Los Angeles Urban Ocean Expedition 2019

In 2019 (late August to early September), the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County led a two-week expedition to the urban ocean waters of the Los Angeles region to improve our knowledge of Southern California marine biodiversity. This program brought together the best taxonomists and local collectors in an internationally recognized, intensive methodology to collect, live-identify, curate, and DNA barcode as many species as possible. The pop-up marine science lab at AltaSea processed fresh samples from research ships and live specimens from SCUBA divers. A team of leading taxonomists assembled for the event sorted, identified, and sampled specimens for genetic analysis, all day, every day. This also was a wonderful opportunity for the public to take a peek into a major marine research program being carried out at the coast of a major urban center. The Los Angeles Urban Ocean Expedition was a program of the Marine Biodiversity Center at the Natural History Museum.