Special lecture tonight (Friday, October 14, 2016), and citizen-science training workshops Saturday and Sunday if you are interested:
Seabirds, Citizen Science and Saving the World — a talk by JULIA PARRISH, University of Washington School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, Executive Director of COASST
Friday, October 14, 2016 7:00 pm
Friday Harbor Laboratories – Commons
620 University Road, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
In 2009, thousands of Surf Scoters washed ashore along the outer coast of WA. In 2014, tens of thousands of Cassin’s Auklets littered beaches from Haida Gwaii in British Columbia south to Newport, Oregon. In 2015, hundreds of thousands of Common Murres were found from CA north to the Gulf of AK. And in 2016, thousands of Rhinoceros Auklets died in the Salish Sea. Is the coastal ecosystem collapsing? What’s normal? Join Julia Parrish, executive director of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), to learn more about seabird patterns and COASST, the largest beached bird program in the world.
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Beachwalkers and Birders Wanted!
Help make a difference for the environment by collecting data for the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST). COASST is a citizen science project dedicated to involving volunteers in the collection of high quality data on the status of coastal beaches and trends of seabirds. Our goal is to assist government agencies and other organizations in making informed management and conservation decisions, and to promote proactive citizen involvement and action. COASST volunteers systematically count and identify bird carcasses that wash ashore along ocean beaches from northern California to Alaska. Volunteers need NO experience with birds, just a commitment to survey a specific beach (about ¾ mile) each month.
If you are interested in participating, join COASST staff for a training session to hear about how COASST started, learn how to use the custom Beached Birds field guide, and try out your new skills with some actual specimens. There is no charge to attend a training, but plan to provide a $20 refundable deposit if you would like to take home a COASST volunteer kit complete with a COASST Beached Birds field guide. Training activities take place indoors. 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.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
10:00am-4:00pm
Friday Harbor Laboratories – Commons
620 University Road
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
Sunday, October 16, 2016
11:00am-5:00pm
San Juan County Fire District #4
2228 Fisherman Bay Road
Lopez Island, WA 98261
RSVP to coasst@uw.edu or 206-221-6893.
If you can’t attend this event, please check our website at www.coasst.org for additional information on upcoming events and trainings.