Bob Polaro’s 10 Tour Stops at Long Marine Lab
The Monterey Bay offers many extremes in abilities and
characteristics of the animal kingdom.
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1) Shipwreck Deck:
· Welcome to the Seymour Center, part of the Long Marine Lab. You’re in for a real treat if you haven’t been here before. We have the largest whale skeleton, a grey whale skeleton, two bottlenose dolphins, and a great indoor aquarium.
· L.M.L., part of the I.M.S, is the only working research lab open to the public and is about 3 miles from campus. This was a brussel sprouts field before this center was built here.
· Self funded, not university funded.
· Younger family: Donated 40 acres of this land in 1974
· Joseph Long: UCSC Supporter founded the Long drugstore chain.
· H. Boyd Seymour: 2 million towards this center.
· 1978 – L.M.L. opened
· 2000 – Seymour Center opens
· Notice the visitors as far as being disabled and the ages for the style of the tour.
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2) Bluff:
· Behold the Monterey Bay which conceals the awesome Monterey sub marine canyon, and part of the Marine Sanctuary which extends from Cambria to the San Francisco Bay. As deep as the Grand Canyon, is rich with nutrients due to seasonal upwelling, which makes this one of the richest marine environments in the world. 20 marine facilities are on the borders of this bay. Show where the pumps are…
· La Feliz: 1924, at 9pm a sardine ship carrying over 3000 sardines, from Monterey to S.F. washed 200 feet offshore. Captain went to the bathroom at the wrong time. Joe Alvarez, local hero, catcher of a local team, semi-pro, tied a wrench to a rope and tossed to the ship which helped rescue the crew. Sardine cases kept floating from the ship, which gave locals free sardines for quite some time. The mast you see was later posted on the cliff and still stands to this day. This proves the stability of this cliff, which permits the construction of this center so close to the edge.
· Caretakers residence
· Radars across ocean
· How many people have heard of the Grand Canyon? (for comparison)
· What is that across the bay?
· What do you see floating on the water? (tell about kelp)
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3) Grey whale:
· Here’s a smaller version of the whale that you see up the road a bit. It’s also a baleen whale. Why do you think it’s tilted? It was feeding in the mud, right faced. Scooping up fish and other food with his lower jaw. 1939 demise and recovery.
· Migration: longest of any mammal. 5,000 miles from Alaska to Baja. Can see them passing by in December and January going south and March – April north.
· Babies frequently attacked by killer whales. Note bones nearby.
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4) Marine Mammal Overlook:
· If lots of kids get the props bin and describe objects and ask questions, before entering the overlook. Note load cell
· “Here’s your “Dolphin Show” you may have heard about! Both males. Primo 23 and Puka 18 from the navy due to budget cuts. Pool is 11.5 feet deep. Sea lions, harbor seal, elephant seal and sea otter tank. Pumps 400-800 gals/minute.
· Primo – 360 lbs. Puka 400.
· Up to 12 feet 600 lbs. Can live to 50 in captivity. 20-30 in wild.
· Can swim 25 mph. Dive 700 feet. Dive for 10 mins.
· Sleeps with half brain. Will not be released.
· Studying physiology data collection using load cell like the one shown earlier.
· Describe echolocation.
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