My Park Story: Merrill McCauley

Park Ranger Merrill McCauley has loved the ocean and fish since he was a young boy in junior high school, and worked as a deckhand on sportfishing boats from the age of 13 until his college years. While working on these boats, he would see park rangers on patrol and would think to himself, "Wow, a job where you get to talk about fish and fishing all day and protect our marine animals - that's what I want to do when I grow up!" After years of hard work, he now has a job as a law enforcement park ranger patrolling the Channel Islands and protecting the marine wildlife at the park.

In these pictures, young Merrill learns how to put on diving gear. On the right, Merrill is standing on a park patrol boat. Channel Islands National Park law enforcement rangers work to safeguard the Marine Protected Areas that protect critical habitat for many amazing marine animals.