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By Kathy Blackmarr and Joe Lazzari

“…What everyone will learn who studies it [animal world] is, a renewed sense of kinship with the earth and all its inhabitants.” 

—Walt Disney

Part of an ongoing series.

Our journeys through life depend upon parents and all those who have played a role on the road to adulthood and provided a roadmap to a happy life, or to an existence with limited sense of happiness. We who reside in Southern California are but a short distance from the attraction billed as “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Locally, where one might experience happiness is at the beach, a walk through Gum Grove Park, or with a visit to the library, all of which are windows to learning and wonder. There is one additional spot to visit the animal world: close, wild, welcoming, offering moments of grandeur, learning, and fostering kinship with the earth.

Many of us travel past Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach enroute to work or school or running errands. 

The California least turn nest the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.

While we may be curious as to what happens on this base our thoughts may not reflect upon The Animal World and the abundance of life which exists within the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, part of this Naval installation.

This story reminds us of the essential need to experience the natural world when so much of our daily life is taken up immersed in tasks dominated by news and daily routines. On a 3-acre site, surrounded by a chain-link fence, sits the California least tern nesting site within the confines of the base. Since 1995 volunteers observe, record data, note predators and intervene, when necessary, to keep the colony protected from harm. This endangered species has lost 90% of its nesting sites along the California coast to human activity. 

Over 100 young fledglings migrated to Mexico and Central America this season and are expected to return to Seal Beach during May 2026, continuing the species’ life cycle.  

Walt’s life inspired many of us to search for happiness within the animal world and the freedom that exists in the wild and untamed natural environment. The refuge and its volunteers have been successful this year in providing that haven for a new generation of wildlife seeking a resting place and ensuring their survival for another year.

Come visit us on a guided tour, last Saturday of each month, to experience the circle of life of which we ourselves are but one part of the vast Animal World. Request a reservation @ 562-598-1024. Learn more at www.sealbeachnwrfriends.org.

Kathy Blackmarr and Joe Lazzari are members of Friends of Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.