BioBlitz Outing at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve
North Coast Land Conservancy’s Marine Reserve Program is hosting a monthlong BioBlitz during August with other community partners through the Oregon Marine Reserves Partnership. The bioblitz will take place at Oregon’s five marine reserves and marine protected areas (MPAs), including:
- Cape Falcon Marine Reserve
- Otter Rock Marine Reserve
- Cascade Head Marine Reserve
- Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve
- Red Fish Rocks Marine Reserve
From the rugged cliffs of Cape Falcon in the north to the dramatic islands of Redfish Rocks in the south, Oregon’s five marine reserves are areas dedicated to conservation and scientific research. These “no-take” zones serve as vital sanctuaries for marine life and are now yours to traverse and document during the 2026 Beachy Keen Bioblitz, which is a communal effort to identify and record as many distinct species as possible in a designated area and timeframe in order to collect long-term datasets.
Want to participate? The first step is to download the iNaturalist app onto your mobile device and join our project in iNaturalist. Then, any time during the bioblitz, head down to Short Sand Beach, Falcon Cove Beach and Neahkahnie Beach (or go further south to the other sites that are part of the project!) to look for various species and document your observations in the app. Even if you don’t know exactly what something is, don’t worry. Researchers and other users from around the world work to identify all species recorded.
Don’t Know Where to Start? Friends of Otter Rock is hosting a BioBlitz Info Session at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 22. This webinar is free and open to individuals of any experience level. During this online session, you can learn how to document coastal species with just a phone and how to contribute them to iNaturalist.
You can also learn more about the value of community science and how to use iNaturalist in this recording of our 2022 virtual training session. Although we hosted this training in 2022, the instructions and insights are still relevant for 2026!
Don’t forget to also share your observations on social media, tagging North Coast Land Conservancy (@nclctrust)!
