(Thanks to Shayna Foreman of the City of Newport Beach for the following report.)
On July 2nd, the City of Newport Beach hosted shark biologist, Dr. Chris Lowe, as part of the Orange County Natural History Lecture Series. Dr. Lowe is a popular and award-winning Professor of Marine Biology at CSU Long Beach, where he runs the CSULB Shark Lab. He and his students use acoustic and satellite telemetry techniques to study the movement, behavior, and physiology of sharks, rays, and gamefishes. Although July is typically one of our lowest-attended months, Dr. Lowe drew a crowd of over 50 listeners (attracting them like sharks to chum, one could say!). He fascinated visitors with a history of commercial fishing techniques and regulations and, with a refreshingly optimistic spin, presented the positive impacts of improved management practices and environmental standards on the populations of apex marine predators. He showed some fantastic photos of baby white sharks off the coast of southern California! While it is heartening to hear that we are seeing some improvements in ecosystem function here in California, we still have a long way to go, both at home and across the globe.
The Orange County Natural History Lecture Series takes place at the Back Bay Science Center, from 7 to 9 pm, on the first Wednesday of each month except December. August features Dr. Karen McLaughlin, of SCCWRP, speaking on ocean acidification. Reserve space at this FREE event by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.