JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREYCOUNTYNOW.COM LOCAL & INDEPENDENT SONGS OF TRANSITION 5 | HOSTEL TAKEOVER 6 | ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM 23 | INTO THE FRYER 30 FIRST PLACE GENERAL EXCELLENCE • 2025 CA JOURNALISM AWARDS • As Julie Packard prepares to retire from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, she reflects on the state of ocean science. p. 14 By Katie Rodriguez UNCHARTED WATERS
2 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 • ISSUE #1954 • ESTABLISHED IN 1988 Sara Rubin (iPhone SE) Tide pooling was a popular (and free) attraction at Asilomar State Beach on the afternoon of New Year’s Day during a very low tide. This group examines a gumboot chiton. MONTEREY COUNTY PHOTO OF THE WEEK Send Etc. submissions to etcphoto@montereycountynow.com; please include caption and camera info. On the cover: Julie Packard announced in January 2025 that she will be stepping down as the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s first and only executive director. She leaves a legacy in science communication, and a role moving forward that will look different than it has in the past. Cover photo: Daniel Dreifuss etc. Copyright © 2026 by Milestone Communications Inc. 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, California 93955 (telephone 831-394-5656). All rights reserved. Monterey County Weekly, the Best of Monterey County and the Best of Monterey Bay are registered trademarks. No person, without prior permission from the publisher, may take more than one copy of each issue. Additional copies and back issues may be purchased for $1, plus postage. Mailed subscriptions: $300 yearly, prepaid. The Weekly is an adjudicated newspaper of Monterey County, court decree M21137. The Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Visit our website at http://www.montereycountynow. com. Audited by CVC. FOUNDER & CEO Bradley Zeve bradley@montereycountynow.com (x103) PUBLISHER Erik Cushman erik@montereycountynow.com (x125) EDITORIAL EDITOR Sara Rubin sara@montereycountynow.com (x120) ASSOCIATE EDITOR Erik Chalhoub ec@montereycountynow.com (x135) FEATURES EDITOR Dave Faries dfaries@montereycountynow.com (x110) SENIOR STAFF WRITER Pam Marino pam@montereycountynow.com (x106) STAFF WRITER Celia Jiménez celia@montereycountynow.com (x145) STAFF WRITER Agata Pope¸da (x138) aga@montereycountynow.com STAFF WRITER Katie Rodriguez (California Local News Fellow) katie@montereycountynow.com (x102) STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel Dreifuss daniel@montereycountynow.com (x140) DIGITAL PRODUCER Sloan Campi sloan@montereycountynow.com (x105) CONTRIBUTORS Nik Blaskovich, Rob Brezsny, Robert Daniels, Tonia Eaton, Jesse Herwitz, Luz Rimban, Jacqueline Weixel, Paul Wilner CARTOONS Rob Rogers, Tom Tomorrow PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION MANAGER Karen Loutzenheiser karen@montereycountynow.com (x108) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kevin Jewell kevinj@montereycountynow.com (x114) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Annie Cobb annie@montereycountynow.com (x114) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lani Headley lani@montereycountynow.com (x114) SALES SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE Diane Glim diane@montereycountynow.com (x124) SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE George Kassal george@montereycountynow.com (x122) SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE Keith Bruecker keith@montereycountynow.com (x118) CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Keely Richter keely@montereycountynow.com (x123) DIGITAL DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA Kevin Smith kevin@montereycountynow.com (x119) DISTRIBUTION DISTRIBUTION AT Arts Co. atartsco@gmail.com DISTRIBUTION CONTROL Harry Neal BUSINESS/FRONT OFFICE OFFICE MANAGER Linda Maceira linda@montereycountynow.com (x101) BOOKKEEPING Rochelle Trawick 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, CA 93955 831-394-5656, (FAX) 831-394-2909 www.montereycountynow.com We’d love to hear from you. Send us your tips at tipline.montereycountynow.com. Subscribe to the newsletter @ montereycountynow.com/subscribe Go to montereycountynow.com We Deliver… NEWS • ARTS • ENTERTAINMENT FOOD • DRINK • CALENDAR Local news everyday
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 3 FULL PG. AD We are rooted here. We just branched out. montagehealth.org Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula created Montage Health to deliver exceptional care to more people, by expanding our services beyond the hospital. Today, we’re much more than a hospital. And as we’ve grown, we’ve remained true to our deep roots — nonprofit, independent, locally owned, and accountable only to the community we serve.
4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH It was a deadly year for journalists across the globe—128 were killed in 2025, according to the International Federation of Journalists. Nine deaths were considered accidental. The Middle East and Arab world region was the deadliest, accounting for 58 percent of journalists killed worldwide. Palestine alone accounted for 56 deaths, the most out of all places, with Yemen a distant second at 13. The IFJ launched its annual Killed List in 1990, tracking an average of 91 deaths per year, for a total of 3,173. In 2024, the IFJ reported 122 deaths. “One-hundredand-twenty-eight journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic, it is a global crisis,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said. “These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job. Governments must act now to protect media workers, bring killers to justice and uphold press freedom.” The list also tracks the number of journalists incarcerated at 533 in 2025, with China jailing the most media workers. Good: Goodwill Central Coast opened its largest retail store at 1425 North Davis Road in Salinas on Jan. 2 with plans to further bolster its training services for job seekers. A career training center is in development at the site, meant to further expand Goodwill’s employment services that include job placement, résumé development and more. Revenue generated at the store, as well as Goodwill’s other locations throughout Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties, goes toward the program. “It creates a better experience for our shoppers, a safer and more efficient workplace for our employees, and—most importantly—expands our ability to create jobs and training programs when people need them most,” Christine Westbrook, CEO of Goodwill Central Coast, said of the new location. Family-friendly events are scheduled to celebrate the store on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 10-11. GREAT: The County of Monterey Health Department has received two California Office of Traffic Safety grants totaling $430,000, with a goal of saving lives on local roads. In mid-December, the department received more than $168,800 to support a Cannabis Education Program. That grant is for outreach and education aimed at young adults to prevent deaths and injuries resulting from driving under the influence of cannabis or alcohol. Later, the Health Department announced a $261,165 grant for its child safety seat education program. “With this funding, we can provide hands-on training, resources and support so that every family has the knowledge and tools needed to keep their children safe,” said Julia Marmolejo, health program coordinator. The funding will be used for outreach events, classes and seat inspections, plus distribution of seats and training on how to install them. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY That’s how many injured wild animals the SPCA Monterey County Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center rescued in 2025. That included a bald eagle in late December, which is thought to have been electrocuted in Salinas. Source: SPCA Monterey County 2,863 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “How we use [our military] for foreign intervention is just un-freaking real.” -Justin Loza, president of Chapter 46 of Veterans for Peace, who helped organize a protest over the U.S’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (see story, montereycountynow.com/news).
