 2007!

Farewell for now,
Anna

Halloween Day by Anna:

What did we dress up as? Peter, Mark and I dressed up as volunteer research assistants for the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. (It's the hottest costume this year!) Sean went as our fearless leader and Eric of PSRF dressed up as our skipper and drove us in his boat, Flaterliner, up to Ano Nuevo Island to look for white sharks.

We were visited by five Trick-or-Treaters that day. They moslty handed out tricks by checking out the big visual yellow lure, just close enough for us to see them, but darting away before we could snap a photo id shot or attach a transmitter. Perhaps they weren't too into the treats we had- blubber from a dead elephant seal. Considering the date, we probably should have baited the water with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups or Skittles.

It was so cool to see the dorsal fin of a great white shark cut through the water's surface like a knife. We saw our fifth shark just before our departure back for Santa Cruz, around 2pm. This one was a biggie, and she did a lap around our boat, so we were able to look at her entire body and head, and could tell without a doubt that she was looking right back at us!

When we arrived back to Pacific Grove, we were almost too tired to attend to the human trick-or-treaters that knocked on the door at Willow street. Most of us retired early in anticipation of our long day of packing, and Sean trekked back to Santa Cruz to give his shark talk at a Halloween party- how cool is that!

Last days on the job by Anna:

I know that my Nov 1 post made our final days sound like they were filled with lifting heavy boxes and tearful goodbyes, but we did have some fun, and some extra help. Mark, a member of the Earthwatch UK staff who visited the project on Team 1, enjoyed California so much that he used some vacation time to return! He helped us pack up the project and consume sushi at the Crystal Fish.

Farewell to Team 7!

This awesome group of seven gals helped end the field season with a bang! (And not the type of bang that certain members of Team 3 made when they accidentally ran into doors ;) This team was so dedicated that they forfeited their extra hour of sleep as provided by our confusing daylight savings time clock change, and spent the last dey of work on a sunrise otter survey!

Thank you, Gracias, Obrigada, Arigato, Salamat, Terima kasih, Grazie, Tack!

oct. 29, 2006 report by Angeli:

Today, we woke up earlier than usual to study and survey the otters' behaviour on early mornings. We left at 6:15am and headed to Moss Landing. The weather was quite chilly but nevertheless, we were all pretty excited to discover new behaviours that these otters may display on early mornings. We were able to spot around 76 otters resting early in the morning in a tight raft but eventually dispersed and exited the slough as it reached noon time. After studying the otters for 5 hours, we all went to the beach to clean up bottles, plastics, rubbers, and other waste materials scattered along the beach. Much to our surprise, we found a helpless murre lying still on the beach but still alive. Anna called the SPCA and they came to pick up the dying bird for rescue. It was a fulfilling day after all.

Day 7 Dolphin Survey by Anna:

This morning we were concerned that we would find huge swells on the water. (Yesterday, the seas were so rolly, I almost got sick.) What a treat to pull out of the harbor this morning- it was like a lake!! We turned towards the north in pursuit of our favorite cetacean, the bottlenose dolphin.

There was not a cloud in the sky, and the seas were a flat and glassy Beaufort 1. It was perfect spotting conditions; Yee, Renata and Marie easily picked out every harbor seal, sea lion and otter. Even the harbor porpoises were easy to find. Every siting was dutifully recorded on the data sheet. However, at 11:00, we found ourselves all the way up to the cement ship (our usual turn-around point) and had not found any dolphins. We decided to take advantage of the good sea conditions and continued on to Lighthouse Point off of Santa Cruz. We caught glimpses of over one hundred sea lions beneath the Santa Cruz pier and saw several otters floating in the kelp beds including a mother and pup!

After completing our survey of the bay's entire northern coast, the quickest route home was off-shore, straight back to Moss Landing. Once the powerplant stacks were insight, Sean spotted a blow! We found two humpback whales! We watched for several minutes as they took a series of breaths and dove down, likely for a mid-day sanck. One of the humpacks had an unusually hooked dorsal fin.

