Explore California's Love Affair with the Sea during Birch Aquarium at Scripps Lecture

Guest Speaker: David Helvarg, author of "The Golden Shore"
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 26
Time: 6:30-8 p.m.
Cost: $8
RSVP: 858-534-5771 or online.

How is it that California, the most populous state in the nation, has also learned to live well with the sea, protecting some of the most spectacular marine wildlife and scenic coastline on Earth?

Join David Helvarg at Birch Aquarium on Feb. 26 as he discusses California's relationship with its coastline.

In The Golden Shore: California's Love Affair with the Sea, author David Helvarg explores the history, culture and changing nature of California's coasts and ocean, including the ongoing relationship between San Diego and the Navy. Join Helvarg for a special lecture from 6:30-8 p.m. on Feb. 26 at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, during which he will share his passionate tale of one of the most stunning human and natural habitats to be found anywhere on Earth: the 1,100-mile Pacific coastline.

Helvarg's new book takes the reader on both a geographic and literary journey along the Pacific coastline, from the Oregon border to the Mexican border and out into its whale-, seal- and shark-rich offshore seamounts, rock isles and kelp forests.

Part history, part travelogue, part love letter, The Golden Shore tells the story of California's majestic coastline and ocean. Helvarg captures the spirit of the Californian coast, its mythic place in American culture, and its role in a state whose ongoing natural disasters and unremitting sense of renewal are intimately linked to its deep connection with an ever-changing sea.

A booksigning will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase or can be pre-purchased through the aquarium Gift Shop by calling 858-534-8753.

Helvarg is founder and executive director of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based organization working for ocean and coastal conservation. An award-winning journalist, he has written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Popular Science, Sierra and Parade, and has produced more than 40 documentaries for PBS, the Discovery Channel and others. His previous books include Rescue Warriors and Saved by the Sea. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

About Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Birch Aquarium at Scripps is the public exploration center for the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the aquarium features more than 60 habitats of fish and invertebrates from the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest to the tropical waters of Mexico and beyond. An interactive museum showcases research discoveries by Scripps scientists on climate, earth and ocean science and features five-dozen interactive elements. Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Birch Aquarium has an annual attendance of more than 436,000, including 40,000 school children.