A Snail's Pace Pilot Study

As a group, we hope to observe and estimate the population of tidal snails in Morro Bay over time. Snails are mainly land animals, but require a great deal of moisture to survive. Thus, many in the central coast of California have adapted to thriving off the tidal zone. We will conduct a pilot study to estimate the population of snails around Morro Rock at one time point and hope to follow up a week later with another population estimate how much the population varies over a 1 week period.

Methods:
We will survey the area around Morro Rock at the lowest tide of the day. Using a geographic map of the area we will divide the area into 1m squared sections. After taking random samples with a quadrat, we would use simple statistical techniques to create a 95% confidence interval for the actual population of snails. The snails will not be handled, manipulated, or the environment disturbed in any way. We will also take time to examine other coastal sites in Morro Bay and Los Osos for extensions or replacement of population estimates as backup.

Morro Rock. Picture by Kelsie Clausen