Big Sur coastline

Photo by Henrique Pinto

Celebrate World Oceans Day and California's Marine Protected Areas by exploring nature along California's beautiful coast during the first week in June.

Together with the Marine Protected Area Collaborative Network we are planning a series of bioblitzes up and down the California coast over one week in June. This project will utilize the MPA collaborative network we have all worked so hard to create and maintain—creating opportunities for Californians of all ages to contribute to scientific research and MPA monitoring and to connect to nature, each other, and our important MPA network. 

A bioblitz is an intensive one-day study of biodiversity in a specific location, bringing scientists and volunteer citizen-scientists together. Together, we’ll look for snails, birds, mammals, frogs, butterflies, other insects, spiders, trees, worms, flowers, and everything else we can find! People of all ages and skill levels are welcome!

Our bioblitzes are open to anyone and are family-friendly. Just bring your smartphone with the iNaturalist app, your curiosity, and your powers of observation to help catalog the natural wonders of our parks and open spaces.

Encouraging your students to participate in bioblitzes with their families and friends is a great way to help them connect to your classroom units on ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation. Or, round up some chaperons and bring your entire class on a bioblitz field trip.

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