Interested in meeting volunteers and participating in cutting-edge science? We are excited to reintroduce a fun and social Heal the Bay event that will reoccur monthly in the Malibu MPA transects! Heal the Bay is partnering with UCLA again to collect sea water samples in Malibu for an eDNA scientific testing program with PhD candidate, Moriah Byrd. All marine life leaves traces of DNA in their environment. eDNA water testing analyzes the quantification of biodiversity in a standardized way within a marine ecosystem, making it an incredible tool to monitor Marine Protected Areas.

Join us for our first official event will be Saturday, Saturday, January 27, 2024. Times TBD depending on tidal events.

REGISTER

PLEASE NOTE: 

**Must Register to participate. Walk-on attendance is not permitted and shifts are limited.

**You must sign our Heal the Bay eDNA Waiver before attending our event. Volunteers under 17 must have their parent(s) (or guardian(s), if any) sign the waiver. Get the link to the Waiver here.

**A previous Heal the Bay Volunteer Orientation MUST be attended and completed before you can attend the eDNA event. The orientation occurs bimonthly. Please RSVP using the link here. Connect with volunteer@healthebay.org for questions about our bi-monthly Volunteer Orientations.

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You will choose from 4 collection sites within our Malibu MPAs and participate in collecting sea water samples for scientific testing. We will be meeting at Westward Beach in Malibu, more exact details regarding meetup location will be emailed to participants. There we will give a very brief overview of what we will be collecting and provide each group an eDNA pack/ water collection kit. We will train our volunteers to sample at this location and then break out into 4 groups and carpool to our collection sites. The collection sites are all within 10 minutes of Westward Beach. We will have a leader from each group that will be the driver. Please prepare to get your feet wet, either water shoes or old sneakers are recommended.

1. Collection Site 1- Point Dume SMR2A (red point on map below)
2. Collection Site 2- Broad Beach SMCA2 (blue point on map below)
3. Collection Site 3- Latigo Point OE2 (yellow point on map below)
4. Collection Site 4- La Piedra OW2 (green point on map below)

SIGN UP FOR YOUR SHIFT and help protect some of California’s most diverse costal spaces from #Summit2Sea this #PlasticFreeJuly.