Join the COASST (Coastal Observation And Seabird Survey Team) Marine Debris Program in Newport, OR and help make a difference for the environment! Volunteer training will be held the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport from 10 am to 4 pm.
COASST Marine Debris participants survey local beaches and collect data on the characteristics and location of debris – data that will ultimately be used to map the source and transport pathways of debris, as well as the potential harm to people, wildlife, and local ecosystems.
Beach surveys are best conducted in groups of 2 or more – please come with a survey partner in mind or plan to join a team during training.
Reserve your training spot by emailing coasst@uw.edu or calling 206-221-6893.
For over a decade, COASST has been collecting and analyzing beached bird data along the coast of the Pacific, with the hope of translating our findings into coastal management and conservation efforts. Each year we document thousands of beached bird carcasses of a wide variety of species, to create a baseline data set for the Pacific coast. From this baseline, we are better able to track anomalies, patterns, and population densities of the species found in our region. We then report our findings to the public, as well as policy makers in hopes to improve coastal habitat, educate the public, and empower citizens to take a more active role in conservation and the environment.
COASST is a citizen science project, meaning that we rely on everyday people (such as yourselves!) to contribute to our scientific goals. Therefore, most of our data set has been gathered and documented by our extraordinary volunteer base. Currently COASST is operating in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii with the assistance of over 500 amazing volunteers. Our “COASSTers”, as we lovingly call them, patrol beaches near their homes (or beaches that they can access at least once a month), scouring the ground for evidence of beached birds. They take a few simple measurements, snap some photos, tag their finds, and report back to us on the condition of their beach and the birds present. Each bird is then verified at our home office at the University of Washington, and added to our ever-growing database of bird finds.
If you’d like to volunteer for COASST, or want more information on our program, visit our website at www.coasst.org