Mike Milanesi and I joined the Dawn Patrol, as part of our volunteer positions with the Morro Bay National Estuary Program, whose mission is to protect and restore the Morro Bay estuary. Please check them out; volunteer, contribute, support.
The dawn patrol (we are one of two teams) takes monthly measurements of bay water at various locations in the bay. Measurements are done within two hours of sunrise (hence the name). We paddled to four locations described by existing physical features (a dock or buoy) and by GPS coordinates. At each location, we zeroed in using an overlay map and a GPS phone app (Avenza). Using a provided probe, measurements were recorded for dissolved oxygen, salinity and temperature.
The weather was very kind to us on our first outing. Paddling was easy with clear skies, no wind and warm air. We expect that in the future those conditions will change; we look forward to it!
