Here we are, the end of BioBlitz 2008...and the purpose of our 3,000 mile jaunt. We leave tomorrow night, so I imagine tonight will be rather festive--full of Mexican fare, beers, surfing, and, hopefully, a campsite in Ventura or Oxnard. (What denial? You mean there isn't an open camping spot within two-hundred square miles?)
Here is a quick recap of the last few hours of the Blitz, which ended officially at noon. (Post-event activities run well into the evening.)
FINAL SPECIES TALLY: 1,364 (from the official BioBlitz blog)
Algae - 22
Amphibian - 4
Arthropod - 628
Bird - 86
Fish - 6
Lichen - 3
Mammal - 12
Marine Invertebrate - 91
Other Invertebrate - 2
Plant - 495
Reptile - 15
The biggest of the aforementioned tents at BioBase camp was the "Inventory Tent" where all the field data was processed, recorded, and displayed. Think of it equal parts computers, HD TVs, dead insects, and plants. On the right side of the covering were tables full of biologists and other science geeks labeling and pinning captured specimens onto white foam boards. One dude was wrist deep in dead critters and informed those watching him that over 200 bug species had been counted in Malibu Creek State Park alone.
Gary and Julie Hevel were working a few strides further at the next table. Gary is a Public Information Officer with the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. (Our neighbors, really, when met this far from home.) Wife Julie, well, she's just an interesting lady who possesses and unquantifiable depth of insect knowledge. The Hevel's had 18 display cases in front of them with approximately 4,000 documented insect species. Some had yet to be identified and were going to be sent to other biologists to review and name.
Regardless, their collection is fascinating, and the time investment to acquire each subject all but incomprehensible. But here's the most remarkable statistic about the bug stash: every one of them was found in the Hevel's backyard in Silver Spring, MD from which--I shit you not--they drove to California. And that explains the presence of one pin stuck bug that was particularly noticeable. The Marmorated Stink Bug is an invasive species that originated in Asia that devours veggies and other green growth. And they are regularly found inhabiting the moldy corners of my bathroom ceiling in DC."They're white, black, white, black on their abdoman," Gary explained. "That might explain where the name came from." Neither Gary nor Julie mentioned how the crawlers got to the U.S.
----------------
The Mounties patrolled the premises of the Paramount again this morning. Their horses were young and powerful and firmly harnessed in snug saddles. Kay was the most unique--a 13 year-old female whose color, jockey Rebecca Florio informed, is an uneven mixture of white with tan freckles known by equestrians as "flea-bitten gray." The shiny red apple in my right hand did not go unnoticed and Kay shuffled in my direction.
"How much does she weigh?"
"Right now she's about 875 pounds," Rebecca answered.
"So, she likes to eat apples, I presume."
"Yes she does. You can feed it to her," said Rebecca.
Chomp.
Damn, Kay! Those are fingers, not apple. Kay's slobbering gnawing immediately attracted the nine-year old stallion with a forgettable name to her left. Horses like fruits and veggies, which might explain why they can age up to 40 years. Kay's handlers are special people who care deeply for these animals. She will be treated well...so long as she doesn't find herself on a race track with any broken legs.
----------------------
On a personal note, this was a great event--although accompanied by exhaustion from lousy sleep, three-hour longboarding sessions at Dana Point and Malibu, and tragic, perspective-altering auto collisions. I met some great people that will hopefully stay in touch for years to come. Lee Kats, Ph.D., a Pepperdine University biology professor is one of the two coolest cats I met this weekend. He was looking for a spot to grub at the welcome barbecue at Gillette on Thursday night and landed on the faded-red ledge next to me. Conversation spawned from there. Lee recently returned from Costa Rica and is heading off to Argentina with some bio students in June. Sounds like a bad ass trip. Here's to the Cubs making a run for the NL Pennant, Lee...and then losing to the Phils!!
Joel Robinson was the other dude with whom I shared an accidental hike and a campsite. Joel is a self-employed naturalist from Orange County I met when he stopped his mid-90s Honda Civic in front of our spot. He was looking for a place to crash. I offered him some space and a foam sleeping pad. We later met up on a trail and hoofed it to Century Lake, where our only other company were three mallards and an obtrusive concrete dam. Joel gives guided trail hikes and tours to all sorts of groups--like overworked, corporate lawyers on retreat from San Francisco. He left me his contact information. I'll pass it on below in case anyone reading this cares to employ Joel's services. He is personable and articulate and well-versed in the biodiversity of Southern California, and eerily resembles a patchy-bearded Keanu Reeves.
Joel Robinson
jrobinsonl@naturalist-for-you.org ... check him out.
----------------
Thanks for the good time all. Tomorrow it's back to the right coast grind; I return under protest. It's incredible here. Sunny skies, good waves, fresh enchiladas, and plenty of natural wonder. The east coast doesn't have a thing on SoCal. One of these days I'll be back for good.
Until then, be well everyone.
peace~
-j/d
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Midnight walk or, Running into a Net is the Last Thing You Want to Do While Pregnant
There was a five second pause before I finally mustered the courage to ask.
"And, um, well stupid quesiton but, how exactly do you know that it's pregnant?"
Before I could snicker at my sudden mental image of the nervous little she-bat peeing over a mini Rite-Aid pregnancy stick, Pepperdine's Rodney Hancock gently flipped her over with his gloved hand and pointed. Still on the tree, the Big Brown Bat was now it's back.
"See those big bulbs there?"
I squinted. If I hadn't know any better, which I don't, I would have assumed this was a male with two large spectacularly large cojones.
"Those are embryos."
Well I'll be damned. Here before me was America's bat, laying there looking exceedingly pissed off with two batbuns in the oven. Rodney plopped down another smaller species next to it. No sooner than my had camera focused on this one, it hopped off the tree and scampered towards the creek. He replaced this one with a non-pregnant Big Brown relative. Its coat was shiny and its movements were quick. It wanted to get the hell out of there. As soon as Rodney lifted his finger that was pinning the bat, it jumped off and out of the light. I panicked and instinctively checked my crotch. ,Thankfully finding no bat attached to it, I shined my flashlight into the creek, unable to find it. It had flown off.
Rodney wandered off to retrieve his remaining nets that had been strewn across the creek, capturing unsuspecting creatures of the night. I shut off my flashlight as my let my eyes adjust to the darkness. The sounds of cool water and hundreds of croaking frogs filled my ears.
-RD
"And, um, well stupid quesiton but, how exactly do you know that it's pregnant?"
