MONTEREY BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY — The California coast is home to more than 120 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), 29 of which are within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). MPAs may sound sciencey, but can simply be explained as “underwater” State or National Parks that manage the resources of fragile, unique and ecologically significant coastal areas. The chances of a visitor stumbling across one in San Mateo, Santa Cruz or Monterey County are fairly high.
Still, the majority of people who visit these precious “underwater parks” are unaware of their significance. Longtime marine conservation nonprofit, Save Our Shores (SOS), continues to increase Marine Protected Area awareness through their Second Annual Waves & Wildlife Photo Contest.
2016 contest winner and Santa Cruz local, Irene Reti, reminds the Monterey Bay community that MPAs “are essential for protecting the biodiversity of the California coast… and the creatures that inhabit this amazing place on our planet.” Reti spent the majority of the 1980s as a UCSC student leading tours at the Año Nuevo State Reserve, a popular MPA destination on the ‘Slow Coast.’
“I fell in love with that wild peninsula and the mysterious island beyond,” recalls Reti, “the resilient elephant seals that in 1980 had only recently ‘come back’ to breed amid the willows and sand dunes, the gray whales we spotted offshore, the complicated Native and Euro-American history of the land.”
Today, Reit’s passion for Año Nuevo State Reserve is expressed through photography and as an oral historian at the UCSC Library’s Regional History Project. Her winning photo of an elephant seal pup and mother is a perfect example of what the Waves & Wildlife Photo Contest is all about.
“I still love to visit Año Nuevo. Now I bring my Canon camera,” Reti Explains. “Through that lens, I draw much closer to the seals than is otherwise possible. I try to enter their world as much as is possible. I was delighted to see this mother seal touch noses with her very young pup and feel incredibly lucky to have photographed this intimate moment between two wild creatures.”
In the spirit of coastal love, the Waves & Wildlife Photo Contest will excite outdoor enthusiasts and artists who enjoy exploring and interacting with the Monterey Bay in fun and responsible ways. Whether it’s bird watching at Elkhorn Slough, surfing with whales outside of Natural Bridges, diving through kelp forests at Point Lobos or dodging giant elephant seals as they compete for territory at Año Nuevo, there are so many MPAs to capture the experience with a camera.
Save Our Shores wants to inspire people to learn more about Marine Protected Areas and their ecological significance by sharing user-submitted photos showcasing MPA beauty and biodiversity. Last year, SOS pulled from more than 300 submissions to the photo contest, using #MPAmondays on social media and launching a month long “best-of” exhibit in partnership with the Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz.
Contestants are encouraged to submit their best pictures for a chance to win whale watching tours, prizes from Patagonia, and the chance to become a Save Our Shores featured photographer for 2017-2018 as Irene Reti has become for her incredible submissions in 2016.
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For more info and photo submission guidelines, visit saveourshores.org/contest