We explored marine ecosystems by boat on this trip found just off the coast of San Francisco, in the Gulf of the Farallons National Marine Sanctuary. The Environmental Science Department at USF organized a joint boat trip for the CA Ecosystems upper division undergraduate course and the MSEM Wildlife & Humans course. Approximately 30 students from both these classes went on this boat trip today.
The focus of the expedition was to learn about marine ecosystems, wildlife found in these systems, and their interactions with Humans. Aboard the ‘Outer Limits’ catamaran, we journeyed from the San Francisco Bay out onto the vast Pacific Ocean, up the coast of Marin County, and then to the Farallon Islands approximately 28 mile outside the San Francisco Bay estuary.
Marine biologist and filmmaker, David McGuire (SeaStewards/Turtle Island Restoration Network), and naturalist Peter Winch (Gulf of the Farallons NMS) led this amazing boating adventure. We saw many bird and mammal species including Harbor Porpoise, CA Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Auklets, Storm Petrels, Laysan Albatros, and the Federally Threatened Marbled Murrelet.