One of our first outings was to Morro Bay Estuary where students examined plankton samples collected in bottles. Students also examined invertebrates and crustaceans who make the undersides of the boat docks their homes. Sponges, tunicates, bryozoans, anemones, barnacles, mussels and kelp crabs are plentiful. Nudibranchs and other sea slugs are occasionally spotted as well. Although the life under the piers and docks goes largely unnoticed, invertebrate populations a far more varied and numerous than other marine organisms.
