BeachCOMBERS

BeachCOMBERS is a long-term community science program that monitors the health of coastal ecosystems in Central and Southern California. Founded in 1997, BeachCOMBERS is a collaborative program powered by volunteers and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in partnership with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Through BeachCOMBERS, trained volunteers survey selected sections of coastline monthly from Santa Cruz to San Diego with the specific goal of monitoring deposition of beach cast carcasses and oil presence to use as a metric of coastal ecosystem conditions. BeachCOMBERS has provided data for a number of scientific papers, contributed to the conservation of marine resources, quantified oiled wildlife, and has informed resource managers about wildlife entanglement from fishing gear and other anthropogenic debris.

Volunteer participants complete a training session with program managers and scientific collaborators prior to conducting BeachCOMBERS activities. Once completed, volunteers conduct 2-person monthly surveys. During the first week of every month, volunteers collect standardized data on all dead marine birds, mammals, and sea turtles along their assigned beach. If a carcass is encountered, data collection includes: (1) identify to family or species; (2) record as new vs. old deposition; and (3) examine carcass condition. If the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is deemed low, volunteers may be asked to mark carcasses to avoid recounting, and occasionally asked to collect for further examination.

Volunteer requirements:

• Ability to walk on unstable ground (sand and cobble) for distances between 2 to 6 miles
• Completion of volunteer trainings
• One-year commitment to survey an assigned beach one day during a low tide within the first week of each month (2-6 hours)