Our Island County Beaches

Intertidal Monitoring Data

With the ebb and flow of the tides, as well as human-induced events, the Island County beaches are continuously changing. Intertidal monitoring has been developed to assist in determining these changes. Using this field-tested monitoring protocol, trained volunteers collect baseline data over time at specific monitoring sites. The data collected includes beach slope, substrate, and biodiversity.

In this section we provide highlights of the intertidal monitoring data we collected from 2001 through 2004, access to our Beach Monitoring Procedures Manual (in Adobe PDF format) and a link to results of the eelgrass survey Beach Watchers helped conduct in 2001.

Coming soon is a map of the beaches we monitor, and in early 2005 we will add a link from this map to the data we have collected on these beaches over the past several years.

Intertidal Monitoring Update

During the spring and summer we report highlights of the monitoring currently under way, together with photographs of the more interesting and unusual species observed. At other times of the year we share reports on other types of monitoring-related activities.

At the Beach Now

At the Beach Now offers periodic essays written by Beach Watchers and other environmental conscious authors. These essays are about the fauna and flora in and around Puget Sound. Beach Watchers provide most of the images accompanying these essays. Occasionally the essays will feature the art of well-known island artists and photographers who are also interested in supporting our organization's environmental education efforts.

Also accessible from this section are beach etiquette guidelines, low tide schedules, an article about zonation, a list of resources for identifying intertidal plants and animals, and of course an archive of columns written in previous months.