Despite the all the thunder and lightening, torrential downpours and frigid wind, our first Oswald West Committee action weekend was a great success! Activities included running our NOAA Marine Debris Monitoring transect/beach cleanup, a stewardship planning tour of Oswald West State Park led by Oregon State Parks and Recreation, water quality testing at our Blue Water Task Force lab at Nehalem Bay State Park and a brief stormy surf session by a few 'brave' individuals.
The weekend kicked off with a sunset training on the Chapter's NOAA Marine Debris Monitoring project and Falcon Cove transect for 12 volunteers. Although the beach was relatively clean, we were still able to collect three bags of debris much of which was small plastics.
Sunday morning Oregon Parks and Recreation gave Chapter volunteers and leaders a tour of their water quality testing sites and we talked about future collaboration on education/outreach and restoration projects along the trail to the beach and in the old campground. In many ways Oswald West State Park (Shorties) is being loved to death and we want to help stem the tide of impact from increased use.
Finally we headed to our newly re-located Blue Water Task Force lab for an impromptu tour and to help prepare the samples taken earlier in the day. In all we had 15 volunteers show up on a stormy weekend with no surf, now that's dedication! Stay tuned for more Shorties Surf Steward action days!
If you'd like to get involved contact our Oswald West Committee leader Mason Brock: mason.w.brock@gmail.com or keep tabs on our Volunteer Signup page.