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 5 831 “We’ve planned something for you,” says Susie Joyce, who in 2011 started a local chapter of Threshold Choir, a California nonprofit whose members sing a cappella at the bedsides of people at life’s thresholds to offer comfort. “We would like to put you in the practice chair and sing for you.” Four other women in the room— Jill Bernier, Tracy Ruhs, Charlotte Noyes and Lacey Raak—nod with big smiles. Perhaps this is the easiest way to understand the nature of the service the Threshold Choir offers: to experience it firsthand, from the perspective of a patient. After all, while most of the singing for the local chapter—now Monterey Bay Threshold Singers, formerly Threshold Singers of Pacific Grove—takes place at Central Coast Home Health and Hospice in Monterey, bedside singing is not only for dying patients; it can serve in moments of healing—physical, such as after a surgery, or emotionally, through grief. Lying in the chaise lounge-like practice chair, covered by a blanket and surrounded by five soft female voices— the organization is open to men, if they are ready to audibly blend in—transforms reality. Gone are the five elegant ladies who gathered in a cozy Monterey condo around a pot of coffee and holiday baked goods; they transformed into a choir of angels, whose quiet presence and energy of their soft lullaby voices affect the recipient of this unusual attention almost immediately. It’s not a coincidence that in order to become a fully qualified bedside singer, one has to be sung to while lounging in the practice chair. “It feels like magic,” says Ruhs, who joined the small Monterey Bay chapter after moving from Napa, where she sang with Threshold Choir since 2000. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the organization, founded by Kate Munger of California, now has 200 chapters around the world. Threshold Singers sing only when invited (a request comes from the patient, the family or from the community), often on a weekly basis, in groups of two to four for up to 30 minutes. Most of their songs have been written by members for bedside singing. There are 10 “core songs,” but the songbook the organization uses contains more than 500 songs—all simple, gentle and universal (the choir is a secular organization). Some of those songs are “letting go” songs, designed to accompany people in their last steps. They are sung only when specifically requested. The magic is achieved through melody and also words. Many lyrics reference nature—shadows and sun, oceans, wind and trees, and convey oneness. The choir can join the patient at any moment of their journey. The singers share a story of an 86-year-old who got too spry and was “kicked out of the hospice.” These days, the choir sings to her at her own place each week, and she sings along. “It’s sacred,” Bernier says, explaining her sense of the mission. “It feeds us,” says Joyce, who a few years ago drove 33,000 miles around the country and sang with 60 different Threshold Choir chapters. She told her story in a book she wrote, titled The Songs We Sing. Because the job can be emotional also to the singers, they train to stay present and collected; in the toughest moments, they lean on their sisters in service for emotional support. They definitely don’t see themselves as performing. “Others call our service ‘kindness made audible,’” Joyce says. Many members seem to join a chapter of Threshold Choir after experiencing a loss in a family. Such is the case with Raak, who recently lost her grandmother and a mother-in-law. She is the newest member of the group, on the verge of becoming a bedside singer, after six months of practice. (She heard about the organization from a coworker who has since left the area.) “I’m honored to be with this group of women,” Raak says. “It feels like something my female ancestors would do—gather with other women to sing and help people passing a threshold. It’s a new thing, but it’s also a very old thing.” To learn more about the Threshold Choir, visit thresholdchoir.org. On the Threshold Bedside singers offer comfort to those nearing death or in moments of healing. By Agata Popęda “Others call our service ‘kindness made audible.’” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE MATILDA OELFKE The Monterey Bay Threshold Singers sing a cappella at the bedsides of those seeking comfort in the final stage of their lives. They also sing to people in healing or in grief. SAVE THE DATES Join us throughout the year as we celebrate and support the Monterey Peninsula business community. Thursday, January 22, 2026 Annual Membership Luncheon Saturday, March 14, 2026 Annual Awards Dinner Thursday, July 23, 2026 Business Excellence Awards See the full schedule of events at montereychamber.com See our full schedule of events at montereychamber.com
6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS For over a decade, the Gonzales Youth Council has advocated for a dedicated teen space and on Saturday, Jan. 10 it will become a reality: The City of Gonzales will open the first phase of the Dennis & Janice Caprara Community Center Complex. “Gonzales didn’t have a lot of spaces where the public, much less youth, can gather and do homework and school projects,” City Manager Carmen Gil says, noting that many teens regularly meet at McDonald’s or Starbucks. The first phase includes the teen center, a courtyard, an amphitheater and a new home for Monterey County Free Libraries’ Gonzales branch. “The beauty of it is it’s adjacent to the library,” says Mayor Jose Rios, noting the teen center is also close to schools. Youth will have access to internet, printers and computers. The space will also offer various youth development programming from organizations including Olinga Learning, a nonprofit that empowers youth in rural areas to improve their communities, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monterey County. “It’s definitely going to transform the community,” Gil says. “It’s going to offer a safe space where they can drop in and engage in programs that weren’t available to them.” The $28 million project was funded with various sources including the city’s Measure X; $5 million from the state; $1.8 million from the County of Monterey; and private donations. It was built on a city-owned property at Gavilan Court and Fifth Street, near Fairview Middle School. Now that the first phase is completed, the city will focus on the second phase which includes a community hall, meeting rooms, fitness center and commercial kitchen. City Center Gonzales opens its first community center, including a space for teens and a branch library. By Celia Jiménez At first glance, three old Army buildings on the former Fort Ord are just derelict structures. A two-story building offers views through cracked windows. Buckets catch rainwater coming in through the roof. Piles of donated mattresses are stacked in one room. But to Peter Kambas, chair of the Fort Ord Hostel