Skip to main content

BeachCOMBERS

Coastal Ocean Mammal and Bird Education and Research Surveys (BeachCOMBERS) is a community (citizen) science project managed by the Ventura Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in collaboration with the Moss Landing Marine Lab, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and others. Volunteers conduct monthly surveys of California beaches from Santa Cruz to San Diego, and collect information on carcass and oil deposition.

Project URL: https://www.mlml.calstate.edu/beachcombers/

Geographic Scope: Coastal California

Project Status: Active - not recruiting volunteers

Participation Tasks: Classification or tagging, Data entry, Identification, Measurement, Observation, Photography, Specimen/sample collection,

Start Date: 01/01/1997

Project Contact: david_sherer@fws.gov

Federal Government Sponsor:

Fish and Wildlife Service logo

Other Federal Government Sponsor:

Fields of Science: Animals, Biology, Birds, Ecology and environment, Education, Nature and outdoors, Ocean/water and marine

Intended Outcomes: Obtain baseline rates of deposition of beachcast marine bird and mammal carcasses to: assess causes of mortality, and inform resource management agencies of mortality events; build a network of interacting volunteers, scientists, and resource managers; and disseminate information to the public and educational institutions.