On Tuesday, March 29, WILDCOAST took out a group of 25 students from Hoover High School’s mentoring program Cardinals Interact Club to learn more about San Diego’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Students got a chance to tour the special facilities of Scripps Institution of Oceanography that included the Scripps Pier and the Scripps research aquarium and lab. During the tour, students learned about the wonderful work our partners at The Semmens Lab at Scripps are doing to asses the health and effectiveness of La Jolla’s MPAs and the marine species that live in them.
Students got a chance to visit the Scripps research lab where they learned about different marine species that inhabit our oceans such as leopard sharks, sea cucumbers, sea stars and spiny lobsters.
Students ended the day with an MPA Watch training at the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve. The MPA Watch program is a citizen science monitoring program that trains volunteers to observe and collect data about coastal and marine resource use inside and outside marine protected areas (MPAs).
Special thanks to The Semmens Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography for providing us with the opportunity to visit their facilities and learn more about our marine ecosystems!
The WILDCOAST Blog 
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