Muriel O. Ponsler: Marine Debris Monitoring on the Oregon Coast

Join us on the beach for a marine debris cleanup at Muriel O. Ponsler. This project is great for anyone who would like to give 1-2 hours of their time, contribute to science and clean up beaches touching Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve and Protected Areas.

Please meet at Muriel O. Ponsler State Wayside. Just a short path from the parking lot leading to a flat beach. Sturdy shoes are recommended.

We will survey 100 yards of Muriel O. Ponsler beach. This includes flat sandy beach and cobble rocks. After the survey, we will collect our finds, sort and document. The plastic items are kept for re-use in various projects.

If you have your own bucket and gloves, please feel free to bring them with you. No bucket, no worries! We will provide bags and we try to have a couple of gloves to use if needed.

What is the project and why is it important? Marine debris is a global problem that impacts marine life, damages marine habitats, impedes navigation, impacts our economy, and is a risk to human health and safety. Although we continue to learn more and more about marine debris, there are still many unanswered questions. These include unknowns such as which types of debris are most common in a certain area? Or, how is the problem of marine debris changing over time, and are our efforts to prevent debris effective? The Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project (MDMAP) helps answer these questions and others by collecting baseline data.

The data collected through this project can be used to evaluate the impacts of marine debris along our coastlines and can help inform future marine debris mitigation and prevention efforts on a local, regional, and national scale.

More information on this citizen science effort → https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/research/citizen-science-marine-debris-monitoring-oregon-coast