Society, this is the site of a dream for the future. He can imagine visitors from all over the world mingling in a shared kitchen, bicyclists hitting the trails on the national monument just outside, and guests visiting CSU Monterey Bay. As a decades-long volunteer at hostels in Monterey and Santa Cruz, he says he has seen firsthand the benefits. “It could really promote the concept of world peace, if people connect on a one-to-one basis,” Kambas says. The dream of transforming this 4.6-acre, city-owned parcel into a hostel has been nearly 20 years in the making. It started officially with a 30-year lease in 2008 from Seaside to the Central California Chapter of the American Youth Hostels, which paid $1 a year and planned to develop a 120-room hostel. After the national organization consolidated and shifted its focus—they built a new hostel in New Orleans—in 2017 the lease was transferred to Fort Ord Hostel Society, a local nonprofit. Kambas comes from Santa Cruz most Saturdays to work on the property. Progress is slow, but one building was rehabilitated sufficiently to sublease to 6th Avenue Studios, supporting musical and other creative pursuits. The property is flanked by the 122-acre Campus Town development that has broken ground, and stands to transform northern Seaside from abandoned Army property into hundreds of new residential units and a hotel. When Kambas first saw grading equipment on the hostel property one Saturday, he thought it might be a mistake. But it turns out that as the city moves forward, envisioning a park next to Campus Town, officials are done waiting for the Hostel Society to make progress. On Dec. 12, Seaside City Attorney Sheri Damon sent a letter to Kambas terminating the lease effective Dec. 31. She cited, among other things, insufficient liability insurance, the sublease, and unaddressed hazardous materials including flaking lead paint. The hostel group’s attorney, Alex Lorca, disputes many of these findings and responded with a cease-anddesist letter to Damon. City officials declined to speak in detail about the termination notice because it involves generally confidential matters of potential litigation and real estate, but in an email, City Manager Greg McDanel notes “a longstanding lack of sufficient progress.” The city is open to negotiating alternate locations. “It really is time for Seaside to move forward,” City Councilmember Alex Miller says. “We can’t make decisions on hopes and dreams. We have to have concrete plans where people can perform. After 17 years, how much longer can we wait?” Kambas is hopeful they can buy some time, noting the lease lasts until 2038. He’s discouraged that fundraising efforts might need to shift to covering legal expenses instead of hostel design and construction, but remains optimistic about the future. “I think the project is an asset to the city,” he says. “Everything was going fine until this happened.” Peter Kambas on the property that the nonprofit Fort Ord Hostel Society leases from the City of Seaside, at 6th Avenue and Col. Durham Street. Slow Build After 17 years, City of Seaside moves to terminate nonprofit hostel society’s lease. By Sara Rubin Residents participated in the process of developing the community center, including weighing in on design elements like color and furniture. “After 17 years, how much longer can we wait?” SARA RUBIN LUIS FLORES, HARRIS & ASSOCIATES
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 7 Welcome Holiday Babies! Having a child is one of life’s most significant events. We offer nationally recognized patient-centered care from pre-natal screenings through delivery and beyond. Our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in partnership with Stanford Medicine Children’s Health is equipped to treat amongst the most medically fragile of babies. Like generations of families, you can rely on us for comprehensive and compassionate maternity care for both mother and newborn. Visit SalinasValleyHealth.com/maternity to learn more about our award-winning maternity department. MATERNITY & FAMILY-CENTERED CARE Salinas Valley Health Medical Center 450 East Romie Lane, Salinas 831-757-4333 Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinic 250 San Jose Street, Salinas 831-758-8223 PrimeCare Clinic 355 Abbott Street, Suite 100, Salinas 831-751-7070 Salinas Valley Health Taylor Farms Family Health & Wellness Center 850 5th Street, Gonzales 831-675-3601 Recognizing quality maternity care, awarded five consecutive years since the award‘s launch Recognizing safe, compassionate, and high-quality care Each baby was born in late December. All babies born near the holidays received a hand-knitted red hat made by our Salinas Valley Health volunteers. Baby Nicolas Baby Evelyn Baby Camila Baby June
8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com It was a noble idea, to bring Monterey County residents locked away in mental health facilities located in other counties closer to home and families, but a residential mental health facility planned near Natividad Medical Center in Salinas is no more for now. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors said they couldn’t justify the cost. The county had already spent nearly $3.7 million on planning for the 96-bed Mental Health Rehabilitation Center. On Tuesday, Jan. 6, the supervisors were faced with a decision of whether to push forward and build part or all of the project, or cease work altogether. New estimates put total costs over 30 years in the range of $140 million for only one of six buildings up to $276 million for the full project. In all three scenarios presented—one, three or six buildings—the county would face annual expenses of between $9.7 million and $11.3 million. Initially, staff estimates showed that the county would make up to $200,000 annually in reimbursements for providing care. “I don’t think the county has that kind of money,” Supervisor Glenn Church said. “There’s an old saying, fish or cut bait. It’s time to cut bait.” The board voted 5-0 to cease all work on the MHRC. Currently just over 100 Monterey County residents are being treated in locked facilities in other counties around the state, according to Health Department staff. Of those, about half would be eligible for care at the MHRC; the rest would need a higher level of care elsewhere. Church called it a luxury to house a few dozen people. Citing the “unprecedented times we’re living in,” Supervisor Chris Lopez said there were forces at play outside of the county’s control, including interest rates—the county would have to borrow money for construction—and uncertainty of funding at the state and federal levels. “The project that was initially conceived…was a lot lower cost. The challenges that we’re facing as a country are what we’re staring at in these sheets,” Lopez said. Supervisor Wendy Root Askew, who took over as chair of the board for 2026 earlier in the meeting, said the need for mental health beds in the county is real “and we need to find a way to make this happen.” In a nod to the residential neighbors who staunchly protested the project, she said she would welcome such a facility in her own neighborhood. In the end, she said she couldn’t make sense of the numbers, but pledged to work on finding a future solution. With county coffers in mind, a 3-2 majority of the Monterey County Supervisors on Jan. 6 voted to create a short-term rental ordinance that would ban them in unincorporated residential areas while allowing them in commercial areas and within agricultural operations. The move comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Monterey County Vacation Rental Alliance against the county over its STR ordinance, which was passed in 2024. In December, the county announced it was suspending enforcement on two provisions of the ordinance based on claims in the MCVRA lawsuit that the ordinance violates clauses of the U.S. and California constitutions. One provision states that only resident property owners can pursue homestays, where owners remain in the home. The other is that only natural persons, rather than corporations or entities, may engage in commercial rentals. The lawsuit argues that non-residents are being treated differently, and corporations are discriminated against in cases of all STRs. “We are concerned that there is the potential, because of the way the lawsuit is written, there will be millions and millions and millions of dollars on behalf of [MCVRA] we would have to pay in damages. That would come out of the general fund,” Supervisor Kate Daniels said. She suggested there were bigger corporate interests behind the lawsuit: “This really feels like it’s something bigger than all of you and we have to be prudent.” Daniels and others expressed frustration that the STR ordinance they spent more than a decade crafting, striving to balance the needs of residents with protection of housing and resources, was now at risk of being derailed by litigation, but they saw no choice but to protect the county from further risk. Supervisors Luis Alejo and Chris Lopez did not support the motion. Alejo favored only dropping enforcement of the two contested provisions and opposed a ban. The lawsuit is ongoing— the next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20. Cut Bait Supervisors nix plans for a county mental health facility over high costs. By Pam Marino NEWS ZERO EMISSIONS The draft Monterey County Zero Emissions Shared Mobility Study is now available for public review. The study aims to identify sustainable transportation options, especially in rural and low-income communities. Review period ends Thursday, Jan. 8. Free. bit.ly/ZEVStudy2025. RETIREMENT READY California Public Employees’ Retirement System hosts an event to educate members about retirement and health benefits available to them. The event includes classes for early- through mid-career members and those nearing retirement. 8:30am-4pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 9-10. Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey. Free. Register at bit.ly/CalPERSMonterey2026. BLOOD BANK The American Red Cross, on the brink of a blood shortage, asks people to donate blood or platelets. Blood drives are scheduled in Monterey County. 9am-2pm Friday, Jan. 9. Compass Church, 830 Padre Drive, Salinas. 9:30am-1:30pm Friday, Jan. 9. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, 1024 Noche Buena St., Seaside. Free. Schedule at (800) 7332767, redcrossblood.org. SERVING THE SANCTUARY Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s advisory council meets. Topics include a superintendent’s report for the sanctuary and other updates. 9am-1:30pm Friday, Jan. 9. Virtual via Google Meet. Free. meet.google.com/ iyp-xzvw-ojw. IN THE PUBLIC Salinas City Council meets to discuss city business. Public comment is accepted. 4pm Tuesday, Jan. 13. Salinas Rotunda, 200 Lincoln Ave., Salinas. Free. (831) 758-7381, cityofsalinas.org. HIRING NOW Monterey County Works hosts a job fair to connect local employers in the hospitality industry with job seekers. Attendees are encouraged to bring their résumés and dress to impress. 1:30-4pm Wednesday, Jan. 14. Career Center, 344 Salinas St., Suite 203, Salinas. Free. (831) 796-3335. Register at montereycountyworks.com. GREEN GIVING The Seaside Parks & Recreation Department is giving away trees to Seaside residents. Those selected will receive a one-gallon-sized tree, one bag of fertilizer and an optional tree water ring. Apply online at ci.seaside.ca.us/402/ Parks. Risk Management A majority of supervisors back ban on short-term rentals in residential areas to thwart a lawsuit. By Pam Marino With her staff, Elsa Jimenez, director of the county’s Health Department, presented four options to either build part or all of a mental health rehabilitation center in Salinas. E-MAIL: publiccitizen@montereycountynow.com PUBLIC CITIZEN “I don’t think the county has that kind of money.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 9 A unique, near-threatened and rather striking bird has taken a liking to the rooftops of businesses in downtown Seaside: the Heermann’s Gull. During summer months, visitors enjoying a beer at Other Brother Beer Co. or getting their bike fixed at AMG Cyclery can often see—or smell— the birds, particularly when the chicks are fledging from their nesting grounds. The problem: the location that’s become critical to this population is not only dangerous due to traffic, but an issue for local businesses. “It gets kind of gnarly—dead birds in the street, which is tragic. And the smell wafts down the street,” says Evan Loewy, co-founder of Other Brother Beer Co. “We have customers mention the smell pretty frequently. It’s gotten to the point now where it’s negatively affecting business.” Heermann’s Gulls are not like other gulls. They have bright red beaks, are smaller than the typical beach gull, and are specialist feeders—less likely to steal food from trash cans than their nesting neighbors, including the Western Gull, which also occupy rooftops along lower Broadway. In the 1990s, Heermann’s Gulls migrated north from islands off Baja California. Today, 90 percent of the world population breeds on a single island in Baja; Monterey County is their only known breeding area in the U.S. The birds originally nested on the roof of a McDonald’s on Canyon Del Rey until the building caught fire in 2018 after a driver crashed into it. At one point, they became the unofficial mascot of Other Brother, which sold merchandise featuring the gull and sold a beer called Heermann’s Lager. Despite their local abundance, their populations are listed as near threatened and shrinking, today hovering around 350,000. From 2012-22, their population numbers have declined by about 50 percent. “Just because we see them all the time here and find them a nuisance doesn’t mean they don’t play an important role in our ecosystem,” says Shannon Simpson, executive director of the Monterey