My AP Biology Thoughts

Dec 21 2021 8 mins

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Unit 8 Ecology

EPISODE TITLE: Marine Life on the Catalina Coast

Welcome to My AP Biology Thoughts podcast, our names are Sofia, Addie, Gillie, and Diana, and we are your hosts for the episode called Unit 8 Ecology- Marine Life on the Catalina Coast. Today we will be discussing Marine Life on the Beautiful Catalina Coast and how it relates to the AP Biology Curriculum. We want to thank our sources for the information presented in this podcast episode today which you can find the citations and links to these sources in the show notes.

Segment 1: Overview of Catalina Coast

Have you ever heard of the film Step Brothers? Perhaps… the Catalina Wine Mixer? While this is a great film in movie history, it does not correctly portray the true biodiversity of the Catalina Coast.
Now that you’re speaking about it, I remember looking up the Catalina Coast a while back and getting really intrigued by all of the stuff I was finding. I went down a rabbit hole for like three hours. I didn’t even know there was that much to look at. I might have to plan a vacation there.
I’m not going to lie I tend to stay away from the water because to quote Raven “I can’t swim”
And not to mention all the animals…. The ocean is a mystery that I do not wanna explore
But nonetheless, here we are today learning about the insane vastness of biodiversity
The Catalina Coast is located 23 miles off the coast of Southern California. If you’re taking a helicopter, you can get to the Catalina islands in 15 minutes. It is a part of the Channel Islands archipelago and is one of the four southern channel islands

Segment 2: Evidence that supports Marine Life on the Catalina Coast

Catalina Coast is the home of the Blue Cavern Onshore State Marine Conservation Area
If I remember correctly, Katy Perry says, “nothing comes close to the (I’m sure) Blue Cavern Onshore State Marine Conservation Coast”, and that includes humans, as it is a conservation
For the record, Sofia is not remembering this line correctly, but the idea is there.
More than 60 endemic species… meaning they are only found in the Catalina Coast region
Conservationists are working to preserve these endemic species to maintain the genetic diversity of this region
Ensuring that each species can adapt to environmental factors
Since Sofia wanted to quote Katy Perry, I’ll quote a super underground artist that you guys definitely wouldn’t know…. They’re called the Four Preps…… They sang a song called 26 miles (Santa Catalina)
So anyway, they talk about how it's only 26 miles from Cali baby and it's full of romance.
There are several types of species on Catalina Island. This includes different types of seals, such as the Phoca vitulina, or the harbor seal. The island also includes different types of snakes, lizards, frogs, and more.
My favorite sea animal is the sea lion. Does the Catalina Coast have those too?
Of course they do! The California Seal Lion, or the Zalophus Californianus, are one of the many species included in the Catalina Coast’s environment.

Segment 3: Connection to the Course

8.6 biodiversity
The biological variety and variability of life in a given ecosystem
Since the Catalina Coast is home to so many species, it indicates that there is a lot of biodiversities
The high level of biodiversity makes it so that the organisms can better respond to changes in their environment

Thank you for listening to this episode of My AP Biology Thoughts. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. Cheers to the Catalina Coast!!!!!