[CINC] Bio Blitz

[Kenneth A. Tatro]

Great Story Kevin,

Felt we were there.

Had similar experience with Dino at the Aquarium of the Pacific, folks  
wanting to know where the islands were, if they could go out there,  
Island fox, eagles, pigs etc., similar questions about the whale  
wqtches.

Sounds like you had a fun time of it. Good deal!!

Ken Tatro

Out reach is a great way to share with folk VERY unfamiliar with the  
Channel and the islands, your


On Jun 1, 2008, at 8:25 AM, Kevin Bailey wrote:

> Just the facts:
>
> What:    Bio Blitz
> Where: Agoura Hills, Paramount Ranch,
>             Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area (SMMNRA)
> When:  Saturday May 31, 2008
> Who:    From CINC: Kevin Bailey, Dino Dal Bon, Natalie Swan
>             From NPS: John Curwen
> Why:    To educate the public about the incredible amount and type  
> of bio diversity in our local area
>
> Just the story:
>
> I picked up Dino at 7:30 this morning and we headed down the road to  
> unchartered territory. Neither of us had previously been to the  
> SMMNRA so we were excited about what we might see. As it turns out  
> the entire area is huge; we participated in the Bio Blitz at  
> Paramount Ranch which is a movie studio lot. The TV series Dr.  
> Quinn, The Medicine Woman was one of countless films, movies and  
> television shows that have used this property. As we got there, we  
> immediately ran into John Curwen of the NPS, his daughter Anja and  
> Natalie Swan and we got to work setting up our booth before official  
> opening. We saw 3 others CINCers there too participating in other  
> events including hiking, lecturing and the species counting.
>
> Once the gates were opened, the flood of people was non stop all  
> day. There were school buses that came all day long. Zillions of  
> kids swarmed around the park looking at each of the booths. They  
> were encouraged to visit each booth to get their Bio Blitz Passport  
> stamped at each booth. Once they got the book filled with stamps,  
> they could get a patch. I played the Match Game almost all day with  
> hundreds of children, often 6-8 at a time. I still hear the boards  
> clanging in my ears. By noon I had all the hidden squares memorized  
> and some kids seem to come back hours later to play the game again  
> so we moved all the pictures around so they are in different spots.  
> The Bald Eagle is no longer in the top right box; the Pelican is no  
> longer in the bottom left box, the island fox is no longer in the  
> middle of the last row. Now I have to memorize all the new  
> locations! I will probably dream of playing this game tonight! It's  
> always fun to see the excited kids and how smart some of these  
> really young kids are. These types of events are so great for the  
> young minds, teaching them about their local ecosystems. Not really  
> knowing what to expect on a Saturday, I figured the crowd would be  
> mostly families with kids but although there were lots of families  
> at the event, by far the crowd was mostly a constant stream of bus  
> loads of kids. Besides the megapods of children, we also noticed “a  
> sea of tan”; every NPS person within a 2 day drive must have been  
> there. It was like an NPS convention.
>
> Most of the adults asked the usual questions: Where are the islands?  
> How do we get there? Can we hike, camp, kayak etc.? A few folks were  
> very inquisitive and asked detailed questions on the eagles, foxes,  
> pigs, sonar and whales / whaling. One person in particular I talked  
> with was a scientist visiting from South Carolinawho asked a lot of  
> biased questions. She kept me on the alert to only state the facts  
> and be objective. There were dozens of exhibitors, many with live  
> critters from both local and afar. We were next the Cabrillo  
> Aquarium from San Pedro and across from Sea World and the LA Natural  
> History Museum. It was definitely a great place to spend the day  
> wondering around. The sun was out, the weather was great, and the  
> organizers of the event feed all volunteers a great lunch including  
> the always yummy Costco Carrot Cake!
>
> A big part of the Bio Blitz event was a 24 hour species count to  
> count as many local species as possible in this local recreation  
> area. An announcement was made at 5pm that a total of 1664 different  
> species were counted from noon Friday to noon Saturday and the  
> scientists were very busy recording everything into the computers.
>
> Today in the mountains, tomorrow at sea…
>
> Kevin Bailey
>
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