Although we never spotted the dolphins, we went home quite satisfied with our day: lovely weather conditions, up-close view of Santa Cruz, otter mom and pup and whales!

Don't forget to scroll down and read some new posts by Alejandra and Renata about the otter census and their first day on the water with the dolphins!

Day Off report by Elfreida:

For those of us with Earthwatch on the bottlenose dolphin and sea otter project we have a day off so Renee and I decided to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We walked along the Pacific Ocean enjoying the water, rocks and harbor seals on our left and admiring the beautiful Victorian homes on the right. We also saw some old buildings which once were canneries and now house shops of some kind or another.

At 10:00 we entered the aquarium for an exciting day of sea life explorations. Due to my great interest in penguins, my first stop was the penguins exhibit. These penguins are the African penguins which like all other penguins are black and white but they have black feet and a white ring of feathers around the head. On to the jellies, the kelp forest and the sharks, mola mola, dorado or mahi mahi tank. I spend a great deal of time at this exhibit and also watched the sea otters play and eat. We watched all the films being shown in the auditorium and I spent a considerable amount of time selecting books to take back to Minnesota. The California sea otters are very playful, so it was great watching them play ball in the aquarium as well as open and eat clams in the wild. About 4 o'clock we were tired and I was hungry so we made a short stop at the Save the Otter shop next door and I had coffee and a berry sundae at Ghiradelli before we walked home.

An update by Alejandra and Renata:

Happy Birthday Angeli!

Maligayang Bati Sa Iyong Kaarawan!

Today the team celebrated Angeli's birthday in a japanesse restaurant. Marie and Anna finally got a taste of their miso soup, the taste was really good.

Peter and Sean both gulped a big ball of wasabi (GUAAHHHH) and drank two glasses of sake in an attempt to stop the fire in their mouths.

The lights suddenly turned off and a waitress came out bringing a birthday cake to surprise Angeli. Everyone sang a birthday song for the celebrant, Angeli read the card with everybody's wishes and open Renata's present (a soap made from banana, especially brought from Brazil)


At least Elfrida introduce Marie with a new friend from Japan, who is the beautiful chef of the restaurant.


!Happy birthday Angeli!

Otter Survey Report by Anna:

After a morning filled with dolphin dorsal fin images (try to say that ten times fast), Renee, Elfrieda, Renata, Alejandra and I drove to Moss Landing to observe otter behaviors. Today we set up shop in Area 10, which is on the eastern side of the Route 1 bridge. We typically observe otters foraging on large gaper clams in this area and we also watch them traveling through from the middle parts of the slough out to the harbor area. Today, we did not observe very many otters at all. We obseverved two playing for a little while, but mostly took notes on otters for only a few minutes at a time as they travel/groomed quickly past our observation point. Renata tried to demonstrate to the otters that this was a good area for foraging, but they didn't take the bait.

Although we took home a lot of empty data sheets, and do not have much quantitative data to contribute to the project, we did take home a lot of qualitative data. It is fun to observe the same otter for hours in the harbor as it rests, grooms, and plays; but it is just as important to catch those brief glimpses of otters as they are traveling or being generally elusive in the less populous areas of the slough. One of our research questions is to know where the otters are in the slough, and to properly answer this query, we must also determine where the otters are not. It takes a lot of patience to observe the less populous areas. Way to go team!

As a consolation prize for her patience, Elfrieda found some fishing line that she can use to create some beaded jewelry. The removal of this discarded line from the banks of the slough will also be greatly appreciated by the birds and other wildlife that can easily become easily entangled in such an item.

Otter Census report by Renata:

Our day started on Moss Landing Harbor to observe the marine mammals in Monterey Bay. For this job, we had a lecture of sea otters by Tom, a marine scientist who launched his research in 1997. After three hours on a boat, we could register 88 sea otters and a few groups of harbor seals in Elkhorn Slough. It was a great experience for us to see otters closer than ever.

