Welcome to Moss Landing

A warm welcome to summer tourists, from the Moss Landing chamber of cormorants.

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Cute baby pictures #1

Who can resist baby northern diamondback turtles? These are about 1 day old. Modeled by MBARI intern/Berkeley grad student Stephanie Bush (rocking the sock-flipflops combo).

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Chasing Whale Bones on the VENTANA

My first trip out on an MBARI boat, the R/V Point Lobos, happened last week. We left Moss Landing at 7 a.m. amid pigeon guillemots and sea otters. Barely 3 miles off shore we were bobbing in calm seas 300 m above a humpback whale skeleton that Bob Vrijenhoek, Shannon Johnson, and other MBARI scientists [...]

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Funny sign alert #1

From Ferrell’s Donuts on Mission Ave., Santa Cruz. They’re open late, much to their dismay.

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Look out, Ivorybill: return of the Bollywood Bobwhite

Two years ago, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker swooped out of the mists of extinction. It landed briefly on the trunk of a bald cypress in Arkansas and then, with a few beats of its white-trailing-edge wings, bounded back into oblivion.
It looks like another bird half a world away is trying the same trick. The Manipur Bush-Quail, [...]

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Hunting red tide in Mass Bay

After last year's record red tide in New England, the research ships were out early this spring. I got to go along on a sampling trip in early April. We took Woods Hole's R/V Tioga and spent the day in Massachusetts Bay hauling water on board and sampling it for tiny Alexandrium cells.
Red tides (more [...]

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Pelicans are the world’s greatest surfers

Pelicans are the world's greatest surfers. I know plenty of votes go to dolphins and seals, but pelicans style their cushion of air into something more majestic than a wet mammal – even a very graceful one – can muster.
Reasons why pelicans are better surfers than people:
1. No matter how casual your stance, you can't [...]

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