Do you ever look for sand dollars when you walk along the beach?\u00a0 Or Japanese glass floats?\u00a0 What about dead birds?\u00a0 It may sounds strange, but hundreds of people along the West Coast walk up and down the beach looking for dead birds.<\/p>\n
Let me explain. \u00a0\u00a0Volunteers in citizen science project COASST (the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team) do monthly beach surveys to monitor seabird mortality.\u00a0 This is the citizen science group I will be working with for my thesis.\u00a0 Participants commit to surveying a one-mile stretch of beach every month, and complete a one-day training to lean the protocol for identifying wracked birds.\u00a0 After each survey, volunteers upload the data and photographs to the program website for independent verification.<\/p>\n
Why monitor dead birds?\u00a0 The COASST program was originally designed in 1998 to collect baseline data about seabird mortality in case there\u2019s an oil spill.\u00a0 If no one knows what\u2019s \u201cnormal\u201d for seabird populations, it might be difficult to create accountability should an oil spill occur.\u00a0 Over the past thirteen years, COASST data has been used in a variety of scientific studies, including studies on fisheries interactions, harmful algal blooms, genetic studies of Western Grebes (candidate for threatened species status), and potential warning systems for avian flu.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, a couple COASST volunteers let me join their survey to see what it\u2019s like.\u00a0 On the drive out to the beach, one volunteer asked me, \u201cHow did you hear about COASST?\u201d It turns out that we both first learned of the program in a book called Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris.\u00a0 After reading about the COASST program, she looked up when the next training would be held, called her \u201cnerd friend,\u201d and they have been happily identifying and photographing dead birds ever since.<\/p>\n
I have to say, this was the most fun I\u2019ve ever had counting dead birds. \u00a0We had great weather, beautiful scenery, interesting conversation\u2026 what else could you want from a day at the beach?\u00a0 I am really looking forward to working with the COASST program and volunteers for my thesis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you ever look for sand dollars when you walk along the beach?\u00a0 Or Japanese glass floats?\u00a0 What about dead birds?\u00a0 It may sounds strange, but hundreds of people along the West Coast walk up and down the beach looking for dead birds. Let me explain. \u00a0\u00a0Volunteers in citizen science project COASST (the Coastal Observation… Continue reading