Our friends at Shoreline Education for Awareness bring us volunteers who help us learn about, see, and understand our marine environment. Next time you see them at Coquille Point or Face Rock, stop and learn some new things, and thank them for their hard work!
Shoreline Education for Awareness gets all the credit for the text of this blog post as well as the photos. Thank you!
Shoreline Education for Awareness (SEA)
Mission Statement: Shoreline Education for Awareness (SEA) is a nonprofit Friends organization providing interpretation and environmental education about the marine environment on the Oregon south coast. SEA contributes to the conservation efforts of the Oregon Islands and Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuges.
You will easily recognize SEA’s wildlife interpreters in their blue jackets with the SEA logo and spotting scopes set up for public use. Volunteers are on duty at Face Rock, occasionally shifting to Coquille Point, on Saturday and Sunday, starting at the end of May through July, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. During these summer months visitors are able to view migratory seabirds such as Common Murres, Cormorants, Black Oystercatchers, Surf Scoters, Pigeon Guillemots and Tufted Puffins. Visitors can observe newborn chicks being cared for by their parents and learn about the offshore rocks and islands that provide habitat for seabirds and marine mammals.
SEA volunteers also have a presence at the Simpson Reef marine mammal haul out site near Charleston on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting at the end of May through the Labor Day Weekend. Here visitors get a close up look at Steller and California Sea Lions, Elephant Seals and Harbor Seals and may spot Gray Whales as well.
SEA volunteers interact with over 22,000 sightseers yearly and are rewarded with the WOW factor when visitors look through a scope and are amazed at what they see. The volunteers also enjoy meeting people of all ages from around the world who share their love of the Oregon coast and its wildlife.
As a Friends group of USF&W many of our efforts are assisting their staff in efforts like a pollinator garden, invasive species control, bird surveys, mosquito and bat species monitoring, and outreach programs. SEA also presents several educational seminars throughout the year utilizing local experts on birds, marine mammals, the ocean, geology and our local tide pools.
SEA, Inc. was founded in Bandon, OR in 1990 by Bill and Joan Russell, and Owen and Sara Duvall and is an Oregon 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. To find out more about this organization find us on Facebook or check out their Website at https://sea-edu.org/ or call us at 541-313-6751.