October 13, 2026
Today, I took my undergraduate biology majors from “Organismal Biology, Ecology, and Evolution” class (BIOL 111A) out to the Bolinas Field Station, and it was FANTASTIC!
The primary focus of our visit was to get to know several phyla of invertebrates: Cnidarians (including sea anemones), Molluscs (including snails, nudibranchs and squids), Arthropods (most of ours are Crustaceans, including various species of crabs), and Echinoderms (including sea urchins and our wonderful sea cucumber).
Everyone enjoyed exploring the living specimen sea tables, practicing their drawing skills, and dissecting squids (don’t worry – the squids came from the market, not from our aquaria) 
. They also created their own dichotomous keys for the animals they saw in the tanks. (This part maybe wasn’t the most fun, but it’s helping build a useful skill for a biologist). One of my students also spotted a Columbian Black-tailed Deer on the hillside above the field station. YAY!
Later in the day, a couple visiting the area from Canada stopped in, and I went out on the pier with them for a while to view some great birds that were pretty close to our little pier, including Marbled Godwits and Long-billed Curlews. Most of the usual suspects were there, as well, including Western Gulls, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, and a Pacific Harbor Seal.
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