Early One Cold and Foggy Morning...

...I went on a whale watching excursion with fellow docents from the Coastal Discovery Center.  The R/V Fulmer had been in Morro Bay for the prior week doing several research projects for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  Since CDC is part of MBNMS, they kindly agreed to lay over an extra day and take us to hunt for whales off the Central Coast of California.

We left Morro Bay early in the morning of Saturday September 4th.  Since this really isn't an ideal time to see whales, we didn't have great expectations.  Boy, we we surprised:  We saw three humpback whales, two of which hung around the boat for over half an hour, and many Dall's porpoise, a rarity in these waters.


The map below show the actual route of the R/V Fulmer (in red) and where I took the photographs (tiny cameras) in the accompanying video:

It was an exciting adventure and I would like to share it with you:

THE YEARS JUST KEEP ROLLIN' ON BY!

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Coastal Discovery Center held it's fourth annual Fair last week. Diana and I volunteered to help at the event again this year, something we've had the pleasure of doing since the Grand Opening of the MBNMS/CSP Coastal Discovery Center in 2007. That ceremony/event was the precursor for THE FAIR.

This year's fair was the best yet (of course) with a bright, sunny, and cool day. The exhibitors went above and beyond, having developed more interactive and interesting educational activities for our guests. Practically all the organizations that participated in The Fair were non-profit or governmental (state and Federal) agencies involved in natural history, environmental advocacy, or regulatory arenas. Of course there was a bunch of fun stuff to do for the kids to do, besides hands-on exhibits.

It was very satisfying to participate in an event that was both educational for the public AND fun at the same time! I thought I'd share some photographs I took at The Fair, enjoy!