October 27, 1997

Scientists to discuss El Niño in November 4 public lectures

By Robert Irion

Rain-laden tempests driven by El Niño could batter the Central Coast this winter and wreak havoc on the environment, if you trust the headlines. The question is, should you? That's what four leading Monterey Bay Area scientists will try to address on Tuesday, November 4, during a set of public lectures titled "El Niño: Fact or Fiction?"

The talks will run from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz. Admission is $5 for members of the Friends of Long Marine Lab, sponsors of the event, and $6 for the general public. Proceeds will benefit public education programs at UCSC's Long Marine Lab.

Each of the four speakers will talk for 20 minutes, followed by a panel discussion and questions from the audience. The speakers, and synopses of their topics, are as follows:

• Francisco Chavez, associate scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: "El Niño and oceanic productivity." Chavez will discuss how El Niño changes the normal patterns of upwelling along the coasts of North and South America, and the resulting effects on food sources in the ocean.
• Gary Griggs, director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences: "The potential impacts of an El Niño winter on the Monterey Bay shoreline." Griggs, an expert on coastal erosion, will review the major oceanfront damage caused by the last major El Niño (1982-83). He also will preview what might occur in the coming months.
• James Harvey, professor of biology at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories: "The potential impacts of El Niño on marine mammals in the Monterey Bay Area." Harvey will talk about how an altered food chain might influence the marine sanctuary's abundant mammals.
• Giacomo Bernardi, assistant professor of biology at UCSC: "Effects of El Niño events on central California fish populations." Unusual fish appear along the coast during an El Niño. Bernardi will talk about these species, as well as possible consequences for the bay's usual denizens.

For information, call Lisa M. Rose, executive director of the Friends of Long Marine Lab, at (408) 459-3694. For tickets, visit Long Marine Lab or call (408) 459-4568 or (408) 459-2883.

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