Audubon Society. “And just because they’re everywhere here doesn’t mean they’re everywhere.” Over the next few months, the City of Seaside and Audubon Society plan to take advantage of the winter season when the birds are no longer nesting on rooftops. In 2018, the City and Audubon Society raised funds to create a nesting island in Roberts Lake, but the birds didn’t use it; Simpson believes the island may have been too small. Simpson says they are interested in tagging some of the gulls to track their winter migration, while exploring the possibility of turning an empty building at the corner of Calaveras Street and Broadway—a known nesting hotspot—into an office space. Seaside City Manager Greg McDanel says they are also exploring falconry as a potential deterrent to encourage the gulls to nest elsewhere. “Our downtown is really challenged,” McDanel says. “We want to keep it active and vibrant, and it’s hard to do that with the stench. There’s not a single solution—it’s going to take a lot of things moving in the same direction.” Bird Dodge A near-threatened bird continues to set up shop on Seaside roofs, and the City is looking for solutions. By Katie Rodriguez Heermann’s Gulls can be found atop the businesses along Broadway Avenue in Seaside, particularly in summer months when the birds are fledging. NEWS “It gets kind of gnarly—dead birds in the street.” BYRON CHIN casaofmonterey.org I’m a Nurse and a CASA CASA volunteers are parents, professionals, retirees—people who once felt too busy. Then they realized the moments were already there: a ride home, a day-o visit, an evening check-in. CASA becomes part of your life’s routine. You’re more ready than you think—become a CASA volunteer. Find out how you can impact the life of a child in foster care and juvenile justice systems. INSIDE YORK JAN 13, 2026 6:00-7:30 PM go.york.org/insideyork26 DISCOVER WHAT MAKES YORK SCHOOL AN INSPIRING PLACE TO LEARN, GROW, AND BELONG. More information and registration here:
10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com AT ATTENTION Well written. It is so important that we understand the process that is happening and that we are able to remain present with each other through rising tides of algorithmic influence (“This year, let us reverse the architecture of power and attention—here’s a framework to reclaim algorithmic control,” Jan. 1-7). Reminds me a little of getting a puppy, training it and having someone ask, who is training whom? I think your puppy is training you! Steady on. Maureen McEachen | Carmel “Speed is the drug of the digital age, and you Algorithms are the dealers.” Amen. Lila Thorsen | Pacific Grove I Do Not Pray to the Algorithm. I pray to my people, my city, my sidewalks. I pray to my child’s smile when she runs and the wilds take her over. I pray to my best friend, my head rested on hers as we talk about the rabid women we used to be. I pray to the decades to sharpen my fangs, to smooth my cruelty and fear. I pray for the shattering of glass, I pray for shards. I pray for community to grow from the cracks in screens, not as a node in a network but a fiber of mycelium, each part of me bearing the weight of the whole. I pray for rot. I pray for inspiration to call me like a distant lens in the sun. I pray for it to blind me. I pray for the strength to follow the light, and the wisdom to whisper light to flame. I pray for patience to rend flesh from bone. I pray for the feast, I pray for the pyre. I pray for ash, I pray for drought. I pray for my amnesiac smoke to clear so I can see the embers under my fingernails. I pray for memory, I pray for my arid veins to pulse and rage. I pray for fissures in the Earth. I pray for pain, I pray for resilience. I pray that I will drown when the first rains fall. I pray for my gasp of first air to sharpen the depths. I pray for the abyss, I pray to never drown again. I pray with a heart beat humming in the dusk “am I?” “am I?” “am I?” I pray to myself. Monica Helmick | Marina TAP ROOT Unsung heroes such as Alan Washburn deserve recognition (“A devoted retiree spends his days clearing an invasive shrub from the Del Monte Forest,” Jan. 1-7). French broom looks pretty. However, it is extremely invasive. We need more volunteers like Alan! Walter Wagner | Salinas The article about Alan Washburn battling French broom was fantastic. If any of your readers would like to join the Pebble Beach weed warriors, please contact us at office@dmfpo.org. We welcome all help! We’ll be working 9am-noon Saturday, Jan. 10. Rain cancels. Katherine Spitz | Pebble Beach MEAL TIME Yay! This is the news we like to read! (“Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula secures a Seaside building to expand,” Dec. 25-31.) Kristin Marchionni Bitler | via social media Welcome to the neighborhood. Seaside is glad to have such a good community partner so close. Let us know what we can do to help you be successful in 2026 and beyond. Bud Kottman | Seaside Note: Kottman co-owns the Seaside Grocery Outlet. LONG AND SHORT OF IT I have enjoyed the Monterey County Weekly for decades, and have never complained until now (“101-Word Short Story Contest: Writers light the way with their wit that only a human possesses,” Dec. 25-31). What were you thinking when you awarded second place to a ridiculously repetitive and substandard 95-word essay in which the phrase “On. Off.” is repeated no less than 26 times? There were 26 uses of the word “on” and the same number of the word “off.” That was more than half the essay. While the other 43 words were well written, it seems to me that the 52 words comprising “on“ and “off“ were silly fluff, after about 10 words, to cover up a vacuum of creativity. And this gets second place. What an appalling insult to the other 199 people who submitted serious stories. Let me suggest better. “Ridiculous. Garbage.” Repeat that 48 times, for 96 words, and conclude with five final words, for a total of 101, those last five being, “Second place in the Weekly.” David W. Brown | Marina CLASS TIME My son attended the COE Charter School his senior year and it was excellent (“County Office of Education to decide on a countywide charter school proposal,” Dec. 25-31). It would have been nice not to drive so far. Maybe if public schools would not be so rigid and out of touch they wouldn’t have to worry about the competition. Jane Benight | Pacific Grove IN THE HOUSE Thanks so much for including the First Mayor’s House in Salinas as one of this week’s Hot Picks (“Hot Picks,” Jan. 1-7). As a result of your article, we had about 400 percent of our usual number of visitors. We appreciate the visibility and support. Mary Randall | Salinas WALK THE TALK Congratulations to the congregation of St. Mary’s Church for constructing the labyrinth and making it available for community enjoyment, and to Pam Marino for an excellent story (“A new labyrinth and garden in P.G. comes with an invitation for a contemplative journey,” Dec. 25-31). George Lentz | Seaside CORRECTION