Before I could snicker at my sudden mental image of the nervous little she-bat peeing over a mini Rite-Aid pregnancy stick, Pepperdine's Rodney Hancock gently flipped her over with his gloved hand and pointed. Still on the tree, the Big Brown Bat was now it's back.
"See those big bulbs there?"
I squinted. If I hadn't know any better, which I don't, I would have assumed this was a male with two large spectacularly large cojones.
"Those are embryos."
Well I'll be damned. Here before me was America's bat, laying there looking exceedingly pissed off with two batbuns in the oven. Rodney plopped down another smaller species next to it. No sooner than my had camera focused on this one, it hopped off the tree and scampered towards the creek. He replaced this one with a non-pregnant Big Brown relative. Its coat was shiny and its movements were quick. It wanted to get the hell out of there. As soon as Rodney lifted his finger that was pinning the bat, it jumped off and out of the light. I panicked and instinctively checked my crotch. ,Thankfully finding no bat attached to it, I shined my flashlight into the creek, unable to find it. It had flown off.
Rodney wandered off to retrieve his remaining nets that had been strewn across the creek, capturing unsuspecting creatures of the night. I shut off my flashlight as my let my eyes adjust to the darkness. The sounds of cool water and hundreds of croaking frogs filled my ears.
-RD
Friday, May 30, 2008
Awestuck by Life or, Petri Dishes on the Pier
Peering into the petri dish, I was struck by the dozens, maybe hundreds of life forms swarming around, likely stunned by their temporary misfortune of being plucked from their habitat. I looked up and glanced at the volunteers who faced the daunting task of identifying the creatures. I glanced to my right, then reached down into bucket and touched a starfish the size of my head. My hand was under one of its arms. It flexed and strained to my surprise.
Minutes later, walking pass hundreds of nervous pelicans, I witnessed a sea slug being returned to the ocean. The researcher squatted in the rushing surf, trying to get the slug to hang on to some jutting rocks. Water rushed up and soaked him...and me, standing there knee deep, oblivious of everything except for the fascinating spectacle before me.
I've driven by the Malibu Pier and beach many times before. But, really, who knew how much life beneath this heap of wood and concrete? I was awestruck thinking of what I had seen, walking along the sidewalk back to the car, watching the cars zoom by on the Pacific Coast Highway. In my mind, I suddenly felt the ground tilt towards the ocean, the expansive weight of life below the surface of the water pulling everything and everyone in.
-RD
Minutes later, walking pass hundreds of nervous pelicans, I witnessed a sea slug being returned to the ocean. The researcher squatted in the rushing surf, trying to get the slug to hang on to some jutting rocks. Water rushed up and soaked him...and me, standing there knee deep, oblivious of everything except for the fascinating spectacle before me.
I've driven by the Malibu Pier and beach many times before. But, really, who knew how much life beneath this heap of wood and concrete? I was awestruck thinking of what I had seen, walking along the sidewalk back to the car, watching the cars zoom by on the Pacific Coast Highway. In my mind, I suddenly felt the ground tilt towards the ocean, the expansive weight of life below the surface of the water pulling everything and everyone in.
-RD
The BioBlitzkrieg begins
May 30, 10:30am
Based on the amount of people at the opening ceremony, the previously estimated number of participants seems severely overstated. That said, there are sizable herds of elementary, middle, and high school students grazing about. Several of them had to leave the opening speeches in order to begin their field studies—most notably the marine work held a few miles away at Malibu Pier and Lagoon. (We’re going there soon.)
One conspicuous aspect of this event, to me, is cost. There is a lot going on here and I wonder, frankly, who’s paying for it. Expenses are likely being absorbed by numerous entities, including the NGS and the park services. That the NGS is a non-profit suggests it may have received donations of time, property, and/or products.
Some of the logistical expenses include:
-reserving all the grounds surrounding Malibu Creek State Park
-buses: at last count there were ten school and two coach, plus drivers and fuel
-parking: orange cones demarcate the spaces, and there are a handful of park staff playing traffic cop, along with a California Highway Patrol cruiser (an actual traffic cop)
-Mounted Volunteer Patrol: three horseback riders are galloping across the ranch (doing what, I’m not certain)
…and also the musicians, vendors, signs, sound system, water coolers, t-shirts, other paraphernalia, and roughly 40 portable poop receptacles.
Clearly, this was not a cheap endeavor.
-j/d
-------------
11:00am
Jay Snow, a former psychologist who migrated from Park City, Utah, to become a park ranger years ago, said many of the schools have done this type of event before. The last one was in Death Valley, a ways to our east. They documented plant life and some invertebrates. (They think they found a new species, but won’t be positive until the results of the field study are concluded*.) Snow said that kids from a Las Vegas school had never seen stars before**, and that Death Valley was a great spot to observe the brilliance of the night sky. Vegas and LA routinely expose their residents and visitors to hazardous levels of light pollution. Death Valley's isolated proximity easily affords star gazers an unhindered view of the galaxy above. (“Observing the night sky” in Death Valley may also just be a euphemism for “we can’t take prepubescent youths into that life-size microwave in daylight without risking costly liability.”)
*: Snow didn’t exactly explain what that entails, or when it will be.
**: We met this cat last night—a short, weathered and repetitively talkative fellow in his middle-age. He’s an awesome dude, but this is a dubious assertion.
-------------
There is a crew on site operating the Science Mobile, a Fresno-based “mobile science workshop” that travels to different schools and science related events. It’s like an ice cream truck for science nerds, you know, except twice as long, with plenty of microscopes, and free of flag-colored popsicles and annoying jingles.
-j/d
--------------
1:00pm
Base Camp this year is at the Paramount Ranch, where TV networks have filmed such examples of broadcasting mediocrity as “Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman” and some random episode of “The Biggest Loser.” It’s a cool historic western town where the buildings have retained their folksy architecture—which is presumably not the original.
It’s sunny, of course, there’s a slight breeze and a single cloud in the sky. The temperature is in the low 70s. When arbitrary religious scriptures speak about heaven, this is what they refer to. The chances of me returning east are slimming.
----------
There are vendors and informational tents and tables lining the perimeter of the Paramount. One of the tents belongs to the LA County Department of Regional Planning (DRP). Gina Natoli, the Supervising Regional Planner described the department as “land use regulators.” The DRP works on a range of county-wide projects, but today Natoli is educating Blitzers on the Santa Monica Mountains Local Coastal Program. The Santa Monica Mountains Coastal Zone “comprises about 52,000 acres…and is approximately 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles,” their handout-poster declares. Natoli claims their mission is to monitor and ensure that coastal zone development includes “green” (her word) buildings, and that preservation of the region was an utmost concern.
