Intertidal Monitoring
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 (since 1995) includes beach slope, substrate, and biodiversity.
Each 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.
For singe year reports, click on a year button to the right. For a view (most recent first) of a specific beach over time (since 2008), use this index
You can view
previous years summaries of the
intertidal monitoring
data, collected from 2001 through 2007,
or our Beach Monitoring Procedures Manual
(in Adobe PDF format).