A story about an underwater photographer (“Photographer Kip Evans has traveled the world capturing images, but many favorites are here at home,” Jan. 1-7) contained several errors. Evans spent 17 days, not all 31 days of the project, living in an underwater habitat off the coast of Florida. On one Monterey Bay dive described, he lost contact with the boat when a communication box was knocked to the floor, not off the boat. He was a volunteer diver, not a research diver, in the Channel Islands. LETTERS • COMMENTSOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 Stanton Ruese had long been planning for retirement. Those plans were forced to move up in timeline when, at 59, he was laid off by the Monterey Bay Aquarium at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, after building and maintaining exhibits there for 29 years. During those years, Ruese had enrolled in health insurance through work. It was only after the layoffs that he went insurance shopping on Covered California, the state’s exchange, established by the Affordable Care Act. “It was pretty seamless,” he says. He didn’t even realize it at the time, but newly approved federal subsidies were helping to keep premiums low for customers just like him. It was an initiative approved by Congress due to the volume of people losing jobs and employer-provided health insurance. “That allowed middle-income people to get help for the first time,” Covered California Executive Director Julie Altman says. “Covid was the catalyst to address affordability concerns that preexisted.” While the ACA had previously included tax credits for the poorest customers, the eligibility ceiling went up, meaning more affordable plans for people like Ruese. That contributed to a surge in enrollment. Nationally, the number of people enrolling in such plans more than doubled from 2020 to 2025, from 11 million to 24 million. In Monterey County, enrollment rose by 2,580 new enrollees, or 18 percent, to 15,970 people. Ruese, in Seaside, was one of them. He’d already done some thinking about the cost of health insurance. He and his wife, Donna Penwell, got married in 2014 for health insurance, he says only half-joking. (“It saved me a lot of money,” he says. Penwell adds: “My mom was happy.”) By the time Ruese lost his job, Penwell was newly enrolled in Medicare. He found he could afford decent insurance on Covered California—a silver plan provided some specialist coverage, crucial based on his history of skin cancer. Faced with rising costs, he later switched to Kaiser. But nothing prepared them for the spike they would see starting Jan. 1, when the federal subsidies expired, even though they had been closely tuning into the news about the standoff in Congress during the government shutdown. “The Democrats were asking for three years, and maybe would compromise for one year,” Penwell recalls. “When they settled, I said, ‘We’re screwed.’” For Ruese to renew his silver plan, the monthly premium— what you pay just for the privilege of having insurance—would go from $381 to over $3,000. “We did contemplate not going on insurance,” Penwell says. “If we were in our 20s, we would—we couldn’t at our age.” Instead, they opted for a bronze plan at $1,219 per month, with no specialist coverage until a high deductible is met. Ruese saw a dermatologist in December and is hoping to make it to his 65th birthday in October—marking Medicare eligibility—without needing to see a specialist. The change took effect Jan. 1, and they are now looking to adjust their household budget. “We are almost $1,000 poorer a month this month,” Penwell says. “I’m not exactly sure how we’re going to do it.” They’re reviewing TV streaming subscriptions, and will keep travel to just essential family visits, nixing hopes of going to Hawaii. Ruese is selling his motorcycle. There’s always a chance their rent could go up. They are careful to say they don’t want sympathy—they are not poor, and are looking to shave luxuries from their life, not necessities. “We are very, very fortunate to be in the place we are in,” Penwell says. But middle-class people like them are in the worst position for this new world after the end of enhanced subsidies. Altman says, “The worst-case scenario is someone in their early pre-Medicare 60s who lives in a very high-cost region and makes just too much to earn the tax credit.” Ruese is just one of nearly 2 million Covered California patients facing premium spikes. He is frustrated by Congress’ failure to protect people like him, a former Republican with libertarian leanings, who have worked and saved. He’s written to U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, but expects little to change. “I’m sure he gets thousands of letters like mine,” Ruese says. “I am unfortunately just part of the masses.” Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Sick Joke After subsidies expire, skyrocketing health insurance premiums are here. By Sara Rubin WORK IN PROGRESS…Being a cephalopod columnist, Squid knows the value of getting work done in advance. But Squid also keeps Squid’s rough drafts out of public view—that public including Squid’s editor. But the owner of Nami in downtown Monterey sees things differently. Not aware of Nami? The restaurant concept is being phased in—the name went up on outside walls in the final days of December, but the menu is a few weeks away—to replace Cibo. The Nami website— namimonterey.com—went live well in advance, with stunning stock images of food, a cobblestone road overlooking a foggy coastline, two views from floorto-ceiling windows of uninterrupted ocean views and the like. However, from inside of Cibo, guests look out upon Alvarado Street and Portola Plaza. Nami owner Dudley Ashley, who is also responsible for Pangaea Grill and Sur in Carmel, tells Squid’s colleague that revealing a rough draft website served a purpose, creating intrigue. “People have been calling, stopping by,” he says, wanting to know what was really behind those unlikely images. “I like that.” So it turns out that artificial can be intelligent. Given Ashley’s track record, Nami will be an exciting restaurant. And Squid is now rethinking Squid’s attitude toward rough drafts. Squid will try telling Squid’s editor what the Nami menu page promises the public: “The wait will be brief.” SLOW FLOW…In Squid’s undersea lair, the Gregorian calendar is observed only by creatures with deadlines set by human editors. In the world of California American Water’s desalination plant in Marina, it’s a new year, same old thing. That includes a 2020 lawsuit against Cal Am and former sand mining company Cemex, in which the City of Marina and Marina Coast Water District argue that Cal Am does not have the water rights needed to pump brackish water from the former mine property to the Peninsula. A trial before Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills is ongoing, with various legal debates along the way about who can testify. (When Marina Coast’s attorney called Public Water Now founder and chief Cal Am antagonist George Riley to the stand, Cal Am was opposed, and Wills agreed. Riley was dismissed.) The latest hiccup came when Marina moved to disqualify Robert Abrams, a technical expert Cal Am intends to call to the stand, on the basis that he previously worked for the city. (It appears to Squid that there’s a relatively small pool of water consultants.) On Dec. 29, Wills denied the motion and ruled that Abrams can testify. That means turning the page to a new calendar year, for more of the same saga. Squid will refill Squid’s bucket with shrimp-flavored popcorn to watch it all slog out. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “We are almost $1,000 poorer a month.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com War Time The Venezuelan coup opens the gates to a new era of imperial plunder for Trump. By Jeet Heer FORUM President Donald Trump started 2026 with a coup and a kidnapping, using the American military to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. Trump’s violation of Venezuelan sovereignty is a crime against both the American Constitution and international law. More terrifyingly, it appears to be just the beginning. On Saturday, Jan. 3, Trump gloated to Fox News, “This incredible thing last night. We have to do it again [in other countries]. We can do it again, too. Nobody can stop us.” Trump is, unfortunately, correct. The normal check on an out-ofcontrol president is Congress, but the Republicans who control it are all too eager to abdicate their constitutional responsibilities. Another potential restraining force is the international community. But both America’s biggest allies and biggest rivals (notably China and Russia) have signaled that they will offer no more than pro forma rhetorical objections to Trump’s nakedly imperialist foreign policy. As a result, Trump is drunk on war. Trump is already eyeing other nations in the Western Hemisphere to attack. In an interview with The Atlantic on Jan. 4, he said, “We do need Greenland, absolutely.” In the Fox News interview, he said, “Something is going to have to be done with Mexico.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Meet the Press, “the Cuban government is a huge problem.” Trump also threatened military action against Colombia and Iran. Trump’s bravado needs to be distinguished from what he is actually capable of. The focus on the Western Hemisphere, where the U.S. has overwhelming military superiority and where no rival power possesses nuclear weapons, is itself a sign of a superpower in retreat. The Venezuela coup was a violent spectacle, but one that created a greater perception of change than is merited by reality. Aside from Maduro and his wife, Trump left the existing government of Venezuela in place, with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez now in charge. The Venezuelan coup created the type of spectacle that Trump revels in, but it had little rationale other than providing an advertisement for Trump’s vision of a world of unbridled imperial plunder divided into spheres of influence. Unfortunately, there’s little sign of any serious political challenge to Trump’s project. The real check on his imperialism will come not from existing political elites but from mass protests and organizing. According to a YouGov poll, the Venezuelan war is as unpopular as Trump himself and has little support outside the MAGA base. The poll shows that 46 percent of the population oppose the war. Organizing an anti-war movement in the U.S. is hard in the absence of significant American casualties, but Trump’s unpopularity has already produced massive protests. The anti-war argument can both feed on this resistance to Trump and offer the resistance an even more compelling reason to oppose this criminal presidency. Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation, where this story first appeared. OPINION The Venezuelan war is as unpopular as Trump himself. Voted Monterey County’s Best Antique Shop ’25 ♦ 3 Card Poker ♠ Century 21st No Bust Black Jack ♣ Texas Hold’em ♥ FULL BAR! BLACKJACK BONUS POINTS PAYS UP TO $20,000 SMALL TOWN BIG PAYOUTS! 1-800-Gambler • GEAR-000383, GEAR-000376, GEAR-000375 The Marina Club Casino ensures the safety and security of all guests and team members at all times, while providing exceptional service. 204 Carmel Ave. Marina 831-384-0925 casinomonterey.com ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ Just minutes from Downtown Monterey Where Monterey Comes To Play
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 13 Takeout meal for two includes 16 oz. clam chowder, sourdough bread, packaged salad & dessert. $40 Use QR code to pre-order by Jan. 30. Select pick-up window between 11 am - 5 pm. Drive-through pick-up at Shuman HeartHouse Feb. 7. Enter at 300 E. Franklin St. & exit on Anthony St. A benefit for local homeless shelters Scan QR code to order. featuring Brought to you by PREVENTION•EDUCATION TREATMENT•RECOVERY S.T.E.P.S. EMPOWERS TEENS, PROMOTES HEALTHY CHOICES, AND PREVENTS TEENS SUBSTANCE USE. SUPPORT PREVENTION AND HELP YOUTH THRIVE! MONTEREYCOUNTYGIVES.COM/SUNSTREET MONTEREY PENINSULA Col lege NEW YEAR. FRESH START. SPRING AHEAD! mpc.edu/findaclass Spring Classes Start January 27th ENROLL TODAY! *Early Spring Classes: Jan 6-25 MONTEREY PENINSULA Col lege NEW YEAR. FRESH START. SPRING AHEAD! mpc.edu/findaclass Spring Classes Start January 27th ENROLL TODAY! *Early Spring Classes: Jan 6-25 MONTEREY PENINSULA Col lege NEW YEAR. FRESH START. SPRING AHEAD! mpc.edu/findaclass Spring Classes Start January 27th ENROLL TODAY! *Early Spring Classes: Jan 6-25 26 MONTEREY PENINSULA Col lege NEW YEAR. FRESH START. SPRING AHEAD! mpc.edu/findaclass Spring Classes Start January 27th ENROLL TODAY! *Early Spring Classes: Jan 6-25 *Early Spring Classes: Jan 5-24
14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com As Julie Packard prepares to retire, a look at her legacy that shaped the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its global impact. By Katie Rodriguez Sea Change On a blue-bird morning, Julie Packard sits at a table in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s dining hall, surrounded by the quiet that settles over the building before it opens to visitors. She takes a booth adjacent to a large window overlooking the bay—the natural environment part of an institution that has become a national model and success story—and reflects on past, present and future. Packard, who is 72, is retiring this year after 41 years as the executive director of the aquarium, and has grave concerns about the state of science communication today. “The questioning of science at the level that’s happening is new; the constant undermining of credibility of the science community,” she says. “It’s appalling, it’s disturbing, and it’s taking up space in the media that could be focused on providing accurate inforThe kelp forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was crucial to Julie Packard as a way to educate visitors about the rich local ecosystems in an immersive, awe-inspiring way. DANIEL DREIFUSS