The Santa Monica Mountains Coastal Zone Plan, combined with the California Coastal Act (CCA), is the tool in which the DRP will implement its preservation intentions. The CCA—enacted in 1976—instructs “[each] local government lying, in whole or in part, within the coastal zone” to devise a plan that, according to the DRP, “[manages] the conservation and development of coastal regions.” The text on the subject is extensive. So, I’ll leave you with the most sensible and progressive statement found on the paperwork I’ve just sifted through. Beneath a header titled “Conservation and Open Space,” the DRP states as one of its “Guiding Principles” that “[r]esource protection has priority over development.”
The densest region of the most populous state in our Union has just declared that protecting its resources—some of which are scarily finite—transcends the desire to intrude with more human expansiveness (i.e. – for dollars). That is profundity we could all learn from.
-j/d
--------------
1:30pm
Scientists from the Southwestern Herpetologists Society (SWHS) are attending the BioBlitz and will be searching for snakes, lizards, and other reptiles that can easily creep into the bottom of a sleeping bag undetected. As mentioned previously, rattlesnakes are not to be messed with; they’re the only venomous snake species in California. Rattlesnakes account for most of the approximately 45,000 yearly snake bites in the U.S. But the folks at the SWHS are quick to note that “more people die annually of bee stings, being struck by lightning [or] by golf balls” than from snake venom. (Makes you wonder how many snakes are killed each year by golf clubs.)
Outdoorsy types are advised to be aware of their surroundings and avoid putting their hands and feet in holes, under rocks, on ledges or other surfaces with obstructed views where rattlers might be hanging out. The reptiles don’t attack maliciously, but rather from perceived threats—like curious human provocation. Basically, what the SWHS representatives are implying is that many snake bite victims get what they have coming to them. If you’re reading this, do yourself a favor and don’t learn the hard way.
They brought out some toys to play with today. Three non-lethal dirt cruisers: the coastal patch snake (Salvadora hexalepis virgula); a striped racer (Masticophis lateralis lateralis); and a San Bernardino Mountain King Snake (Lampropeltis zonata parviruba). King snakes are cousins to the eastern milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum), but with a different scale pattern, that can be found in Ohio, among other states. They have a slender, congruent body and are harmless; those with triangular heads and thicker frames are not.
-j/d
------------
3:00pm
Today’s first study was of spineless aquatic life at the Malibu Pier. Divers extracted various invertebrates from around the pier pilings (and tried to not get strangled by thick strands of floating kelp). They didn’t pull out much, but what they did was interesting. In a small, clear bin—otherwise used to store fraying sweaters during a humid summer—were four starfish. Two of the Pisasters ochraceus were a deep purple and the others orange; each had similar spinacious* patterns. The fish were stiff and course, the top exterior of their arms like a cheese grater covering an underneath of a thousand malleable sucking tentacles. As we paged through a species manual, the slow moving creatures attempted to correct their positioning. In the water, when the fish are upside down, they use the tentacles to flip themselves over. They can’t do so in a plastic container with water not as deep as they are tall.
More than once, scientists Dean Pentcheff and Regina Wetzer would lift other tiny invertebrates that had latched on to a host organism (the big starfish, in this case). When asked whether any of the beings were dangerous, Wetzer, with an inch-long Brittle starfish (Ophiurida) in hand, answered, “We don’t have any parasites on this coast. That’s why we can put our hands in the water [bucket].” The few Brittle stars that had been taken from the backs of the pisasters were one of two feeding types. Some find food by using a web of mucous that captures particles from the water. Others use what Wetzer calls “snake-like, predator” arms.
There were about fifteen or so people rummaging through containers of sand and seaweed with utensils, searching for life. They sat around an unfolded plastic table and labeled what they had found. At one end, pairs of eyes peered into a microscope to observe the tiniest animals. A high caliber still camera and white board were set up to document the findings at the same end. The Pier team, along with a few others--one on the beach, about 200 yards up the point; and others inland studying the lagoon--documented 91 marine invertebrate species.
*: A scientist’s word; I’ve never heard it.
-j/d
Based on the amount of people at the opening ceremony, the previously estimated number of participants seems severely overstated. That said, there are sizable herds of elementary, middle, and high school students grazing about. Several of them had to leave the opening speeches in order to begin their field studies—most notably the marine work held a few miles away at Malibu Pier and Lagoon. (We’re going there soon.)
One conspicuous aspect of this event, to me, is cost. There is a lot going on here and I wonder, frankly, who’s paying for it. Expenses are likely being absorbed by numerous entities, including the NGS and the park services. That the NGS is a non-profit suggests it may have received donations of time, property, and/or products.
Some of the logistical expenses include:
-reserving all the grounds surrounding Malibu Creek State Park
-buses: at last count there were ten school and two coach, plus drivers and fuel
-parking: orange cones demarcate the spaces, and there are a handful of park staff playing traffic cop, along with a California Highway Patrol cruiser (an actual traffic cop)
-Mounted Volunteer Patrol: three horseback riders are galloping across the ranch (doing what, I’m not certain)
…and also the musicians, vendors, signs, sound system, water coolers, t-shirts, other paraphernalia, and roughly 40 portable poop receptacles.
Clearly, this was not a cheap endeavor.
-j/d
-------------
11:00am
Jay Snow, a former psychologist who migrated from Park City, Utah, to become a park ranger years ago, said many of the schools have done this type of event before. The last one was in Death Valley, a ways to our east. They documented plant life and some invertebrates. (They think they found a new species, but won’t be positive until the results of the field study are concluded*.) Snow said that kids from a Las Vegas school had never seen stars before**, and that Death Valley was a great spot to observe the brilliance of the night sky. Vegas and LA routinely expose their residents and visitors to hazardous levels of light pollution. Death Valley's isolated proximity easily affords star gazers an unhindered view of the galaxy above. (“Observing the night sky” in Death Valley may also just be a euphemism for “we can’t take prepubescent youths into that life-size microwave in daylight without risking costly liability.”)
*: Snow didn’t exactly explain what that entails, or when it will be.
**: We met this cat last night—a short, weathered and repetitively talkative fellow in his middle-age. He’s an awesome dude, but this is a dubious assertion.
-------------
There is a crew on site operating the Science Mobile, a Fresno-based “mobile science workshop” that travels to different schools and science related events. It’s like an ice cream truck for science nerds, you know, except twice as long, with plenty of microscopes, and free of flag-colored popsicles and annoying jingles.
