October 16, 1997 Contact: Robert Irion (408) 459-2495

SCIENTISTS TO DISCUSS EL NINO IN NOVEMBER 4 PUBLIC LECTURES, SPONSORED BY FRIENDS OF LONG MARINE LAB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Rain-laden tempests driven by El Nino 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 Nino: 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 Long Marine Lab, a coastal marine research station operated by UC Santa Cruz.

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 Nino and oceanic productivity." Chavez will discuss how El Nino 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 Nino winter on the Monterey Bay shoreline." Griggs, an expert on coastal erosion, will review the major oceanfront damage caused by the last major El Nino (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 Nino 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 Nino events on central California fish populations." Unusual fish appear along the coast during an El Nino. 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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