The fourth season of the Tidepool Ambassador Program (TAP) at Short Sand Beach, adjacent to the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, is officially in the books.
The season wrapped up with a (Tide)Pool Party on Labor Day, after roughly two and a half months of engaging with visitors, sharing information about the rocky intertidal environment, and encouraging good stewardship habits.
TAP has become a staple of NCLC’s Marine Program over the past few years. It was established at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in 2021 by the “friends of” group, before passing onto NCLC in 2022.
“It’s really effective outreach,” Marine Program Coordinator Angela Whitlock says. “We’re able to engage with visitors from not only our own state, but people who are coming to visit Oregon from around the country, and around the world. Introducing people to the intertidal creatures is really an exciting thing.”
The 2024 season kicked off in June with a volunteer training, held in partnership with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) in Cannon Beach. According the Angela, there was an encouraging mixture of volunteer retention—with individuals returning from previous years—and volunteer recruitment, providing the backbone for a successful season.
Having a marine reserve for the species to be able to survive and thrive just reinforces the importance of why we’re doing what we do.
Angela Whitlock, NCLC Marine Program Coordinator
By the Numbers: 2024 Season in Review
TAP Coordinator Michelle Schwegmann and NCLC Land and Sea Stewardship Assistant Mylasia Miklas led the program, bringing a wealth of prior rocky intertidal interpretive experience that proved vastly beneficial.
“They were able to give a lot of support to the volunteers and really quality interpretation to the visitors,” Angela says.
There were 14 tidepool ambassadors—up from nine in 2023—who contributed 193 volunteers hours over the course of the summer. They were at the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve tidepools for 25 shifts, amounting to 88.25 total program hours.
“They donated so much of their time to us,” Angela says of the volunteers, and it was well worth the investment, as “this was our busiest season so far.”
The ambassadors had 1,560 interactions with visitors, approximately 210 more than last season. The busiest months were June and July, with a drop off in August and September.
Those interactions led to 761 expressions of gratitude toward the tidepool ambassadors and their efforts to spread knowledge about tidepool wildlife, habitat, and stewardship. The volunteers also redirected 114 people who were trampling on the rocks, 33 people with off-leash dogs, and three people who were illegally collecting.
Trampling tends to be a reoccurring issue at the tidepools each season. It can be chalked up to carelessness and lack of respect, but there are also visitors who simply aren’t familiar with rocky intertidal habitat.
“If it’s their first experience with the ocean, they have no idea that the rocks are covered with life,” Angela says. “At first gaze you don’t see it.”
And that’s where the tidepool ambassadors come in. They share insight about tidal exchange, the creatures residing in the tidepools, and why the habitat is so sensitive yet resilient. It pulls the whole picture together and provides meaningful context for visitors to help them understand why that environment is so unique.
‘Lighting the Flame’ of Knowledge
Increasing in awareness and appreciation isn’t reserved for visitors, either. The tidepool ambassadors often share that experience as they spend hours at the beach, interacting with the tidepools.
In a follow-up survey with volunteers, one wrote that their favorite experience of the summer was “my first time volunteering, when I realized all the amazing life there is on those rocks.”
Another shared that one of their favorite experiences was seeing a nudibranch for the first time, which inspired them to learn more about the creatures. They also enjoyed sharing cool sightings on the beach or in the tidepools with children and “seeing the look of delight and wonder on their faces.”
That sentiment was echoed by another ambassador, who described their favorite takeaway from the season as “the look on children’s faces and how they light up when they learn something, and then they show it to a sibling, parent, or friend with confidence and enthusiasm.”
According to Mylasia, it’s hard to pick a single favorite memory or experience, but she also felt a major highlight of the summer was “interacting with all the amazing kids.”
“They were all so enthusiastic and stoked to learn,” she says. She recalls a day when a little girl hung out with her for most of the shift. “I showed her the anemones and taught her why they were sticky. Later, as more kids arrived, she shared her new knowledge about anemones with them. It was so cool to ‘light the flame’ for her. And see her pass along her newfound knowledge to others to light their flame.”
Before the little girl left that day, Mylasia continues, “she let me know she was going to be a marine biologist when she grows up. Moments like this make me love environmental interpretation so much. It is so special being able to be the person someone was to me when I was young.”
An Epic Year for Sunflower Sea Stars
Another cause for excitement this summer was the spotting of numerous sunflower sea stars—a critically endangered species—by tidepool ambassadors, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) researchers, and community scientists partaking in NCLC’s 2024 Beachy Keen BioBlitz in August.
The observations included both juvenile and adults sunflower stars, all in good health, which was “really encouraging,” Angela says.
“It was an epic year for the sunflower stars, which for me speaks to the necessity of having these conserved areas,” she continues. “Having a marine reserve for the species to be able to survive and thrive just reinforces the importance of why we’re doing what we do.”
Looking ahead, she feels positive about the future of TAP at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. Mylasia developed an array of interpretive signage for ambassadors to use next summer. The signs feature reminders about tidepool etiquette, fun facts about tidepool creatures and birds, and information about land-and-sea connectivity.
Angela also received valuable feedback from volunteers that she looks forward to implementing in the future.
“To me, their experience is very, very important, and supporting them and their needs is important,” Angela says. “Their suggestions will help the program get stronger and stronger.”
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