Join us June 7th to 16th, 2024 as we celebrate these delicious, invasive, spiky creatures.
The 3rd Annual Urchin/Uni Festival welcomes a new and exciting addition to this unique coastal experience for 2024, KelpFest. KelpFest will encompass a month-long exploration of the beauty and benefits of this irreplaceable underwater ecosystem through art, education, food and film from May 18 to June 16.
The focus is on Urchin June 7 – 16.
June 8 & 9, 9am – 2pm, at Caspar State Beach
Reef Check trains citizen science divers to conduct long-term monitoring surveys of Kelp Forests. Join us at Caspar Beach June 8-9th to watch our team at work! We will also be working with our most recent Dive into Science Open Water graduates to provide proficiency dives so they continue their training and become Reef Check divers! Come chat with us and our volunteers! Our divers are happy to discuss everything kelp and how you can get involved with Reef Check. No sign-ups are necessary—just come and see us in action!
Saturday, June 8, 7:00 am – 9:30 am
World Ocean Day
MacKerricher State Park
The day begins with a low tide seaweed walk at MacKerricher State Park with Josie Iselin, Larry Knowles and Julie Drucker. Josie Iselin is a visual artist, writer and designer, author of The Curious World of Seaweed, and is the co-director of a collaborative known as Above/Below, working to bring the recognition afforded the forests on land to the kelp forests below the ocean’s surface. Larry Knowles is a Fort Bragg resident and long-time commercial seaweed harvester, being the proprietor of Rosing Tide Sea Vegetables. Julie Drucker is the founder of Yemaya Seaweed Company, specializing in wild, hand-harvested seaweed on the Mendocino Coast. Our artist-educators will share their knowledge and experience in seaweed gathering and give us an in-depth understanding of the delicate intertidal ecosystem.
Capacity: 25
Fee: $35 (includes Seaweed Science Social in the afternoon)
June 12-16
Celebrate California State Parks Week at any of the beautiful state parks on the Mendocino Coast. California parks park units preserve and protect the best of our state’s natural and cultural history, from natural features and ecosystems to historic structures and cultural resources. This year’s tagline is “This is where you live,” and you can explore all the scheduled events at castateparksweek.org.
Friday, June 14 TENTATIVE
SCP Hotels hosts a campfire on Van Damme Beach with Ranger talk and small bites prepared fireside
June 15, 11am – 3pm
Visit the Noyo Center Marine Field Station in Noyo Harbor and learn about the organization’s land-based urchin aquaculture system, or urchin ranch. While you are there, see the underwater photo and video installation featuring the work of Abbey Dias and Patrick Webster, taste wild and farmed uni, and learn more about the fascinating purple urchin from Noyo Center educators.
Donations welcome.
Noyo Center Marine Field Station
32430 N. Harbor Drive
Fort Bragg, CA
A variety of Mendocino restaurants are offering special Uni menus during this timeframe, from Uni Baked Oysters to Salmon with Champagne and Sea Urchin Beurre Blanc; various prices. Pull a seat up at Harbor House Inn, Inn at Newport Ranch, KW Saltwater Café, Noyo Harbor Inn, Izakaya Gama, SIBO, and Wickson Restaurant.
A variety of hotels are offering package deals, uni menus, sea foraging and weekend value pricing including, Wharfmaster Inn, Elk Cove Inn, Inn at Newport Ranch, Noyo HarborInn, Harbor House Inn , Nicholson House and more www.visitmendocino.com/see-do/deals-and-special-offers.
Saturday June 15
Little River Inn ups the ante with packages including guest accommodations and a Japanese Whiskey with Uni pairing
Join the Noyo Harbor staff for a walking tour of Noyo Harbor. Learn about the different fisheries and vessels that operate out of the marina and how a healthy kelp forest relates to healthy fisheries and thus healthy communities.
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