Here's one for all you beachcombers out there. The organization COASST (Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team) is busy establishing a baseline on a beach near you. And they want your help.
COASST is a partnership between volunteer members of the general public and academic scientists. Carefully trained volunteers walk the same stretch of beach each month, collecting data on beach-cast seabird carcasses, as well as debris, humans, dogs, vehicles, and oil. The data are sent to a University of Washington lab where they are vetted for accuracy and added to a central database. COASST makes those data available to conservation and management scientists, as well as producing quarterly and annual reports for the volunteers, providing a 'bird's eye' perspective on the beaches they've been walking-a larger scale view on trends in seabird biology and coastal ecosystem processes. The data are particular valuable in that they offer a baseline for seabird mortality and phenology against which the effect of stressors, from an oil spill to El Nino events or climate change, can be measured. COASST monitors beaches from Eureka to the Canadian border, as well as a growing number of points in Alaska, more than 400 beaches in all.
This is citizen science at its best. And we all love a walk on the beach, right? Click here to join the network now.
