This is a fun volunteer opportunity that I thought some of you may be
interested in! BeachCOMBERS which was founded at Moss Landing Marine
Labs back in the 90's is now managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
out of the Ventura office and has a long history in Monterey Bay. It's a
good excuse to get out and walk the same stretch of beach each month and
you learn a lot about bird ID from a very different perspective than
through bird behavior and movement. Feel free to share with anyone else
that you think might be interested!
Enjoy those spring birds,
Amanda
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: BeachCOMBERS Virtual Training Registration
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:58:29 -0700
From: North Coast BeachCOMBERS <beachcombersmb...>
To: North Coast BeachCOMBERS <beachcombersmb...>, Ventura
BeachCOMBERS, FWS8 <beachcombers...>
Hello Current and Prospective BeachCOMBERS,
We are excited to invite you to an upcoming virtual BeachCOMBERS
volunteer training on *May, 1st 2026 from 9-noon*. During the training
we will cover the fundamentals of the BeachCOMBERS program, survey
protocols, and marine mammal and seabird species ID. For our current
volunteers, please feel free to join us if you wish to brush up on your
skills. Please use the link below to register.
Background:
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 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)
We welcome you to share the attached registration link with anyone who
may be interested in joining the BeachCOMBERS program 😊
