MPA Watch

MPA Watch is a network of programs that support healthy oceans through community science by collecting human use data in and around our protected areas.

MPA Watch trains volunteers to observe and collect data on human uses of coastal and marine resources both inside and outside of marine protected areas (MPAs). Volunteers use standardized protocols to collect relevant, scientifically rigorous, and broadly accessible data.

Beach Watch is a certified MPA Watch partner in coastal central California.

Visit the MPA Watch website.

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Annually we expect to see a small post breeding increase in dead Murres in September and October. However starting in August of 2015, Beach Watch surveyors found much higher than normal numbers of stranding and dead Common Murre chicks. Historically in warm water El Niño years we do see higher numbers of dead Murres than other years. This winter is no exception; our surveys documented more than 12 times the long term average number of dead birds for this time of year.