ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE GULF OF THE FARALLONES
Date/Time: Saturday, 9/23/17, 7-8:30 p.m.
Presenter: Peter Pyle
Held at the Watsonville Civic Center City Council Chamber – 4th Floor
Description: The Gulf of the Farallones lies within an "Eastern Boundary Current System," one of five such current systems around the world, where cold ocean currents and other environmental factors lead to high ocean productivity; an estimated 85-95% of the world's seafood originates from these five systems. Peter's talk will cover the ecology and conservation of the Gulf's marine vertebrates, from birds to pinnipeds, to whales to sharks. We will not only learn about some of the Gulf's keystone species, but will look in on the excellent research that has been undertaken in the Gulf and the conservation and management actions that have resulted.
Held at the Watsonville Civic Plaza.
Peter Pyle has worked as an ornithologist and marine biologist throughout the Pacific. During the 1980-2000's much of his research was conducted on birds and white sharks at the Farallon Islands, California. and he is now an identification specialist and consultant for the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary's Beach Watch program. He is a Research Associate both at the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, and the B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu. To date he has authored over 170 papers in scientific journals and two books, and has described a new species of shearwater (Puffinus bryani) and named it after his grandfather, Edwin Bryan. Peter currently works as a staff biologist for the Institute for Bird Populations in Point Reyes Station.