-j/d
--------------
1:00pm
Base Camp this year is at the Paramount Ranch, where TV networks have filmed such examples of broadcasting mediocrity as “Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman” and some random episode of “The Biggest Loser.” It’s a cool historic western town where the buildings have retained their folksy architecture—which is presumably not the original.
It’s sunny, of course, there’s a slight breeze and a single cloud in the sky. The temperature is in the low 70s. When arbitrary religious scriptures speak about heaven, this is what they refer to. The chances of me returning east are slimming.
----------
There are vendors and informational tents and tables lining the perimeter of the Paramount. One of the tents belongs to the LA County Department of Regional Planning (DRP). Gina Natoli, the Supervising Regional Planner described the department as “land use regulators.” The DRP works on a range of county-wide projects, but today Natoli is educating Blitzers on the Santa Monica Mountains Local Coastal Program. The Santa Monica Mountains Coastal Zone “comprises about 52,000 acres…and is approximately 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles,” their handout-poster declares. Natoli claims their mission is to monitor and ensure that coastal zone development includes “green” (her word) buildings, and that preservation of the region was an utmost concern.
The Santa Monica Mountains Coastal Zone Plan, combined with the California Coastal Act (CCA), is the tool in which the DRP will implement its preservation intentions. The CCA—enacted in 1976—instructs “[each] local government lying, in whole or in part, within the coastal zone” to devise a plan that, according to the DRP, “[manages] the conservation and development of coastal regions.” The text on the subject is extensive. So, I’ll leave you with the most sensible and progressive statement found on the paperwork I’ve just sifted through. Beneath a header titled “Conservation and Open Space,” the DRP states as one of its “Guiding Principles” that “[r]esource protection has priority over development.”
The densest region of the most populous state in our Union has just declared that protecting its resources—some of which are scarily finite—transcends the desire to intrude with more human expansiveness (i.e. – for dollars). That is profundity we could all learn from.
-j/d
--------------
1:30pm
Scientists from the Southwestern Herpetologists Society (SWHS) are attending the BioBlitz and will be searching for snakes, lizards, and other reptiles that can easily creep into the bottom of a sleeping bag undetected. As mentioned previously, rattlesnakes are not to be messed with; they’re the only venomous snake species in California. Rattlesnakes account for most of the approximately 45,000 yearly snake bites in the U.S. But the folks at the SWHS are quick to note that “more people die annually of bee stings, being struck by lightning [or] by golf balls” than from snake venom. (Makes you wonder how many snakes are killed each year by golf clubs.)
Outdoorsy types are advised to be aware of their surroundings and avoid putting their hands and feet in holes, under rocks, on ledges or other surfaces with obstructed views where rattlers might be hanging out. The reptiles don’t attack maliciously, but rather from perceived threats—like curious human provocation. Basically, what the SWHS representatives are implying is that many snake bite victims get what they have coming to them. If you’re reading this, do yourself a favor and don’t learn the hard way.
They brought out some toys to play with today. Three non-lethal dirt cruisers: the coastal patch snake (Salvadora hexalepis virgula); a striped racer (Masticophis lateralis lateralis); and a San Bernardino Mountain King Snake (Lampropeltis zonata parviruba). King snakes are cousins to the eastern milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum), but with a different scale pattern, that can be found in Ohio, among other states. They have a slender, congruent body and are harmless; those with triangular heads and thicker frames are not.
-j/d
------------
3:00pm
Today’s first study was of spineless aquatic life at the Malibu Pier. Divers extracted various invertebrates from around the pier pilings (and tried to not get strangled by thick strands of floating kelp). They didn’t pull out much, but what they did was interesting. In a small, clear bin—otherwise used to store fraying sweaters during a humid summer—were four starfish. Two of the Pisasters ochraceus were a deep purple and the others orange; each had similar spinacious* patterns. The fish were stiff and course, the top exterior of their arms like a cheese grater covering an underneath of a thousand malleable sucking tentacles. As we paged through a species manual, the slow moving creatures attempted to correct their positioning. In the water, when the fish are upside down, they use the tentacles to flip themselves over. They can’t do so in a plastic container with water not as deep as they are tall.
More than once, scientists Dean Pentcheff and Regina Wetzer would lift other tiny invertebrates that had latched on to a host organism (the big starfish, in this case). When asked whether any of the beings were dangerous, Wetzer, with an inch-long Brittle starfish (Ophiurida) in hand, answered, “We don’t have any parasites on this coast. That’s why we can put our hands in the water [bucket].” The few Brittle stars that had been taken from the backs of the pisasters were one of two feeding types. Some find food by using a web of mucous that captures particles from the water. Others use what Wetzer calls “snake-like, predator” arms.
There were about fifteen or so people rummaging through containers of sand and seaweed with utensils, searching for life. They sat around an unfolded plastic table and labeled what they had found. At one end, pairs of eyes peered into a microscope to observe the tiniest animals. A high caliber still camera and white board were set up to document the findings at the same end. The Pier team, along with a few others--one on the beach, about 200 yards up the point; and others inland studying the lagoon--documented 91 marine invertebrate species.
*: A scientist’s word; I’ve never heard it.
-j/d
Opening ceremonies, or, Meanwhile Back in Africa
Sean and Jamie stand shyly on the stage as the opening ceremonies unfold. The speaker announces that Sean wants to see bugs and rattlesnakes. And Jamie? He wants to see a lion.
THAT would be cool.
-RD
THAT would be cool.
-RD
Fascinating owl facts or, Eww, owl barf!
"Owl barf!" she triumphantly exclaimed, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. Mrs. Contreras's nineteen 3rd graders remained silent, staring wide eyes at the wound up ball of fur, muck and skeletons reminiscent of a Brillo pad. A small girl at the front of the group finally allowed a slow, drawn out, "Ewww." The rest giggled. The students, from Ventura's Rio Linda Elementary school, were visiting with Eleanor Osgood of the Los Angeles Audubon Society at one of the dozens of booths set up around Paramount Ranch. Owls, like most birds it seems, cannot chew their food, so, after eating, the indigestible parts, a la McDonald's, are eventually compacted into a little nugget that is later, well, barfed up. SOOOO the owl is happy. The Audubon Society reps are proud. And the 3rd graders are gleefully disgusted. El fin.
Pleasant evening drive or, I do not to want to see this, I do not want see this
So as not to detract from the general theme of the blog...if you want to read about a car accident we witnessed, click here.
