Lighthouse sentinel
Once for sailors, now wildlife
Whales, seals, sea lions, more!
On July 8, I had the pleasure of touring the Piedras Blancas Light Station along with BLM office newbies and interns. This even counted as work! #LivingTheDream 🙂
The light station is a focal point of the Piedras Blancas Outstanding Natural Area, one of the special management areas within the Bakersfield Field Office jurisdiction. (This is why it counted for work.)
As BLM-insiders, we had the VIP opportunity of climbing to the top of the lighthouse – very windy up there!
In the background of the above photo, you can see one of the Piedras Blancas, which translates to “white rocks” in Spanish. The rock acquired its whitish hue from centuries of guano deposits, or in less technical terms: seabird poo.
These large offshore rocks provide excellent refuge to marine animals large and small. While we were at the Light Station, we saw:
We also saw sea otters, but I was not able to get a picture this trip. I will definitely be back. For more history of the light station, you can visit piedrasblancas.org. – or you can visit me and I will take you there!