Beach Watch MPA Summary

Beach Watch Overview

The Beach Watch ecosystem monitoring program of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association was created to study and protect the shoreline of the Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries. 42 Beaches are surveyed bi-monthly by 100 highly trained volunteers on California Central Coast Beaches From Año Nuevo to Bodega Bay

Beach Watch Data includes: • live wildlife counts • dead wildlife documentation • oil/tarballs • beach wrack • human use

Beach Watch: The Eyes and Ears of the SF Bay Area Outer Coast

Baseline Data Request: 1994-2012

Baseline and Trend Data: • Beach Watch data from

1994-2012 • Birds, live and dead • Mammals, live and dead • Human uses • Regional spatial patterns • Provide data and

summary report to Ocean Spaces

• Summarize benefits from citizen-science

CA MPA & Beach Watch Beaches

Beach Summary: •42 Beach Watch beaches from Bodega Head to Año Nuevo

•3 Marine Reserves •5 Marine Conservation Areas

•3 Special Closure Areas •2 Marine Recreational Managed Areas

•11 BW beaches inside MPAs

•5 BW are near a MPA

Species of Interest within MPAs North Central Coast MPA Monitoring Specific Species of Interest

Total Surveys per Year by Beach Watch

Survey Effort

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

= new recruit training held this year

In 2011-2012 n = 972

Total Kilometers Surveyed per Year by Beach Watch

Survey Effort

= new recruit training held this year

In 2011-2012 n = 6189 km

010002000300040005000600070008000

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Multiple Data Analyses

Example: Dead Bird Cumulative Encounter Rate (#/km), 1994-2012

0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.0

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Pinn

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reek

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eyes

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each

BPo

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eyes

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each

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akes

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ast

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man

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ipse

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FMR,

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Half

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Brad

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Beac

h

Alcids Cormorants Geese/Ducks Grebes Gulls/Terns Landbirds LoonsPelicans Raptors Scoters Shorebirds Tubenoses Wadders

Trend Summary – Live Birds

R² = 0.0217

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

8019

94

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Slow increase of live bird rates but with great variability. There has been below average observations of birds for the past 5 years.

R² = 0.0851

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.819

94

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Slow increase of dead bird rates but with great variability. There has been below average observations of dead birds for the past 3 years.

Trend Summary – Dead Birds

R² = 0.1314

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.019

94

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Slow decline of live pinniped observations but with great variability. There has been below average encounter rate for the past two years.

Trend Summary – Live Pinnipeds

R² = 0.0245

-0.10

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Slow decline of dead pinniped encounter rates but with great variability. There has been below average encounter rate for the past two years.

Trend Summary – Dead Pinnipeds

Spatial Analysis – Live Birds

• Higher encounter rates along bays and sheltered coastline

• Greatest effective protection detectable by BW at:

• Pt. Reyes Marine Reserve • Montara Reserve • Montara Marine

Conservation Area • Año Nuevo Marine

Conservation • Higher concentrations outside

of NCC MPAs • Rodeo • Baker • China

Spatial Analysis – Live Pinnipeds

• Higher encounter rates in and near bays, promontories, and rookeries

• Greatest effective protection detectable by BW at:

• Pt. Reyes Marine Reserve • Montara Reserve • Montara Marine

Conservation Area • Año Nuevo Marine

Conservation • High #s outside of MPAs

• Bolinas Lagoon • Pebble & Pescadero

Beaches

Spatial Analysis – Live Cetaceans

• Higher rates of encounter in

and near bays and promontories.

• No specific areas of great protection or missed opportunity for increased protection

Spatial Analysis – Live Sea Otters

•Higher rates of encounter in and near bays in the southern survey region

•Note River Otters not included •Greatest effective protection detectable by BW at:

• Montara Reserve • Montara Marine

Conservation Area • Año Nuevo Marine

Conservation •No specific areas of missed opportunity for increased protection

Species of Interest Analyses

Example: Brandt’s Cormorant

R² = 0.1239

0

2

4

6

8

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Live Encounter Rate

Photo by: Mojoscoast

SE Farallon Island Breeding Pop

Brandt’s Cormorant

R² = 0.1239

0

2

4

6

8

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Live Encounter Rate

R² = 0.2103

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Dead Encounter Rate Photo by: Mojoscoast

= bait fish crash 2009-10

Species of Interest Analyses

Person On Beach Cumulative Encounter Rate, 1994-2012

Spatial Analysis – Human Uses

0102030405060708090

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FMR,

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Bean

Hol

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Bea

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Nor

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Bea

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ach

Baseline Trend Data

Slight decrease in live pinnipeds Significant increase in live cetacean sightings

For the past few years there has been below average encounter rate in:

live birds and pinnipeds dead birds, pinnipeds and cetaceans

Baseline Spatial Patterns

Higher rates of live birds and mammals were observed in bays, near promontories, and rookeries, than in other areas

Higher rates of live birds and mammals were seen within MPAs than in other areas

Higher rates of human-use activities were seen close to urban centers

Photo by: Jamie Hall

Recommendations • Continue use of citizen-scientists to increase stewardship

and understanding of MPAs, decrease monitoring costs, and have additional trained personnel in the event of emergency response

• Add BW style surveys in Sonoma and Mendocino Co. to cover all of the NCC MPAs in conjunction with sanctuary expansion

• Develop consistent human-use categories

• Develop consistent beach wrack quantification

• Target surveys in breeding areas

Recommendations • Include demographics of dead birds and mammals, i.e. age

and sex • Perform analyses to identify comparable beaches, i.e.

length, substrate, facing direction, habitat on the inshore side of beach, human use rates and activities.

• Analyze rates of live birds and mammals before and compare to at least five years post-designation

• Compare rate of live shorebirds to human uses: presence, dogs, etc.

• Identify surrogate beaches • Include analyses of oil

pollution rates

Data

Beach Watch Turns 20! 1 October 1993 – 1 October 2013

20-Years of Stewardship

BW would not be possible without the dedication of all our volunteers, interns, and staff.

This year we are grateful for the financial support from Norcross Wildlife Foundation, Firedoll Foundation, Tanklage Foundation, Patagonia, CA

Sea Grant.

Thanks to All Our Peeps!