www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 8-14, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 mation for the public to inform their decision making.” At the start of 2025, Packard announced she would step down from her role. As the aquarium’s first and only executive director to date, she has spent the entirety of her adult life understanding the state of our oceans, establishing strong ocean ethics through education, and centering these stories at all levels of governance. Her work in science conservation and leadership has earned her accolades which place her alongside some of the greats like Jane Goodall, Albert Einstein, Rachel Carson and David Attenborough. A painting of her hangs in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., a gallery which showcases portraits of America’s most influential people who have shaped history and culture. A deep-sea coral has been named in her honor, the Gersemia juliepackardae. The reputation more importantly reflects her ability to use the aquarium—located in a coastal region home to some of the most groundbreaking science in the world—to tell stories often buried beneath scientific jargon, or deep under the sea, in order to create meaningful change. That change has inspired movements and big policy decisions across the last four decades, and laid a formidable foundation as the next executive director steps in at a critical time for science and conservation. The future, she has reiterated in the past, will be answered in how we evolve. Though, the biggest impact, she believes, starts at home. “When people fall in love with the ocean, they are moved to protect it,” says Packard, keeping to the aquarium’s mission, “and that is where real change begins.” It was the Santa Barbara oil spill that stood out in Packard’s memory, the environmental disaster of 1969 that resulted in over 3 million gallons of oil spread across 35 miles of California’s coastline. It was an oil spill of devastating proportions, coating kelp forests, eradicating thousands of seabirds, poisoning marine life and ecosystems without the technology to do much about it. At the time, Packard was a teenager. The event was a part of the machinations of the modern environmental movement and a turning point for her personally. Her conviction in the importance of protecting the environment was cemented in that moment, catalyzing a path which would lead her to becoming a critical voice for science, specifically for the ocean. Packard grew up in Los Altos Hills, the youngest of four children and daughter of Lucile and David Packard. Her father was the co-founder of the multibillion-dollar Hewlett-Packard Company, whose business famously began in a one-car garage—the symbolic birthplace of Silicon Valley. But Julie Packard remembers the region as the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” a name colloquially used to describe its unique, fruit-growing climate. For her, it doubled as the place where she learned to be curious, to care about nature and develop the values she would devote her life to. “Science always played a huge part in our family conversations, family values,” she says. “Learning about the plants and exploring nature together and things, was a value that we all absorbed.” Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, Packard developed a deep appreciation for California’s ecological diversity, from oak woodlands and wildflowers to coastal habitats, a love that was later challenged by witnessing the rapid pace of development and land transformation in the Santa Clara Valley as a young adult. “That had a very foundational influence,” she adds. By the time the Santa Barbara oil spill occurred, Packard was about 16 years old, a teenager in an era already awakening to environmentalism. The disaster helped inspire her decision to attend UC Santa Cruz, one of the first universities in the state founded with an explicit environmental focus. There, an interdisciplinary study could bridge people, ecology, biology and policy work. Perhaps surprisingly, Packard has always had a deeper, more innate love of the mountains than the coast (she underscores the mountains first when describing where she’ll be spending her retirement). The leap from mountains to coastline, she says, came through her love of plants. An intertidal biology class sparked her interest in aquatic environments, bringing her to the tide pools and studying seaweeds. “I love to go out looking at spring wildflowers as much as tide pools at a spring low tide,” she says. During her undergraduate years, a Sea Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration helped fund her work, which had the aim of supporting viable ways to commercially harvest seaweed. She studied under adviser William Doyle, one of UC Santa Cruz’s founding faculty members, whose research focused on liverworts and mosses—a group of plants that represent an evolutionary step from aquatic life to life on land. “Primitive plants, I would call them,” she says, “including algae.” She went on to teach classes as a student, laying the foundation for a master’s degree focused on the ecology of marine algae, and ultimately, for her work at the aquarium. In 1978—the year Packard completed her formal education at UCSC—the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation was created and the Cannery Row property was purchased. It took six years of planning, fundraising and building until the aquarium was open to the public. Packard has always made the point that it was not her creation alone, but a collaborative effort among many. Still, she played a central role, helping draw early sketches of what it would look like, and rising from project director to executive director, a role she’s held ever since. Alongside her sister Nancy Burnett, Burnett’s husband, several colleagues (including Chuck Baxter and Steve Webster, who later became the first official employee), and with a $55 million gift from David and Lucile Packard, Packard helped bring the Monterey Bay Aquarium into existence. When it opened on Oct. 20, 1984, projections estimated 350,000 visitors in its first year. Instead, nearly 2.4 million people walked through its doors. From the very beginning, the Aquarium was rooted in science. Its origins were inspired in part by researchers affiliated with Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, and by the In 2009, marine biologists named a deep-water coral after Julie Packard— Gersemia juliepackardae— citing her dedication to the ocean and science communication. Packard looks at an illuminated tub of plankton, mostly microscopic organisms that are big contributors to the ocean’s ecosystems. It is estimated that 70 to 90 percent of the total ocean biomass is plankton. DANIEL DREIFUSS © 2015 MBARI
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==