Citizen Science: Solstice Sea Star Search

Take part in a citizen science opportunity to search for sea stars! The California Academy of Sciences and the Nature Conservancy are requesting your help finding and reporting sea stars along the California coast during December 20-23. Join our environmental librarian as we search for sea stars in the tide pools and upload our observations into iNaturalist to share our data with researchers. Library staff can assist you with setting up and using iNaturalist throughout the event.

Where? We will be at the tidepools in the rocks behind/in front of the Hotel del Coronado.

What were looking for? Sea stars, also known as starfish or bat stars. Any sea star observations are important for researchers, but they are particularly looking for observations of Sunflower Stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides). If you find any of these species, please additionally email your iNaturalist sighting to [email protected].

Why the solstice? The best time to observe tide pools is during low tide. The winter and summer solstices typically coincide with some of the lowest tides in the year, which can make them a great time for tide pooling!

How do we report observations? We will be using iNaturalist, a free citizen science app used to connect people to nature and advance biodiversity science and conservation. Library staff can assist you with setting up and using iNaturalist throughout the event. Please bring your smart device.

Teen volunteers can get community service credit for participating in this event. Contact [email protected] for verification.