Contributions | Timeline

• Since 1997 we have trained more than 100 volunteers that currently survey 45 km of beaches in the MBNMS.
• Volunteers actively interact with recreational beach visitors during each monthly survey, educating them about the Beach COMBERS program and the MBNMS.
• The Beach COMBERS program has been highlighted in a number of newspapers (e.g. Californian on 5 February 1998, The Bryan-College Station Eagle in Texas on 1 February 1998, The Monterey County Herald on 9 January 1998, San Jose Mercury News on 27 October 1997).
• An annul summary of the activities of the Beach COMBERS program has been presented in Ecosystem Observations (Benson, DeVogeleare, and Harvey 1998, Benson 1999, 2000) and in the Volunteer Monitor (Ely 2002).
• The Jason Project used video of the Beach COMBERS project in preparation for a Jason expedition to the Monterey Bay.

• Volunteers have provided samples for various research projects in the area (e.g. Scoters and Grebes provided to Laird Henkel at MLML; Common Murres to Hannah Nevins, MLML; Shearwater genetic samples to Cheryl Baduini, Claremont College).
• Results of the Beach COMBERS program have been presented at the MLML Community Seminar series, MBARI seminar program, Pt. Lobos volunteer meeting, Pacific Seabird Group annual meeting, and MBNMS Currents program.
• BeachCOMBER Scott Benson, also a registered lifeguard, interrupted one of his surveys to save the life of a tourist caught in a rip tide.
• June 12, 1998, Beach COMBERS was presented with the Volunteer Recognition Award at the National Ocean Conference by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
• June 2002, Beach COMBERS was presented with the "Star of the Sea" Volunteer Recognition Award at MBNMS 10th Anniversary Celebration.

• Provide locations of sea otter carcasses to the California Department of Fish and Game (CDGF) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium; location of dead marine mammals to the National Stranding Network participants in this area (MLML and UCSC); and location of live marine mammals to The Marine Mammal Center.
• Collection of tar balls, oiled feathers, and oiled carcasses for the CDFG Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response.
• Presentation to a special symposium on seabird by-catch, by invitation from the Pacific Seabird Group.
• Determining the location of banded birds for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Some birds found on beaches of Monterey Bay were tagged as far away as Hawaii.
• Beach COMBERS were asked to assume the role of beach assessment and wildlife capture during the mystery spill of October 1997.
• Beach COMBERS survey data were an essential source of information used to understand the threats to wildlife from gillnet fisheries (Forney et al. 2001). These actions led to increased protective measures for MBNMS resources vulnerable to gillnets.
• Beach COMBERS provided some of the first data regarding the impacts of harmful algal blooms and domoic acid toxicity on seabirds and marine mammals (Gulland 2000, Scholin et al. 2000).

• "Winter Cleaning" by Elisabeth Nadin, Monterey County Herald, 1/28/03.

• Newsletter Article: Ely, E. Beached Bird Surveys, Dead Birds Do Tell Tales. 2002. The Volunteer Monitor, the National Newsletter of Volunteer Watershed Monitoring 14(1) 10-13.
• Poster: "Detecting Oiled Seabirds in the Monterey Bay" at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group, Santa Barbara, California, February 20-23, 2002
• Poster: "Detecting Oiled Seabirds in the Monterey Bay" at the MBNMS Currents Symposium 2002, March 9, CSUMB.
• May 2002: Completed training class for 10 new volunteers.
• Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Volunteer Appreciation Event. Star of the Sea certificate "In great appreciation for your generous contribution of time and dedication to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, preserving it for future generations. We, at NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries, extend our thanks and gratitude." Presented to the Beach COMBERS June 8, 2002.

• May 2001: Added 6 new beaches to the program in the southern region of MBNMS. Two day training class for 17 new volunteers.
• Draft Report: "Beach COMBERS (Coastal Ocean Mammal / Bird Education and Research Surveys) May 1997 - December 2000." Submitted to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, September 2001
• Presentation: "Beach COMBERS a Beach Monitoring Program to Assess Natural and Anthropogenic Changes in Populations of Birds and Mammals in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary" Sixth Biennial Workshop on Research in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary October 25, 2001

• Contribution to paper: "Central California gillnet effort and bycatch of sensitive species, 1990-98." Proceedings of an International Symposium of the Pacific Seabird Group, Semi-Ah-Moo, Washington, February, 1999. In Press: "Seabird Bycatch: Trends, Roadblocks and Solutions."
• Contribution to article: "Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom." Published in NATURE 403(6) 80-84.
• Poster: "Can we distinguish between natural and anthropogenic beach deposition events?" at the MBNMS Currents Symposium 2000, March 18, Santa Cruz, California. Awarded "Best Thematic Poster."

• Ecosystem Observations, Annual Report for the MBNMS, Article: "Seabirds within Monterey Bay - Observations of the quick and the dead."
• Poster: "Monitoring Beachcast Marine Birds And Mammals In Monterey Bay" at the MBNMS Currents Symposium 1999, March 20, Seaside, California.
• Report: "Establishing a Beach Monitoring Program to Assess Natural and Anthropogenic Changes in Populations of Birds, Mammals, and Turtles in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary." Moss Landing Marine Laboratories Technical Publication 99-03.

• Volunteer Recognition Award, signed by Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, presented to Beach COMBERS at the National Oceans Conference, Monterey, California.
• Ecosystem Observations, Annual Report for the MBNMS, Article: "Deposition of marine birds and mammals on Monterey Bay beaches."
• Poster: "Monitoring beachcast seabirds in Monterey Bay" at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group, Monterey, California.
• Poster: "Monitoring beachcast seabirds in Monterey Bay" at MBNMS Currents Symposium 1998, March 7, Santa Cruz, California.
• Newspaper article: "Beached creatures tell tales: counters keep grim but vital tally." February 5, Californian, Salinas, California.
• Newspaper article: "Combing the beach a learning experience." February 1, Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California.
• Newspaper article: "Beach COMBERS record beaches' dead." February 1, The Bryan-College Station Eagle, Texas.
• Newspaper article: "Walking a grisly patrol: BeachCOMBERS record beaches' dead." January 9, Monterey County Herald, Monterey, California.
• MBNMS Newsletter: "Beach COMBERS take to the sands!

• Newspaper article: "Survival fight for ocean foul: Volunteers scramble to save hundreds of birds from oily residue in Monterey Bay." October 27, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California.
• Newspaper article: "Seabird deaths mystify wildlife experts." August 13, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, California.
• Beach COMBERS monitoring program begins in May.