Those of us who walk the coastline of Monterey enjoy seeing all of the wonderful marine mammals along the way. However, it is important to know what to do you did see an animal in pain or acting strangely along the coast. Thanks to the Marine Mammal Rescue, here are the 7 steps to help an injured or sick marine mamal. 1. Don't Touch and do not pick up, pour water on or feed the animal! - They are wild animals and can bite. They also are easily stressed by humans. 2. Do not return the animal to the water - Seals and sea lions temporarily "haul-out" on land to rest. Harbor seal mothers often leave their pups ashore while they're feeding at sea. A beached whale, dolphin, or porpoise should be reported immediately. 3. Observe - Observe from a distance of at least 50 ft. Keep people/dogs away. 4. Describe - Note physical characteristics such as size, presence of external earflaps, and fur color. This helps determine the species, what rescue equipment and volunteers are needed. 5. Condition - Note the animal's condition. Is it weak and underweight? Are there any open wounds. 6. Identification -Does the animal have any obvious identification tags or markings? 7. Location - Determine the exact location of the animal so you can provide directions. Call The Marine Mammal Center with as much information as you have! Response Hotlines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (831) 633-6298
Sea Otter
Those of us who walk the coastline of Monterey enjoy seeing all of the wonderful marine mammals along the way. However, it is important to know what to do you did see an animal in pain or acting strangely along the coast.
Thanks to the Marine Mammal Rescue, here are the 7 steps to help an injured or sick marine mamal.
1. Don’t Touch and do not pick up, pour water on or feed the animal! – They are wild animals and can bite. They also are easily stressed by humans.2. Do not return the animal to the water – Seals and sea lions temporarily “haul-out” on land to rest. Harbor seal mothers often leave their pups ashore while they’re feeding at sea. A beached whale, dolphin, or porpoise should be reported immediately.3. Observe – Observe from a distance of at least 50 ft. Keep people/dogs away. 4. Describe – Note physical characteristics such as size, presence of external earflaps, and fur color. This helps determine the species, what rescue equipment and volunteers are needed.5. Condition – Note the animal’s condition. Is it weak and underweight? Are there any open wounds. 6. Identification –Does the animal have any obvious identification tags or markings? 7. Location – Determine the exact location of the animal so you can provide directions.Call The Marine Mammal Center with as much information as you have! Response Hotlines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (831) 633-6298
Be one of the first to Walk the Bay. Challenge yourself in an entirely new way. You CAN walk all the way tfrom Santa Cruz to Monterey. Particularly when Slow Adventure is offering this amazing discount. Check it out! WTB June Brochure
Be one of the first to Walk the Bay. Challenge yourself in an entirely new way. You CAN walk all the way tfrom Santa Cruz to Monterey. Particularly when Slow Adventure is offering this amazing discount. Check it out! WTB June Brochure
OUR FIRST WALK THE BAY TRIP - May 3-7, 2010 What can one say about our first trip? It was fabulous...! Great walkers, super weather, wonderful accommodations, amazing beauty, and unexpected discoveries along the Monterey Bay. The group checked into the Dream Inn on Monday night and loved their oceanfront rooms with all the resort amenities you can imagine. Our orientation took place in the very swank Aquarius restaurant bar. A review of the trip over beverages was a real treat as the walkers introduced themselves and began to get acquainted. They each chose to find unique local dining spots on the wharf and had an early lights out. Tuesday’s walk started with an inspiring visit to Save Our Shores where they became better educated about the hazards facing the Monterey Bay and learned what each of them could do along the walk. The first ten miles along the Bay included whale sightings, shell collecting, people watching, and ended with a beach bonfire at our luxury lodging, the Seascape Beach Resort. Wednesday’s walk of 12 miles was the longest of the trip but our intrepid walkers seemed unfazed as they spotted seals, sea lions, sea otters, pelicans, and comorants. They learned about the endangered Snowy Plover and spotted several zipping along the sand in their protected areas. Arriving in Moss Landing the walkers fell in love with the charming harbor town and the great variety of restaurants and shops. Staying at the Captain’s Inn on the harbor channel proved to be a delightful way to rest after a long day on the beach. The walk on Thursday was only 7.5 miles but proved to be most daunting for our walkers. They hiked the Salinas River Beach and toured the National Wildlife Refuge where nesting avocets, caspian terns, and many other
OUR FIRST WALK THE BAY TRIP – May 3-7, 2010
What can one say about our first trip? It was fabulous…! Great walkers, super weather, wonderful accommodations, amazing beauty, and unexpected discoveries along the Monterey Bay.
The group checked into the Dream Inn on Monday night and loved their oceanfront rooms with all the resort amenities you can imagine. Our orientation took place in the very swank Aquarius restaurant bar. A review of the trip over beverages was a real treat as the walkers introduced themselves and began to get acquainted. They each chose to find unique local dining spots on the wharf and had an early lights out.
Tuesday’s walk started with an inspiring visit to Save Our Shores where they became better educated about the hazards facing the Monterey Bay and learned what each of them could do along the walk. The first ten miles along the Bay included whale sightings, shell collecting, people watching, and ended with a beach bonfire at our luxury lodging, the Seascape Beach Resort.
