Unbeaten Path participates in first ever Beach Watch training program along Mendo Coast with Farallones Marine Sancturary!

I was a recent participant in the Beach Watch training program in connection with the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association and it was an experience I will never forget. I cannot say enough about this program and how fortunate I am to be a part of this team. The devotion of the FMSA training staff was inspirational to say the least and the volunteers who participated were an outstanding wealth of information! 

I spend so much of my time observing and touring the Mendonoma Coast that when I heard of the Beach Watch program I knew instantly that this would be a great way for me to personally contribute and give back to this special and significant region of the world. The Beach Watch program was an intensive 4 days (with more training to come).  It was also a weekend of giving and receiving which is everything my tours with Unbeaten Path represent to me.  I am honored and proud to have been part of this training as well as the ongoing efforts to survey, protect, and understand this coast.  I have been assigned Walk On Beach and will be surveying this section of the coast on a monthly basis!

Click here to learn more about the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association!

Below is an excerpt of an article from The Independent Coast Observer (ICO) about the Beach Watch program and was written by Beach Watch volunteer and ICO reporter, Meg Kailikole.  Thank you, Meg! 

Twenty-two local volunteers were the first graduates of the Mendonoma Coast Beach Watch program sponsored by the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association in partnership with the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, completing an intensive four-day training session from Nov. 6 - Nov. 9th.  Graduates learned how to conduct a shoreline survey, to properly collect and record data on live and dead birds and marine mammals, as well as document human activity.  

The data collected by Beach Watch volunteers provides a long tern database of information used by scientists and natural resource managers to study and help manage and protect natural habitats and wildlife … 

Since 1993 Beach Watch has monitored 150 miles of California Shoreline from Bodega Head through Año Nuevo State Park Reserve in San Mateo County, collecting data on the abundance and distribution of wildlife and human use on 142 beach segments and adjacent waters.  According to Kirsten Lindquist of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, the program is expanding from Bodega Head to Manchester Beach in Mendocino County, adding 61 miles and 16 new beach segments to its survey area. …