Making up the field trip to the Tide Pools:

Map to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach

Choose an appropriate low tide day: list of days

Assignment

Pliocene mollusks and vertebrates:

Purisima Formation at Capitola near Santa Cruz

Map to New Brighton Beach State Park, Capitola

Finding the fossils: one blog

Remember that fossil collecting is prohibited within the state park; the cliffs closest to Capitola are not in the state park. You need a Federal permit to collect vertebrate fossils anywhere in the U.S.

Warning: this locality is VERY DANGEROUS except at low tide, ideally a tide no higher than 1.0 feet. Plan to arrive about an hour before the low tide so you can work into the ebbing tide, especially if you are coming from New Brighton toward Capitola. The most dangerous section is the Capitola end of the cliffs.