Last week, I got to take my class out on the Monterey Bay. Thanks to the amazing O’Neill Sea Odyssey! I’d been reading about some spectacular sightings on recent pelagic trips. I figured that being out with 30+ 4th graders and their parents would minimize my luck in seeing rare pelagic birds. I was right. Nary a Tufted Puffin in sight.
However, right off the Santa Cruz Wharf and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, there was a school of fish –probably some sardines — drew in many species . . . gulls, cormorants, pelicans, sea lions, and a harbor seal or two. Wow, it was so cool.
Still would have liked seeing a Tufted Puffin, too! But, it was probably worth missing them to see the faces of the kids when they got to be on a boat . . . some of them for the first time!
By the way . . . O’Neill Sea Odyssey puts this amazing experience together . . . science, navigation, ecology for local kids for FREE! You can support this amazing program by checking out the events here!
mother. wife. friend. teacher. writer. reader. photographer. birder. quilter. blogger.
Liza Lee Miller 
Leave a Reply