Stranded Mammal Survey Talk

Volunteers work with stranded whale carcass.

The CoastWatch training already scheduled for Dec. 15 in Port Orford has an important addition.  Joining Fawn Custer, CoastWatch’s volunteer coordinator, will be Dawn Goley, director of the marine mammal stranding program for northern California and a professor of zoology at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.  She has been conducting standardized beach surveys for stranded marine mammals for seven years as a way to build a baseline of understanding of stranding patterns along the California coastline, and will now be working with Fawn and CoastWatch volunteers to study stranded marine mammals in southern Oregon using the same techniques as used in California.  She will explain how volunteers can get involved in this research project, which goes beyond regular CoastWatch mile monitoring.

She and Fawn will be presenting on Friday, Dec. 15, in Oregon State University’s Port Orford Field Station (444 Jackson St.), from 11:30 a.m. through about 12:30 p.m.  If weather permits, this will be followed by a beachwalk.

Fawn will provide a general “CoastWatch Clinic”—a how-to-do-it review of the techniques for monitoring a CoastWatch mile.  The session will also focus on the King Tide photography project, which documents the winter’s highest tides as a preview of sea level rise, as Fawn will provide pointers for those willing to volunteer themselves and their cameras for the third round of the project in January.

Weather allowing, participants can then head to the beach for some on-the-ground training and guided beachcombing.

For more information, contact Fawn Custer, (541) 270-0027, fawn@oregonshores.org.