escarpment

The route: Hike to Batiquitos Lagoon, then to Moonlight State Beach, where you’ll be bathed in the scent of the flowers cascading down the steep escarpment above, including lantana, purple sea foam and prickly pear cactus blossoms.

That allowed us more modern digs and a lovely deck overlooking a large pond and a stunning view of Winter Rim, a 3,000-foot escarpment to the west.

Stajner left May 1 on an eight-day expedition to sample velella at multiple points along the Santa Lucia Bank and Escarpment in the Channel Islands, with the goal of getting “a better idea of their role in the local ecosystem and trying to understand what these big blooms mean,” she said.

He is lab director at Escarpment Labs in Ontario, Canada.

He is lab director at Escarpment Labs in Ontario, Canada.