-RD
-RD
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Why free burgers smell like surfing movies
The siblings Malloy—Chris, Keith, and Dan—are a famous trio in the surfing industry. Throughout their careers as pros, they’ve often celebrated their backcountry California upbringing on a ranch in Ojai, a sleepy town hugged by the valleys of Ventura, the next county up from Los Angeles. Chris has been heard more than once nostalgically speaking of the California from 200 years ago. It’s the essence of California they vocally try to preserve.
A few years ago, two filmmakers visited the Malloy family ranch for a documentary called One California Day (OCD) that released in 2007. (A movie highlighting the cultural and historical relevance of California to surfing.) While filming, they captured footage of the canyons and mountains that compose almost-coastal California—the few miles of inland that don’t allude to the immediacy of the ocean. Jagged cliffs abandon unassuming hills dotted with rejuvenated, albeit flammable, brush and the charred remains of sycamores sacrificed in past wildfires. It’s breathtaking.
Tonight, the coordinators of the BioBlitz held a welcome barbecue at the King Gillette Ranch in Malibu Creek State Park for the scientists and other educational staff conducting this weekend’s field studies. The ranch rests at the bottom end of the Las Virgenes Valley. According to Gillette's web site, the ranch "offers a rare unspoiled view of California’s rich archaeological, cultural, and historic resources, including a Chumash settlement, and nationally significant structures designed for razor magnate King C. Gillette in the 1920’s by Wallace Neff, architect of California’s Golden Age."
It could have been held on the Malloy’s farm. The diversity of terrain in SoCal is different from our digs in Washington, DC, where one can easily overdose on green. Looking to the sunset in the hills was no different than turning on my DVD player to OCD (except that they filmed sunrises). Much of the land about to be dissected by science classes will expose kids to species that have been crawling beneath, nesting in, and growing from centuries old rocks, trees, and dirt.
Chris Malloy might dig this.
Side note: You can learn fascinating things when face to face with a men’s room urinal. Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oregnus helleri), for example, are “the only dangerous venomous [reptiles] that naturally [inhabit] the Santa Monica Mountains.” California park rangers are quick to warn of the menacing possibilites of rattlers. The snakes, much like many predators, are dichotomous: they help maintain a sustainable population of its species of prey while providing a potentially perilous obstacle to inattentive hikers. Their venom, I’m told, is “primarily hemorrhagic” and (duh) only well-experienced herpetologists have any business handling the serpents. So, hopefully we’ll find a few the next two days.
Tomorrow is the big day, the reason we came out: an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 nature enthusiasts determined to educate themselves on the abundance of life that surrounds their environment…and make the 2008 BioBlitz a stellar happening. Events like these are vital to ensuring future generations are informed about and prepared to adopt sustainable lifestyles...so $4 gallons of gas won't be an issue.
Here’s to hiking safely with snakes with maracas for anuses.
-j/d
A few years ago, two filmmakers visited the Malloy family ranch for a documentary called One California Day (OCD) that released in 2007. (A movie highlighting the cultural and historical relevance of California to surfing.) While filming, they captured footage of the canyons and mountains that compose almost-coastal California—the few miles of inland that don’t allude to the immediacy of the ocean. Jagged cliffs abandon unassuming hills dotted with rejuvenated, albeit flammable, brush and the charred remains of sycamores sacrificed in past wildfires. It’s breathtaking.
Tonight, the coordinators of the BioBlitz held a welcome barbecue at the King Gillette Ranch in Malibu Creek State Park for the scientists and other educational staff conducting this weekend’s field studies. The ranch rests at the bottom end of the Las Virgenes Valley. According to Gillette's web site, the ranch "offers a rare unspoiled view of California’s rich archaeological, cultural, and historic resources, including a Chumash settlement, and nationally significant structures designed for razor magnate King C. Gillette in the 1920’s by Wallace Neff, architect of California’s Golden Age."
It could have been held on the Malloy’s farm. The diversity of terrain in SoCal is different from our digs in Washington, DC, where one can easily overdose on green. Looking to the sunset in the hills was no different than turning on my DVD player to OCD (except that they filmed sunrises). Much of the land about to be dissected by science classes will expose kids to species that have been crawling beneath, nesting in, and growing from centuries old rocks, trees, and dirt.
Chris Malloy might dig this.
Side note: You can learn fascinating things when face to face with a men’s room urinal. Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oregnus helleri), for example, are “the only dangerous venomous [reptiles] that naturally [inhabit] the Santa Monica Mountains.” California park rangers are quick to warn of the menacing possibilites of rattlers. The snakes, much like many predators, are dichotomous: they help maintain a sustainable population of its species of prey while providing a potentially perilous obstacle to inattentive hikers. Their venom, I’m told, is “primarily hemorrhagic” and (duh) only well-experienced herpetologists have any business handling the serpents. So, hopefully we’ll find a few the next two days.
Tomorrow is the big day, the reason we came out: an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 nature enthusiasts determined to educate themselves on the abundance of life that surrounds their environment…and make the 2008 BioBlitz a stellar happening. Events like these are vital to ensuring future generations are informed about and prepared to adopt sustainable lifestyles...so $4 gallons of gas won't be an issue.
Here’s to hiking safely with snakes with maracas for anuses.
-j/d
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Uh, just kidding or, Our Bags Are where?
I. Hate. Frontier. Airlines.
-RD (not happy that our bags decided to stay the night in Denver)
-RD (not happy that our bags decided to stay the night in Denver)
Green Flying with Frontier Airlines or Look, We have CUTE TREE HUGGING BEAVERS on our wings
Let me preface this by saying I love Frontier airlines. I love them even though I am in one of their planes that is going through turbulance that will likely kill me. They have a fantastic frequent flyer mile program, their seats are comfortable, their staff is chipper, AND they give the WHOLE CAN of apple juice. Whole can! Can an airlines be mensch? Why not! I have flown with them many times before. I truly hope they pull through the bankruptcy and would like to fly them again. If I don't die on this flight. That being said....
Well, for those that haven't flown Frontier, their schtick (which I like) is putting cuddly animals that are found roaming the streets of downtown Denver onto their plane exteriors... kinda like Southwest Airlines used to do when they painted the the plane and made it appear as though you're in the guts of a flying giant magical aero-orka. But, ya know, more subtle like. As I look out the window (to my death), despite being pumbelled by by 450 mile per hour sub-zero winds at an altitude of 37,000 feet, I am greetied by a cute, wee little deer in a patch of wildflowers. His name is "Clover", and, according the Frontier website, his other Frontier animal friends have hobbies and pet peeves. I kid you not. The animals have names and hobbies. Hobbies!
