Former Sea Slugs Executive Director, Hayley Nuetzel, was awarded the Friends of the Long Marine Lab grant in 2015/2016 to transform the existing public tours of the Younger Lagoon Reserve into an interactive, science-driven experience. This project has forged a connection between the Sea Slugs, the Younger Lagoon Reserve and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center (SMDC), and has contributed to goals shared amongst all three entities: 1) to build a stronger relationship between the UCSC campus and greater Santa Cruz community, and 2) to develop a greater understanding and thereby a greater appreciation for this unique wetland system. 

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During the tour, participants will be given the opportunity to utilize basic scientific tools to assess abiotic conditions within the Lagoon, such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, and nutrient levels. This information will be recorded and used to understand both short and long-term dynamics within the Lagoon and the surrounding coastal ecosystem. This tour was piloted in June 2016 with a group from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County with great success, and we plan to train SMDC docents and new Sea Slug members to lead the new tour by early Spring 2017!

 

Hayley and two amazing Sea Slug alumni, Yvonne Larkin and Sam Blakesley, have written curriculum for each scientific test (dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, turbidity, nutrients, and soil testing), including background information, what the given metric can tell us about the system and information particularly applicable to the Younger Lagoon.