Gray whale count

PAID INTERN OPPORTUNITY

Gray Whales Count is a research and education project of UCSB's Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve + The American Cetacean Society-Channel Islands + Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA + Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD

We are seeking interns to train to be Supervisors, assisting the project coordinator operate the shore-based survey from Coal Oil Point: February 2 through May 17, 2009.

Support for this opportunity has been provided by UCSB's Coastal Fund.

Please attend an information meeting on campus in the Marine Science Research Building Auditorium on Thursday, January 8, 2009 7 to 9 PM

If you have a keen interest in marine mammals and a passion for our environment, this is for you! All will be trained by Michael Smith, project coordinator, and current GWC Supervisors.

Interns are required to work a four-hour shift each of the fifteen weeks of the survey. They will be key members of the observation team locating and identifying marine mammals and recording data. We also record data on vessels, which may interact with the animals; and this year we will be coordinating our visual data with Scripps's acoustic data.

— 60 hours with a stipend of $500 —

Priority will be given to availability through the conclusion of Gray Whales Count: May 17, 2009. Hours are flexible, but must be scheduled.

This is the fifth year of this valuable research. The intent is to establish baseline data on the migration through the nearshore of the Santa Barbara Channel. The project has become urgent because there renewed concern about the effect of global climate change on the population a a whole and locally there is concern about the potential impact of expanded oil-drilling operations proposed just off Coal Oil Point. (See webpage graywhalescount.org for Project Description)

For additional information about the project and information about volunteering to be an Observer, please visit the webpage: graywhalescount.org Volunteer Observers sign up for 2-hour shifts. We encourage volunteer Observers to work a shift a week, but there is no commitment. It is an easy way to participate.

Please contact Michael Smith: grays-n-blues@cox.net