Okay. Let's take stock. Beyond the animals incorporated into plane and ad design, the Frontier website is green colored. Their magazine has a green color theme. On the plane the restroom soap is green, as are the seats and seatbelts (one of which is currently cutting of the circulation to my lower extremities because I really think I'm about to die especially now that my Xanax wore off). Even (God bless 'em!) the barf bags are green.
Moving behind the barf bag, thumbing through pages of their May/June in-flight magazine, W!LD Blue Yonder, in the May/June of issues consisting of 100 pages, I counted over two dozen images fearturing breathtaking scenes of nature in ads and article layouts. I saw a stunning cover with a vast wilderness landscape containing a luscious field beckoning you to have a DEET covered naked run through it. BUT going through the magazine there is not one mention of anything relating to conveservation in the entire magazine save for a page with three half columns talking about Costa Rica travel, most of which relates to a chi chi resort.
Call me programmed/brainwashed, but when I think green color schemes, cute animals, and nature pictures, I think, environment. And when I think of a company that embraces this animal/color scheme, I wonder, what is Frontier doing?
Unfortunately, I have no answer yet. I spent a few hours last week perusing their website (customer and corporate), and found no mention of anything relating to the environment, the green movement, or the cute cuddly animals beyond their hobbies.
I'm thinking I should ask the lovely flight attendant. Before we crash.
-RD (Row 19, Window Seat A, about to crap his pants as I think we've hit the predicted turbulance over the Rockies)
Well, for those that haven't flown Frontier, their schtick (which I like) is putting cuddly animals that are found roaming the streets of downtown Denver onto their plane exteriors... kinda like Southwest Airlines used to do when they painted the the plane and made it appear as though you're in the guts of a flying giant magical aero-orka. But, ya know, more subtle like. As I look out the window (to my death), despite being pumbelled by by 450 mile per hour sub-zero winds at an altitude of 37,000 feet, I am greetied by a cute, wee little deer in a patch of wildflowers. His name is "Clover", and, according the Frontier website, his other Frontier animal friends have hobbies and pet peeves. I kid you not. The animals have names and hobbies. Hobbies!
Okay. Let's take stock. Beyond the animals incorporated into plane and ad design, the Frontier website is green colored. Their magazine has a green color theme. On the plane the restroom soap is green, as are the seats and seatbelts (one of which is currently cutting of the circulation to my lower extremities because I really think I'm about to die especially now that my Xanax wore off). Even (God bless 'em!) the barf bags are green.
Moving behind the barf bag, thumbing through pages of their May/June in-flight magazine, W!LD Blue Yonder, in the May/June of issues consisting of 100 pages, I counted over two dozen images fearturing breathtaking scenes of nature in ads and article layouts. I saw a stunning cover with a vast wilderness landscape containing a luscious field beckoning you to have a DEET covered naked run through it. BUT going through the magazine there is not one mention of anything relating to conveservation in the entire magazine save for a page with three half columns talking about Costa Rica travel, most of which relates to a chi chi resort.
Call me programmed/brainwashed, but when I think green color schemes, cute animals, and nature pictures, I think, environment. And when I think of a company that embraces this animal/color scheme, I wonder, what is Frontier doing?
Unfortunately, I have no answer yet. I spent a few hours last week perusing their website (customer and corporate), and found no mention of anything relating to the environment, the green movement, or the cute cuddly animals beyond their hobbies.
I'm thinking I should ask the lovely flight attendant. Before we crash.
-RD (Row 19, Window Seat A, about to crap his pants as I think we've hit the predicted turbulance over the Rockies)
Observations of a former home state…and weak arguments for burning jet fuel
May 27, 7:50pm
Hey folks, Jeff here. I’m currently 36,837 feet above ground, soaring across the early Midwest en route to Orange County—John Wayne Airport—at about 450 miles per hour. Our layover is over three hours away in Denver. Let me give a brief plug for Frontier Airlines: the live sky map is kick ass. If you can forgive the intermittent ads that interrupt an otherwise steady charting of your course, channel 13 may just suit you fine. However, Frontier is a working example of the tight financial reality in which airlines operate. Not only must passengers foot the bill for unappetizing snacks, but in-flight movies and TV are no longer complimentary. It’s a sad day when stale peanuts and crappy movies no longer define the air travel experience.
We just left Philadelphia fifty minutes ago (45 minutes late due to some runway logjam). Although based in Washington, DC, Philly had the only flight to California compatible with our schedule. (Oh, the sacrifices made for 9 a.m. staff meetings.) I grew up in Pennsylvania, near Hershey, about 90 miles from center city Philly where I went to college. But I’ve never flown over the Commonwealth in this direction. A few observations from cloud level:
1). The Appalachians resemble anything but mountains; their long, deep grooves appear more like a wrinkled pair of chinos lying flat on an ironing board than the dominant range of the eastern seaboard. Interesting to see, but wholly unimpressive.
2). The center of PA near State College is emptiness at its most obvious. If there’s a place on Earth where Mother Nature decided to bubble wrap boring, green terrain, this is it. Its varying tones of auburn and olive swell and deflate as though you’re peering into a FedEx package.
3). This flying hallway just passed over Cleveland, which is practically submerged into Lake Erie. Lake Erie is big—as in there are city-sized islands protruding from its waters big. This fact is remarkable considering it’s one of the smaller Great Lakes.
OK…so the BioBlitz.
One question that has not been lost on me, or Ruben, is how do we justify flying 3,000 miles, and renting a car, just to help the environment? Well, a few ways.
First, it’s bit of a vacation; we can’t always abide by our environmental ethos in the name of fun. Secondly, we tried to rent a hybrid car, which was virtually impossible for our budgets. So, we’ll be purchasing carbon offsets for the mileage we accrue both by flight and car. TerraPass is a great organization that specializes in varying methods of carbon offsetting, and allows users to tailor to their own objectives (i.e. – traveling, commuting, lifestyle, etc.). It’s worth scoping out. Sure, offsets may be overrated, but they're the best option for now.
We understand that thoughtful individual efforts lead to positive collective effects on the environment. Yes, we’re culpable in leaving a size-737 carbon footprint on the planet below. We’re also guilty of wanting to travel this globe we so fervently strive to protect. Occasionally, sacrifices may be made. This is one of them; that simply means we’ll operate in ways to help right our voyaging wrongs. The first step: personal accountability.
