Join the California Academy of Sciences as we try to find and document all the species we can in the tidepools at Pillar Point as part of Snapshot Cal Coast!

All you need is the iNaturalist app on your phone and an account made, some rubber boots (or other shoes with good tread that can get wet!) and your curiosity. We’ll spend a couple hours exploring the tidepools for starfish, crabs, nudibranchs, seaweed, urchins… everything! Search carefully and you’re bound to find hundreds of species!

We recommend familiarizing yourself with iNaturalist before you come. If you haven’t used it before, download the free iNaturalist app to your phone and create an account. Make a few observations around your yard or neighborhood to get a feel for the app. Here’s a short video on how to make observations on iNaturalist.

Here’s how the bioblitz will work:

• Low tide that day is -1.7 feet at around 7am.
• We’ll plan to meet in the Pillar Point parking lot at 6am, so plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to park, change into tidepooling footwear, and use the restrooms.
• Here’s a Google map of the main parking area, but note the West Point parking lot to the north if the main parking area is full. Pillar Point is VERY popular on weekends, so arriving early and/or carpooling will hopefully help you secure a parking spot.
• We’ll circle up just past 6am to do a quick introduction and then walk out to the reef together. If you arrive late, follow the path at the end of the main parking lot all the way to the end to get to the reef.
• When we get to the reef, we’ll spread out and start bioblitzing. The idea is to cover as much of the reef as possible, making iNaturalist observations.
• Wear a mask, and keep your mask on if you’re within 6 ft of others.
• Take photos / make iNaturalist observations of every species you can find! Once you upload them to iNaturalist, they’ll automatically be added to our Pillar Point Tidepool Bioblitz project and the Snapshot Cal Coast 2021 project!
• We’ll plan to stay out on the reef for 2-3 hours, but you’re welcome to leave whenever you need to!

The tidepools are very slippery and require walking over uneven terrain. Be prepared to walk in water up to mid-shin, and be sure to wear shoes with good tread that you don’t mind getting wet (not flip-flops!). This event is recommended for children 6 and older, and people with good mobility.