Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents: Marine Mammals of the North Coast with Sarah Allen Thursday, March 28, 2013, 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5

Sarah Allen has devoted her life to studying marine birds and mammals, many of which Mendonoma residents view every day. In her talk at Gualala Arts Center on Thursday, March 28, she will discuss local marine mammals and how in a changing environment it is benefiting from federally-protected sanctuaries off the Northern California coast.

A graduate of UC Berkeley in Wildlife Resource Science, Allen has spent her life studying both land and sea wildlife from California to Antarctica. Her special passion is pinnipeds, many of which breed along our shores. Currently, she is working for a federal environmental agency to benefit ocean conservation. Her mission is to explore, restore and preserve native ecosystems of the Pacific.

Many locals who frequently drive the coast highway are unaware that the waters they gaze on in the Gulf of the Farallones, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island, have been designated a national marine sanctuary since 1981.

Combined with the Cordell Banks sanctuary established in 1989, this body of water is home to at least twenty-five endangered species and thirty-six marine mammal species. Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate NRA are national parks that share jurisdiction with the sanctuaries and provide another layer of marine protection.

Allen will discuss the sanctuaries and the national parks and their inhabitants, particularly marine mammals. She also will explain the role protected areas play in preserving an important habitat that is facing rapid environmental changes from both naturally occurring and humanly induced influences.

The co-author of a recently published book, Field Guide to Marine Mammals, Allen will have ample visual aids and will allow time for questions from the audience. This presentation promises to be informative for local residents. It begins at 7:00 p.m. A $5 admission will be collected at the door.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.