Morro Bay State Parks Museum of Natural History

Native American Exhibit

The Morro Bay Museum of Natural History has a Native American exhibit in place through October 26.  The exhibit covers plant uses, tool development, maps, language, art, music, misconceptions about Native people, and more.  A recent addition is a display panel on uses of plants to make dye colors for wool to be used in weaving blankets. See More

Art for Art's Sake

The Morro Bay Museum of Natural History is planning "Art for Art's Sake," an auction event at the museum set for the evening of November 3rd. Read More

New Museum Volunteers and Docents Welcome

The Museum of Natural History in Morro Bay is ready to welcome new volunteers who want to become docents at the museum or in the other State Park areas (Morro Bay, Montano de Oro or Pismo).  Apprenticeships are available now in many areas and official training will be in the Fall.  If you are interested, we'd love to hear from you. Just call and leave your contact information at 772-2694, or visit the docent page on our website for more information.

Skeleton Sunday - October 23!! Don't Miss This Creepy Fun Event!

Did you know that the Museum of Natural History in Morro Bay has hundreds of skulls and bones in its collection?  From  A to W (American Coot to White Pelican), the collection includes items as small as tiny bird bones and as large as an almost complete minke whale—about 25 feet long.  Some of these bones were harvested, cleaned, and mounted by the museum's very own skeleton crew, led by Museum Manager Rouvaishyana, who has a particular talent with bones. 

On Sunday, October 23 from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon, the museum will hold the first annual Skeleton Sunday, a family event that will focus on this wonderful collection. Presentations will include a comparison of human and bird skeletons, a description of the process of preparing bone specimens for the Museum, a demonstration of adaptations in marine mammals, a guessing game with prizes "Which bone is from which animal?,"  a skull workshop, dissection of a chicken wing,  examination of owl pellets, and exhibits from the curatorial department.  The event will also feature art activities involving bones such as assembling a human bone puzzle, making prints from fish bones, and more.  And no program about skeletons would be complete without a scary skeleton story! 

"I am excited about this event," said Rouvaishyana.  "We feature our marine mammal skeletons in our school programs, but this will be an opportunity to expand both our audience and our subject matter.  Very few members of the public are aware of our curatorial department, where we keep the vast majority of our specimens.  The Morro Bay Museum is the only museum in the state park system, and our curatorial collection is the reason we are classified as a museum and not a nature center.  In 2012 we will celebrate our fiftieth anniversary, and Skeleton Sunday is an opportunity to preview one aspect of this wonderful museum."

Docent Dave Dabritz, who has been working on documenting the skeleton collection and has been involved in the preparation of many museum specimens, is looking forward to the "Which Bone is From Which Animal" activity. For instance,   "People will be surprised to learn that an elephant seal has much bigger teeth than a black bear."

Many of the docents working on this program are biology teachers and professors, and hope that learning about bones may encourage some young participants to consider a scientific career—or at least to cultivate an interest in science. " Just holding a delicate bird skeleton can get a child excited," said Claudia Frietas, a retired biology professor  and docent.  Jerry Kirkhart, also a docent and retired biology professor, plans an activity for older participants involving skulls, based on a skull workshop he taught at Fresno  City College.

Art activities will be led by both artists and scientists.  "Understanding bone structure is key to understanding how to draw people and animals," said Barb Renshaw, a docent and artist.  "And we will have art activities for younger children that involve bones and are a lot of fun."

Docents are working hard to flesh out the program (pun intended) for Skeleton Sunday, and make it a popular annual event.  Plan to join us! Remember - Sunday, October 23, from 1:00 to 4:00pm.

Adventures With Nature, October Schedule

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