BioBlitz Introduction and Training

A scene from last year's BioBlitz at Otter Rock.\Photo by Nancy White.

On Thursday, June 6, we’re celebrating D-Day with a BioBlitz at Otter Rock Marine Reserve.  The goal is to take a one-day inventory of all the species we can find on the shore and in the intertidal on the fringes of the marine reserve.  Everyone is welcome and needed as BioBlitz participants, but volunteers who aren’t skilled naturalists will benefit from some orientation and training.

So, on the evening of Wednesday, June 5, we’re offering a BioBlitz introduction and training session.  Join CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the large meeting yurt at Beverly Beach State Park just north of Newport (198 N.E. 12rd St., to be exact).  Fawn will provide a tutorial on how BioBlitzes are conducted and on recognizing the species we’re likely to find on the shoreline facing the marine reserve.  Katy Nalven, representing the Oregon Coast Aquarium as our 2019 Marine Reserve BioBlitz Coordinator, will join Fawn to help participants upload the iNaturalist app and learn how to use it.  This is a useful tool (for those with smartphones) which enables any observer of the natural world, of any skill level, to contribute information to a vast national database.

We will also discuss the opportunity to become part of the CoastWatch Community Science Team for the Otter Rock Marine Reserve.

The event is free and open to all.  While the idea is to prepare for the upcoming BioBlitz, feel welcome to attend even if you can’t participate on the following day but would simply like some background information on the shoreline and its denizens, or would like to hone your abilities as a CoastWatch mile adopter (or consider becoming one).

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