Nineteen Beach Watchers graduated from the WSU Jefferson County Beach Watcher training held in March, after a fast-paced, intensive 80-hour training. The course provided an overview of water issues and the near-shore environment in Jefferson County and prepared the students for volunteering in the community.
The new Beach Watchers have already accomplished a lot since graduating March 31. They have seeded over 1 million clam seeds and over 800 bags of oyster seeds to ensure healthy shellfish populations and conducted the annual microplastic monitoring at Fort Flager - part of an ongoing study by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.
Beach Watchers observing water "disappear" into previous concrete in front of Sea Marine.
Beach Watchers will continue their service to the community, putting in a minimum of 100 hours over the next two years. Look for the Beach Watchers at Earth Day Every Day at Fort Worden on April 16, where they will be demonstrating the new car wash kits purchased by the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee. The kits, which are available to the community for check out, will reduce the amount of pollutants going into our waterways. Beach Watchers will also be at the Earth Day celebration at Wild Birds Unlimited on April 23 with a "touch tank" of marine critters and their informative display about plastic.
The new Beach Watchers bring the total of Beach Watchers to more than 190 trained by the WSU Jefferson County Extension program. Last year the volunteers provided 2,800 service hours in Jefferson County, valued at more than $52,000. The Beach Watchers provide support to WSU Extension programs and to partner organizations such as the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jefferson County and the Jefferson County Conservation District.