Explore the Bay: Marine Life Inventory

The Explore the Bay: Marine Life Inventory program starts with an introductory lesson about Upper Newport Bay.  Participants then go into the field to deploy scientific sampling equipment and capture data.  Sampling equipment includes a trawl net to collect bottom-dwelling organisms, a beach seine to gather nearshore organisms, mud sampling devices to capture invertebrates, and water quality testing tools to measure the health of the bay.  The program concludes with an analysis of the data and the importance of community science in a biologically diverse area.  As this is a hands-on program, participants should be prepared to get wet and muddy, handle live organisms, and transcribe data.