I want to work with marine mammals in Cali, any good places to live?

Question

Hi. I'm really interested in Marine Mammals and want to work with them. I know that the Monterey Bay area has some great volunteer options and possibly jobs. I will be graduating from college next year and want to move out to California, but I know its expensive and I dont have any connections. I was wondering if any of you had suggestions for places that are within driving distance of marine mammal centers/colleges that are not extremely expensive and if there are any other places in Cali I should be looking for work/housing. Thanks so much.

Answer 1

The Monterey Bay is where I was going to say, and then I read further into what you wrote. Monterey Bay has several areas to live. They do marine research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is in Monterey. I think they also do it at the two universities UC Santa Cruz and Cal State Monterey Bay (which is in Fort Ord -- basically Seaside/Marina).

Santa Cruz is at the north end of the bay, Carmel as at the South End. Carmel to Santa Cruz is a 45 min drive. If you want to live in the Carmel/Monterey area, the less expensive places to live (driveable) are Seaside, Marina, and Salinas.

As for Santa Cruz, I am not sure where the less expensive places to live are. Most likely the city of Santa Cruz is less expensive then the surrounding beach towns to Santa Cruz. I am guessing. There is also this cool town called Scotts Valley that is slightly less expensive, and is about a 5 min drive to Santa Cruz.

Good luck!

Answer 2

What others have said are pretty good suggestions. There is also a Marine Mammal Center in Marin County I believe but that area is REALLY expensive to live in.

I would also check out San Diego. It's cheaper than the Bay Area and probably about the same as the Monterey/Salinas area. It's one of the best deals along the CA coast I think for being a big city with such a nice climate by the beach, you can get a one bedroom for under $800 within 15 minutes of the beach easily. SeaWorld would probably have a lot of job opportunities for you as would the San Diego Zoo. And there are actually fairly affordable neighborhoods really close to the Zoo and fairly close to SeaWorld too. Also there is the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) at UC San Diego which is good for studying and working with marine life. There is also the Birch Aquarium at the SIO. and would be a good place to look for work. Also the Navy is really big here so they might offer training programs with Dolphins or other Marine life. SD is a great city; very beach/ocean oriented and has a great beach/surfer culture, amazing climate, and friendly people and not too expensive for what you get comapred to LA and the Bay Area. I just saw dolphins in the wild for the first time over Memorial day weekend down here and they were playing and jumping high out of the water just offshore about 50 feet, it was a pretty cool site. SD has some great marine life with a lot of variety of species.

Answer 3

If you're going to be working with the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary directly, I'd probably recommend Salinas...Maybe Gilroy, but it's a little farther away. Salinas is essentially directly inland from Monterey. The housing prices there are quite reasonable, as many of the residents are farmers. However, it is a reasonably sized city with plenty of services.

There are also similar positions available at UCSC...they have a well developed Marine Biology program there. Housing is a bit more expensive in Santa Cruz County, but there are places outside of the city that are a bit more affordable. Bonny Doon, for example, is reasonably priced, because of the fact that it's in the mountains, and a bit out of the way. That said, one of the easiest ways to get to Bonny Doon, is through the University, so the commute would be really easy from there.

Below are some links that may help you to do some research on the area. I have included some of the local newspapers, so that you can check the classifieds to see for yourself what the prices are like.

Answer 4

There's a Marine Mammal Center in Marin Country near Sausalito.

Answer 5

There is a youth hostel within walking distance from the Marine Mammal center in the Marin headlands. There is also the Headlands Institute right next to the Marine Mammal center, where other people in your position can give you better answers to your question.

Answer 6

try also marine mammal center in the marin headlands just north of san francisco. Also, I seem to recall that Marine World in Vallejo also does help with marine wildlife. At least the used to.

Also, I believe UC Santa Cruz does some great marine biology stuff. Not sure how that is totally related to what you are doing.

Answer 7

Let's assume your income can manage $1000+ a month apt. rent, unless of course you want to live in a complete dump. In the Monterey area, you should look in Seaside or Marina as your close to Monterey options. After that, you will probably have to look in Salinas.