We’ll be back later on with more details on our game plan once we get in to Cali. But, now it’s time to stop that damn “battery low” indicator from blinking.
Be well~
-j/d
Hey folks, Jeff here. I’m currently 36,837 feet above ground, soaring across the early Midwest en route to Orange County—John Wayne Airport—at about 450 miles per hour. Our layover is over three hours away in Denver. Let me give a brief plug for Frontier Airlines: the live sky map is kick ass. If you can forgive the intermittent ads that interrupt an otherwise steady charting of your course, channel 13 may just suit you fine. However, Frontier is a working example of the tight financial reality in which airlines operate. Not only must passengers foot the bill for unappetizing snacks, but in-flight movies and TV are no longer complimentary. It’s a sad day when stale peanuts and crappy movies no longer define the air travel experience.
We just left Philadelphia fifty minutes ago (45 minutes late due to some runway logjam). Although based in Washington, DC, Philly had the only flight to California compatible with our schedule. (Oh, the sacrifices made for 9 a.m. staff meetings.) I grew up in Pennsylvania, near Hershey, about 90 miles from center city Philly where I went to college. But I’ve never flown over the Commonwealth in this direction. A few observations from cloud level:
1). The Appalachians resemble anything but mountains; their long, deep grooves appear more like a wrinkled pair of chinos lying flat on an ironing board than the dominant range of the eastern seaboard. Interesting to see, but wholly unimpressive.
2). The center of PA near State College is emptiness at its most obvious. If there’s a place on Earth where Mother Nature decided to bubble wrap boring, green terrain, this is it. Its varying tones of auburn and olive swell and deflate as though you’re peering into a FedEx package.
3). This flying hallway just passed over Cleveland, which is practically submerged into Lake Erie. Lake Erie is big—as in there are city-sized islands protruding from its waters big. This fact is remarkable considering it’s one of the smaller Great Lakes.
OK…so the BioBlitz.
One question that has not been lost on me, or Ruben, is how do we justify flying 3,000 miles, and renting a car, just to help the environment? Well, a few ways.
First, it’s bit of a vacation; we can’t always abide by our environmental ethos in the name of fun. Secondly, we tried to rent a hybrid car, which was virtually impossible for our budgets. So, we’ll be purchasing carbon offsets for the mileage we accrue both by flight and car. TerraPass is a great organization that specializes in varying methods of carbon offsetting, and allows users to tailor to their own objectives (i.e. – traveling, commuting, lifestyle, etc.). It’s worth scoping out. Sure, offsets may be overrated, but they're the best option for now.
We understand that thoughtful individual efforts lead to positive collective effects on the environment. Yes, we’re culpable in leaving a size-737 carbon footprint on the planet below. We’re also guilty of wanting to travel this globe we so fervently strive to protect. Occasionally, sacrifices may be made. This is one of them; that simply means we’ll operate in ways to help right our voyaging wrongs. The first step: personal accountability.
We’ll be back later on with more details on our game plan once we get in to Cali. But, now it’s time to stop that damn “battery low” indicator from blinking.
Be well~
-j/d
Environmentally (Un)Concious Flying or, Wait, How Much Bad Stuff Is This Plane Currently Crapping Out Over Indiana?
From what's been pounded into my noggin, flying makes Mother Nature pissed. Booking our California flights last month, I entered our impending mileage into one of those calculators you can find on the interwebs that computes your carbon footprint. Not pretty. Knowing that I have logged well over hundreds of thousands of air miles since my first flight from the farm at 18, I've come to the conclusion that no matter how often I can avoid plastic water bottles, eat organic granola, or blow my nose into recycled sand paper based tissues, I pretty much negate any "good" that I do with my history of flying.
This brings to mind two things:
1) Ruling out a thousand mile bike ride to California, what can I do to make my travelling (specifically flying) more green?
2) What steps are the airlines taking to reduce their environmental impact...aside from, well, the uncanny ability of going bankrupt and shutting down?
As luck would have it, question two was partially answered at work today while I thumbed through the the current issue of the journal Nature. It features an infographic article entitled, "Flights of Green Fancy" by Katharine Sanderson. She evironmentally dissects a plane (not unlike the Airbus A318 I'm tightly but comfortably nestled into) and highlights new approaches to current and future airplane technology as it relates to construction materials, flight logistics, craft sizes, fuels, and engine and wing design.
Of note, Ms. Sanderson discusses a possible source of fuel that is cultivated by high-fat-content algae. Algae, of course, being an alternative to our current "box of Wheaties is now $8.59, oops, our bad" issue with biofuels normally eaten by humans. Unless I'm forgetting a human culture that is algae based. Anyone? Anyway, a rep with Airbus mentions in the article that "commercial flights will be powered by 25% biofuel by 2025." Which is a good amount of time for the Algae eating peoples of Patagonia to adapt.
Also mentioned is the future of new plane design. From what I gather, it will be a move away from a "tube with wing" composite construction to, well, just a ginormous wing. I remember seeing some schematics like these years ago for a civilian craft. Great for aerodynamics I'm sure. But let's see how my fear of flying goes when I'm just in a giant flying wing.
Finally, she illustrates how they'll replace metal in with lightweight composite materials incorporated into the structure of the plane. Less weight = less fuel consumption. Boeing is doing this with their new sexy lookin' Dreamliners with sexy lookin' windows and cabins.
Okay. So our future is giant wings made of sexy plastics that feed off algae. Hot. BUT, going back to my earlier two questions, until that time comes, what can I do to make flying more green? Well for now, I can do carbon offsets (do they really work?), patronize greener airlines (is there such a thing?), and, uh, not flying so damn much. Next up, greener airlines. Or is it green colored airlines?
-RD (Row 19, Window Seat A)
This brings to mind two things:
1) Ruling out a thousand mile bike ride to California, what can I do to make my travelling (specifically flying) more green?
2) What steps are the airlines taking to reduce their environmental impact...aside from, well, the uncanny ability of going bankrupt and shutting down?
As luck would have it, question two was partially answered at work today while I thumbed through the the current issue of the journal Nature. It features an infographic article entitled, "Flights of Green Fancy" by Katharine Sanderson. She evironmentally dissects a plane (not unlike the Airbus A318 I'm tightly but comfortably nestled into) and highlights new approaches to current and future airplane technology as it relates to construction materials, flight logistics, craft sizes, fuels, and engine and wing design.
