Rachel Saunders
Davidson Seamount
Our speaker will be Rachel T. Saunders, public relations spokesperson for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. As an area resident for the past 22 years, she was one of the leaders in the creation of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary. Rachel has been associated with “The Ocean Conservancy” (TOC) and has spearheaded efforts to establish sanctuary sites on the west coast including Monterey Bay, Olympic Coast and the consideration of sites in Northern Puget Sound and Hawaii. She has been associated with the Friends of the Sea Otter, Bay Net, Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation and Camp Sea Lab, an ocean science education program for young people. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from State University of New York.
Rachel will give a presentation on the current efforts to include the Davidson Seamount, a spectacular underwater volcano, located 75 miles south west of Monterey off the Big Sur coastline. The Davidson Seamount includes magnificent, rare and ancient cold water corals. She will describe details about the topography and the natural wonders that make this special place a good candidate to be protected by inclusion in the marine sanctuary.