Morning report from Anna, Elfreida, Renata and Alejandra:

We are finishing up the dolphin photo id from yesterday before going out into the field to observe otters. Please stay tuned for the audiopost that we recorded in English, Portugese and Spanish.

Our first experience with the dolphins by Renata and Alejandra:

Before this expedition, dolphins seem to be part of another world, because we only watch them on tv, in this experience we can stay really close to these beautiful marine mammals.

We were surprised to discover the behavior between mother and baby dolphin, which is so similar to human beings -- very protective with their babies. Sean told us that the mother is the leader of the dolphins group.

The day went fast because we really enjoyed the experience, and in addition we learned to take data of them to know more about their lives.

Renata and Alejandra

An International Feast!

Fred the Pumpkin joined us for a fabulous feast of Fritatta eaten with chopsticks and a dessert of dried mangos from the Phillipines and chocolate wafer cookies from Brazil.

More ways to follow us the field!

Renee is an educator on Team 7 who will be communicating with her students Live from the Monterey! She has elementary and high school students who will be following along with our adventures. Please visit her blog at http://montereymarinemammals.blogspot.com.

Welcome Team 7!

Joining the sea otters and the dolphins in the field will be Renee from southern California, Angeli from the Phillipines, Alejandra from Mexico, Renata from Brazil, Marie from Japan, Elfrieda from Minnesota and Yee from central California. Everyone is doing our 1st day otter poses. Tomorrow we will drive to Elkhorn Slough and catch find our friendly mustelids in action.

Another great evening at the rodeo! We saw some fancy riding from Team 6 including a stocking gallop by Bill, a no-hands canter by Donna, and I don't know what type of riding Sean was doing.

After the ride today, stroked Henry's muzzle and fed him some icecream (the new flavor- Santa's Sundae). After the Earthwatch season is done, you might spot Henry in the Kentucky Derby, proadly sponsored by HSBC.

A last note from David:

So, for this volunteer, our marine-mammal work ends much as it began, on Otter Patrol, taking copious data and enjoying binocular views of otters playing, grooming, resting, and feeding on crabs, clams, “undetermined,” and creatures called – wait for it – fat innkeeper worms. The latter are long, red, rubbery bottom-dwellers that the otters dig out of their tunnels. Stretched full-length between an otter’s teeth and paws, a worm looks like a sausage on steroids, or an escapee from a cheapie horror movie. (See Larry’s wonderful photo.) It gets even more amusing (or, if you prefer, disgusting) to realize that the otter is apparently interested only in the worm’s insides, which it pulls out after biting off one end.

Our brief but intense education here – I’m leaving with a wealth of new knowledge and a range of mental images and photos ranging from a fat innkeeper worm meeting its fate to a humpback whale sliding with impossible grace beneath the surface –
has been a rare pleasure. My thanks to Peter, Anna and Sean for so generously and thoughtfully sharing their energies, expertise and dedication, for their good humor, and for making the work enjoyable. My thanks, too, to my fellow volunteers, Bill, Donna, Eugene, Hiroko and Larry – for their own contributions, their engaging companionship, the laughs, the conversation, and for sharing their passionate concern for salvaging what’s left of our natural world.

Read A MOMENT OF PRIVILEGE by Larry!

Read a belated Day 3 update by David!

Happy Birthday Sean!

Thank you to our resident Shark Guru, local Montery Bay expert and our best dolphin spotter for keeping us safe on the water, finding the dolphins almost every day (along with the occasional whale), teaching us about the area and sharks and for keeping us wildly entertained.

Hey all you Sean/Shark fans- Next year, Sean will be an Earthwatch PI and you can join him in studying the sharks and rays of Elkhorn Slough! Keep a close eye on the Earthwatch website for a description and dates. The team will stay in a fantastic house in Pajaro Dunes and get muddy in the slough every day!