The Beachcomber's Guide to Fossils in Capitola
By LORENA PARAS
Available now! | USA $17.95 | ISBN: 978-0983926474 | 70 pages
The original version of this book was a hand bound volume, which the author prepared for an 8th grade master works project for Black Pine Circle in Berkeley in 2012. As such, the book reflected the author's longtime interest in writing, marine biology, paleontology, art, and photography. (Indeed, Lorena's interest in marine biology had already been long-term by eight grade: she had learned the Hawaiian names of fish by the age of 2, had assisted with data collection on hammerhead shark feeding at 5, and had photographed her first moray eel while snorkeling at age 8). To produce the book, Lorena made numerous trips to Capitola and to the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, took a bookbinding class, learned the stippled ink drawing technique, and corresponded via email with Frank Perry whose book Fossil Invertebrates and Geology of the Marine Cliffs at Capitola, California was a major inspiration for this one. From the foreword by: Chela Zabin, PhD University of California, Davis Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
The Beachcomber’s Guide to Fossils in Capitola What you now hold in your hands is a field guide, but it is also a book about joy: the joy of time spent at the beach in the colorful town of Capitola-by-the-Sea, the joy of exploration and discovery, the joy of connecting oceans of the past to oceans of the present, and the joy of carefully and thoughtfully expressing that connection in writing and art. We hope it accompanies you to the beach and enhances the experience you find hunting for natural treasures on a beautiful summer day by the sea.
From the outside, Capitola looks like a normal beach town. Small shops, restaurants along the water. A typical beach, surfers, swimmers, sunbathers. But if you head down the beach, there’s something else. Along with the seagulls and algae, in the cliffs and the rocks, there’s something much older. The fossils of the Purisima Formation.
Lorena Paras is a young author from Northern California with passionate interests in the arts and sciences. Fossil finding has always been a favorite activity; one of many providing depth to her relationship with the Monterey Bay, nearby coastal beaches and sloughs. While this book was created during her 8th grade studies at a Berkeley middle school, Lorena is now a junior at Berkeley High School.
About the Author:
Lorena Paras is a young author from Northern California with passionate interests in the arts and sciences. Fossil finding has always been a favorite activity; one of many providing depth to her relationship with the Monterey Bay, nearby coastal beaches and sloughs. This book was created during her 8th grade studies at a Berkeley middle school.
Photo: Maire O'Sullivan