On Saturday, May 18th at 7 pm, the Friends of San Pedro Valley Park are pleased to welcome Colleen Young, an environmental scientist and sea otter biologist from the CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.  She will talk to us about southern sea otters in California.  Her presentation will include an overview of sea otter natural history and their unique biology and physiology.  Colleen will discuss the status of the sea otter population, including the historic and current population size and range, and causes of mortality.  A summary of sea otter sightings and strandings in Pacifica will be provided.  Her talk will end with a review of current conservation challenges and potential solutions.

About the Speaker:  Colleen Young is an environmental scientist and sea otter biologist at the CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response in Santa Cruz.  She has been studying sea otters since 2010 and works on projects including population monitoring, recovery and examination of stranded sea otters, and capture, tagging, and tracking of wild sea otters.  These studies are done collaboratively with partners, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Marine Mammal Center, the US Geological Survey, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, UC Davis, and UC Santa Cruz.  When not conducting sea otter research and monitoring, Colleen leads and participates in drills and trainings to prepare for an oil spill involving sea otters (which we hope never happens!).

To participate in this Webinar, please register in advance using the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VrvqqS6HS5Cmk8NN8DRMhg

Just enter your name and email address to register.  You will then get a confirmation email with further instructions, as well as reminder emails at one week, one day and one hour to prior the Webinar.