Shoreline Debris Monitoring

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS), funded by a grant from NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, initiated shoreline debris monitoring in 2012 following NOAA’s Marine Debris Shoreline Survey Field Guide methods published in 2012. OCNMS volunteers originally initiated shoreline debris monitoring in 2001 using data categories standardized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Ocean Conservancy. Heightened interest in shoreline debris data associated with concerns about materials originating from the March 2011 Japan tsunami coincided with release of the new NOAA methods, which prompted significant modification of OCNMS’ shoreline debris monitoring program. Shoreline debris data will be used to document temporal, spatial, and composition patterns in debris deposition on Washington’s coastline, and to the extent possible to identify changes in debris types and volumes associated with the March 2011 tsunami debris. In 2012, new shoreline debris monitoring methods were initiated at 6 sites on the outer coast of Washington state. By 2014 there were nine coast sites and seven sites on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The goal for FY 2015 is to continue this monitoring effort and expand the effort to teachers and their students within walking distance of coast sites.