Of note, Ms. Sanderson discusses a possible source of fuel that is cultivated by high-fat-content algae. Algae, of course, being an alternative to our current "box of Wheaties is now $8.59, oops, our bad" issue with biofuels normally eaten by humans. Unless I'm forgetting a human culture that is algae based. Anyone? Anyway, a rep with Airbus mentions in the article that "commercial flights will be powered by 25% biofuel by 2025." Which is a good amount of time for the Algae eating peoples of Patagonia to adapt.
Also mentioned is the future of new plane design. From what I gather, it will be a move away from a "tube with wing" composite construction to, well, just a ginormous wing. I remember seeing some schematics like these years ago for a civilian craft. Great for aerodynamics I'm sure. But let's see how my fear of flying goes when I'm just in a giant flying wing.
Finally, she illustrates how they'll replace metal in with lightweight composite materials incorporated into the structure of the plane. Less weight = less fuel consumption. Boeing is doing this with their new sexy lookin' Dreamliners with sexy lookin' windows and cabins.
Okay. So our future is giant wings made of sexy plastics that feed off algae. Hot. BUT, going back to my earlier two questions, until that time comes, what can I do to make flying more green? Well for now, I can do carbon offsets (do they really work?), patronize greener airlines (is there such a thing?), and, uh, not flying so damn much. Next up, greener airlines. Or is it green colored airlines?
-RD (Row 19, Window Seat A)
Friday, May 23, 2008
About the Project
About the Project
BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of scientists, volunteers, and community members join forces to find, identify, and learn about as many local plant and animal species as possible. National Geographic and the U.S. National Park Service are planning a series of ten annual BioBlitzes around the country. –From the official BioBlitz we site.
It all starts a week from today…officially, that is. Ruben and I will be hatching from our sleeping bags, fumbling with the zippers on our tents and pants, and priming the requisite stamina to endure the 1,440-minute species inventory. This year’s BioBlitz is being held in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in the Santa Monica Mountains, east of downtown Los Angeles. But we’ll begin later this weekend, packing our gear and creating our itinerary before we land in Orange County Wednesday night. (Here’s where we all thank Ruben for cashing in his airline mileage points; he only had to spend $30,000 on his AmEx to earn them.)
Although we are National Geographic Magazine/Society (NGM/NGS) employees, we’re embarking on this trip through our own devices: this site is in no way connected with or sponsored by NGM/NGS. The event is being sponsored by our employer, along with the National Park Service, in collaboration with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and California State Parks. The location of the 2008 Blitz—the last one was in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park—and our mutual affection for the state left us no alternative but to embark on a small freelance project.
So, this is the first in a series of reports—video, photo, and text—that comprise our project. Fortunately, we've been able to meet with officials from NGS running the event. We’re gaining access to the field studies, will attend the opening welcome dinner for scientists and field workers on Thursday evening, and will be guest-posting on the official blog.
There is strong potential for success with this project. Roughly 100 species-counting field assignments will occur from 10am Friday until noon on Saturday, ranging from plant studies and bird catching to marine life observations at the storied Malibu Pier. After it’s over, we’ll survey the work we’ve accumulated and determine if there are other outlets in which to tell the story. (I’m thinking about CurrentTV right now; BioBlitz is their kind of story.)
The BioBlitz organizers created the program to educate communities about their immediate environments and how to preserve and protect them in this age of superfluous human expansion. It’s a great way to cultivate concern in adults, kids, and local groups about their surroundings. In 2007, 661 total species were found in the DC park. Here’s the breakdown:
Complete Species Tally
Amphibians and Reptiles: 15
Aquatic Invertebrates: 16
Aquatic Plants: 36
Birds: 82
Fish: 23
Fungi: 73
Mammals: 15
Terrestrial Invertebrates: 28
Terrestrial Plants: 218
Terrestrial Insects: 154
Total: 661
Please stay tuned. We’ll be updating throughout the prep process and up to, during, and after the 2008 BioBlitz. Registration is still open for those interested. Check it out.
-j/d (jeff dinunzio)
BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of scientists, volunteers, and community members join forces to find, identify, and learn about as many local plant and animal species as possible. National Geographic and the U.S. National Park Service are planning a series of ten annual BioBlitzes around the country. –From the official BioBlitz we site.
It all starts a week from today…officially, that is. Ruben and I will be hatching from our sleeping bags, fumbling with the zippers on our tents and pants, and priming the requisite stamina to endure the 1,440-minute species inventory. This year’s BioBlitz is being held in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in the Santa Monica Mountains, east of downtown Los Angeles. But we’ll begin later this weekend, packing our gear and creating our itinerary before we land in Orange County Wednesday night. (Here’s where we all thank Ruben for cashing in his airline mileage points; he only had to spend $30,000 on his AmEx to earn them.)
Although we are National Geographic Magazine/Society (NGM/NGS) employees, we’re embarking on this trip through our own devices: this site is in no way connected with or sponsored by NGM/NGS. The event is being sponsored by our employer, along with the National Park Service, in collaboration with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and California State Parks. The location of the 2008 Blitz—the last one was in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park—and our mutual affection for the state left us no alternative but to embark on a small freelance project.
So, this is the first in a series of reports—video, photo, and text—that comprise our project. Fortunately, we've been able to meet with officials from NGS running the event. We’re gaining access to the field studies, will attend the opening welcome dinner for scientists and field workers on Thursday evening, and will be guest-posting on the official blog.
There is strong potential for success with this project. Roughly 100 species-counting field assignments will occur from 10am Friday until noon on Saturday, ranging from plant studies and bird catching to marine life observations at the storied Malibu Pier. After it’s over, we’ll survey the work we’ve accumulated and determine if there are other outlets in which to tell the story. (I’m thinking about CurrentTV right now; BioBlitz is their kind of story.)
The BioBlitz organizers created the program to educate communities about their immediate environments and how to preserve and protect them in this age of superfluous human expansion. It’s a great way to cultivate concern in adults, kids, and local groups about their surroundings. In 2007, 661 total species were found in the DC park. Here’s the breakdown:
Complete Species Tally
Amphibians and Reptiles: 15
Aquatic Invertebrates: 16
Aquatic Plants: 36
Birds: 82
Fish: 23
Fungi: 73
Mammals: 15
Terrestrial Invertebrates: 28
Terrestrial Plants: 218
Terrestrial Insects: 154
Total: 661
Please stay tuned. We’ll be updating throughout the prep process and up to, during, and after the 2008 BioBlitz. Registration is still open for those interested. Check it out.
-j/d (jeff dinunzio)
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