With all the degradation in the ocean and its harmful effects on the planet, Cal High senior Nick Cunningham is raising awareness about this issue through the Ocean Conservation Club.
Working at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a guide since his freshman year, Cunningham became aware of degradation in the ocean and decided he wanted to do something about it.
“I’ve noticed there’s a lot of degradation in the ocean,” Cunningham said. “I want to help conserve it, so I want to bring that to the community.”
He has been determined to spread awareness ever since.
Cunningham started the Ocean Conservation Club last school year and over that time it has grown to more than 150 registered members.
The club hosts meetings to discuss conservation topics and monthly events, such as beach camps. Unlike most Cal clubs, the Ocean Conservation Club goes on field trips.
“Just around San Ramon, you can’t really see what’s happening in the ocean,” Cunningham said. “But once you go out, you can really experience what it is to be out there.”
Marine biology teacher Jake Martin, who serves as the Ocean Conservation Club adviser, said Cunningham does most of the work for the club. He creates presentations for meetings an helps organize events such as field trips.
“He’s like a mini Steve Irwin,” Martin said, comparing Cunningham to the Australian conservationist known as the Crocodile Hunter.
Over the past year, the club has attended multiple field trips, including tide pooling trips with Martin’s biology class, whale watching, and visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
“[The field trips are] lots of fun,” senior club member Naomi Parsons said. “I think they’re a great way to have hands-on experience rather than just reading about and speaking about conservation.”
While on field trips the club gets to see marine life in the ocean and sometimes manage to get a glimpse of big animals, such as whales.
“It’s pretty hard to see whales out here, unless you’re lucky, but we usually always see whales when we’re out there,” Cunningham said. “Last year, we saw a big pod of orcas, dolphins and a couple humpbacks.”
The Ocean Conservation Club is actively working to learn more about how to help marine life. Last year, the club went to Muir Beach in San Francisco and we collected 10 pounds of trash.
“While we were out there, we just had fun, and then also just contributed to collecting trash with the environment,” Cunningham said.
After high school, Cunningham hopes to continue his studies at UC Santa Barbara as either a marine biology or general biology student, then plans to get into research studies and pursue a PhD.
“Nick has a great sense of curiosity and a strong passion for marine biology related topics and likes to share this with other people,” AP Biology teacher Tyler Richman teacher said. “I remember many times last year he would come to my class to share various interesting marine invertebrate samples that he had found in marine bio.”
Senior Abbey Arteaga, the secretary of the club, describes Cunningham as a sweet and funny person, having known him since middle school.
“He’s very passionate about what he does,” Arteaga said. “You could see that in his actions and how he takes charge.”
