This dataset contains Illumina MiSeq sequencing reads produced during a community-initiated study of marine microbial diversity in La Jolla, California. The three collection sites, all popular swimming beaches, are notable for their differences in human activity and marine wildlife. 16S V4 rDNA sequencing of planktonic bacteria followed by diversity analysis in Qiime2 showed that La Jolla Cove and the La Jolla Children's Pool have significantly higher OTU diversity than La Jolla Shores. All three sites have distinct taxonomic composition. No evidence of pathogenic bacteria was found. This study is an example of low-budget, community-driven science that uses state-of-the-art DNA sequencing methods to advance our understanding of coastal environments.

180312_Hyland_S0_L001_I1_001.fastq.gz

gzip-compressed FASTQ file containing barcode sequences for each read

180312_Hyland_S0_L001_R1_001.fastq.gz

gzip-compressed FASTQ file containing FORWARD read sequences and quality scores

180312_Hyland_S0_L001_R2_001.fastq.gz

gzip-compressed FASTQ file containing REVERSE read sequences and quality scores

180312_Hyland_metadata.txt

Tab-separated file containing sequencing information and standard metadata fields for the Earth Microbiome Project (EMP). See README_180312_Hyland.txt for descriptions of metadata fields