Wednesday’s walk of 12 miles was the longest of the trip but our intrepid walkers seemed unfazed as they spotted seals, sea lions, sea otters, pelicans, and comorants. They learned about the endangered Snowy Plover and spotted several zipping along the sand in their protected areas. Arriving in Moss Landing the walkers fell in love with the charming harbor town and the great variety of restaurants and shops. Staying at the Captain’s Inn on the harbor channel proved to be a delightful way to rest after a long day on the beach.
The walk on Thursday was only 7.5 miles but proved to be most daunting for our walkers. They hiked the Salinas River Beach and toured the National Wildlife Refuge where nesting avocets, caspian terns, and many other amazing birds and ducks were sighted. The walkers collected vast amounts of marine debris and plastic from the beach where the currents of the Monterey Bay deposit the most amazing things on these deserted beaches. The Save Our Shores litter bags filled and refilled throughout the day as our walkers did their duty and made a small but important impact on the plastic pollution problem facing our oceans. They deserved the pampering they received at the Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina.
Our final 10.5 miles included the dunes from Marina to Monterey and gave our walkers a close up look at the newest State Park in California, the Fort Ord Dunes State Park. Boat buoys, fishing net floats, and beach glass were the treasures of the day. Boat and fishing debris from Norway, Korea, Japan and China were all discovered on this endless beach. Our walkers enjoyed the mix of walking trails, soft sand, and finally the busy waterfront paths that led them to their finish at Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey.
It’s hard to believe this wonderful adventure is over. I will never forget it!
WALK THE BAY, by Julia Cheung New eco-tourism effort has visitors walking from Santa Cruz to Monterey “The more you travel, the more you come home and you realize that we live in this amazing place,” says Santa Cruz resident Margaret Leonard. Leonard has hiked all around the world—places like the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal, the Inca trail in Peru, and The Pyrenees in Spain, just to name a few. However, she says, “I sometimes came home, and realized, I knew more about some obscure trail in Switzerland than I knew about my own backyard.” Leonard has spent many years discovering the trails and beaches of this area that are too often missed by the busy and distant eye. After retiring from her job as an attorney, she ventured into eco-tourism by founding her own company, Slow Adventures. This May she will launch Slow Adventure’s “Walk the Bay,” a culmination of all the things she loves: Santa Cruz, the outdoors, walking and hiking, and people (“Even after 20 years as an attorney, I still enjoy being around people and meeting new people,” she jokes.) As the name implies, “Walk the Bay” is not the formulaic vacation in which participants are herded in a tour bus from one congested photo-op destination to another. Instead, “Walk the Bay” is a five-day, four-night walking adventure down the coast of the Monterey Bay. Supplied with Leonard’s own detailed maps and notes as your guide and a gourmet sack lunch, “you propel yourself” down the coast, discovering the hidden attractions Leonard once re-discovered herself. Starting in Santa Cruz, there will be plenty of opportunities to surf, kayak, and rediscover the famous beaches that dubbed us Surf City. Upon leaving Aptos and the populated beaches, it gets a lot quieter. Between here and Monterey Bay, says
WALK THE BAY, by Julia Cheung
New eco-tourism effort has visitors walking from Santa Cruz to Monterey
“The more you travel, the more you come home and you realize that we live in this amazing place,” says Santa Cruz resident Margaret Leonard. Leonard has hiked all around the world—places like the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal, the Inca trail in Peru, and The Pyrenees in Spain, just to name a few. However, she says, “I sometimes came home, and realized, I knew more about some obscure trail in Switzerland than I knew about my own backyard.”
Leonard has spent many years discovering the trails and beaches of this area that are too often missed by the busy and distant eye. After retiring from her job as an attorney, she ventured into eco-tourism by founding her own company, Slow Adventures. This May she will launch Slow Adventure’s “Walk the Bay,” a culmination of all the things she loves: Santa Cruz, the outdoors, walking and hiking, and people (“Even after 20 years as an attorney, I still enjoy being around people and meeting new people,” she jokes.)
As the name implies, “Walk the Bay” is not the formulaic vacation in which participants are herded in a tour bus from one congested photo-op destination to another. Instead, “Walk the Bay” is a five-day, four-night walking adventure down the coast of the Monterey Bay. Supplied with Leonard’s own detailed maps and notes as your guide and a gourmet sack lunch, “you propel yourself” down the coast, discovering the hidden attractions Leonard once re-discovered herself.
Starting in Santa Cruz, there will be plenty of opportunities to surf, kayak, and rediscover the famous beaches that dubbed us Surf City. Upon leaving Aptos and the populated beaches, it gets a lot quieter. Between here and Monterey Bay, says Leonard, is “30 miles of absolutely beautiful and very desolate beaches.” And depending on your interests, you can customize your walks accordingly. Start and end each day with yoga on the beach, or maybe follow a local bird guide and encounter some of the 200 species of bird that flock to the Monterey Bay. Perhaps you might decide to whale watch, or discover historical Native American and Californian sites. Or surf, or swim, or go horseback riding. And at the end of each day’s adventure, you can look forward to some well-deserved indulgences: a beachfront hotel, a delicious dinner, and perhaps a bottle of wine.
Another almost empty beach
For many, the Monterey Bay exists as a stretch of coast, visible in the distant horizon on a clear day. But really, do we know what is there? Leonard sums it up, “There is nothing. There’s just you, the sand, and the ocean. And there’s tremendous beauty.”
