Our first overnight trip was to Monterey Bay. On Saturday, we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and hiked at Pt. Lobos State Reserve. We pitched tents at Veteran’s Park in the hills of Monterey. On Sunday, we kayaked in Monterey Harbor where we saw lots of sea lions and harbor seals. Then we visited Moss Landing Marine Lab.
Preparing
for our trip
To prepare for our trip, our students studied maps of Monterey and learned
about marine mammals that they would see at the aquarium and in the wild.
By the time our trip started the students had knowledge of sea lions,
elephant seals, harbor seals, and dolphins.
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Cindy’s drawing of a California sea lion. |
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The aquarium was real treat for everyone. The kelp forests and all the organisms that live among the kelp were particularly exciting. We saw a scuba diver in the kelp tank outfitted with a special mask that permitted him to talk with the public. |
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| Hiking Point Lobos | |
 Point Lobos State Reserve is a special place with granite outcrops, tide pools, sea bird colonies, sea otters, sea lions, even a harbor seal pupping site. We hiked for miles along the rocky cliffs above ocean. |
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We
found a secluded beach where harbor seals come to rest and nurse their
young. The newborn pups seen below are only a few days old.  |
Here’s some more harbor seals perched on a rock—including one rolling on their backside. It’s
rather amazing how these seals manage to wiggle their heavy bodies
up these rocks using only their bellies, flippers, and tail. |
| Moss Landing Marine Lab | |
| We spent most of Sunday morning kayaking along Cannery Row, an area along the Monterey harbor that used to be one of the biggest anchovy and sardine fisheries in the world. After kayaking, tired but happy, we piled in the vans to visit a research program at Moss Landing Marine Lab called SLEWTH (Sea Lions Exploring Whales and Their Habitat).We learned about a group of scientists who are training sea lions to assist with ocean research on whales. It was pretty amazing to see how smart and well-trained these animals were—flips, somersaults, clapping their flippers on command…even knowing which kinds of trash to put in the recycle bin! |  |
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Cool
Science Facts Sea lions have dark brown fur, visible ear flaps, walk on both their long hind and front flippers, and propel themselves through the water with their long front flippers. They often rest together at favorite "haul out" sites or float together on the ocean surface in "rafts." Groups of sea lions can be very noisy, uttering a dog-like bark. Adult male sea lions are much bigger than adult females. Males can weigh up to 1000 pounds whereas females may reach only up to 230 pounds. If you’ve ever seen a "seal" show at a zoo, then you have seen a sea lion. These animals are quite intelligent and easily trained (click on the SLEWTH link above to find out more about sea lion intelligence). Harbor seals have spotted coats and can weigh up to 300 pounds. Unlike sea lions, harbor seals do not have external ear flaps. These animals use their hind flippers to propel themselves through the water, their front flippers being used for steering. Harbor seals have much smaller front flippers compared to the sea lion’s flippers, so they can only move about on land by flopping along their bellies. Male and female harbor seals are similar in size, although males are somewhat larger. Harbor seals divide their time evenly on land and water; however, they can sleep in the ocean with their bodies completely submerged except for their nose protruding at the surface.Seeing harbor seals and sea lions in the wild. Sea lions are more assertive around humans compared to harbor seals. Pier 39 in San Francisco, Santa Cruz municipal pier, Monterey Wharf, and Point Lobos State Reserve are great places to view sea lions up close. Although most sea lions migrate down to Southern California during the warmer months (to breed), several hundred sea lions stay at Pier 39 year-round. Your best chances to see harbor seals in the wild are along somewhat protective rocky coastlines such as the Monterey peninsula and on protected sandbars where they haul out to rest at low tide Harbor seals are timid yet curious around people. Sailors, fishermen, and divers often spot harbor seals following their boats. |
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Let's
Go! Click
on the link below to go to website of Point Lobos Reserve. Click
on the link below for the website to visit the SLEWTH program at
Moss Landing Marine Lab. |
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