Aquatic Reserve Watch

Field Guide and Protocol

The goal of the Aquatic Reserve Watch monitoring program is to assess the human usage of the Smith and Minor Island Aquatic Reserve, and the presence of birds and marine mammals and record disturbances to wildlife when they occur. Volunteers will be trained to observe and collect unbiased data on coastal marine resources which will provide important information to understand how people are using the newly established Aquatic Reserves and to help inform the management of the Aquatic Reserve by the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR). Training will be in springof 2014, and the sampling timeframe will be during spring and early summer. In addition, there will be an incidental reporting form served on the Aquatic Reserve website for citizens to report occurrences and problems at the reserve.

The Smith and Minor Reserve was created by the WA State DNR in 2011. The Citizen Committee is implementing several goals of the Reserve’s management plan. The human use of the shore and nearby waters is one of the main gaps in information for the reserve. Aquatic Reserve Watch volunteers will observe and record both consumptive and non-consumptive offshore and onshore activities in the Reserve which will provide important information for estimating recreational and commercial value of this newly protected area. Examples of activities that volunteers record include consumptive activities such as fishing by boat or on shore, and non-consumptive activities such as swimming, dog walking or wildlife watching, as well as recording disturbances to wildlife.

Aquatic Reserve Watch volunteers will record beach and ocean activities they see taking place from a stationary location. Volunteers will be trained to identify 10 important marine bird species, and will report bird and mammal sightings to their best ability. The protocol for the program is outlined below.

  1. Check the calendar and insert your intended time to survey and location. Go to Google.com/calendar. Sign in with the email with the password smolt count. Click on the date you want to do the monitoring, write in the time, and beach # and your name. You will also use the drop down box to select Aquatic Reserve Watch (sorry google insists that the other calendars like whidbeywatersheds and tasks are present on the calendar list). Notes for when we need surveys done will also be seen noted as a time – NEED.
  2. Survey the site once a week for 30 minutes.
  3. Begin the survey at least once each month between 9 a.m. and noon, once between noon and 3 p.m. and once between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. In the summer a later hour between 6pm and 9pm could be added.
  4. Survey at least once each month on a weekday and once on a weekend or holiday.
  5. Find a comfortable place to sit where you can see the entire beach. You may want to bring a beach chair.
  6. Count the number of humans, dogs on leash, dogs off leash and boaters regardless of whether they are causing a disturbance. Describe activities that you see.
  7. Classify the boaters according to motor powered, under sail or hand powered. Count only the boaters that appear to be in the reserve. Most large ships (freighters, cruise ships and tugs) will not pass through the reserve area.
  8. Briefly note time and length of any disturbance; i.e., dogs chasing birds, walkers causing shorebirds to take flight.
  9. Note the behavior type caused by the disturbance (birds, flight/diving/running/fighting; mammals, return to water/diving/fighting or return to forest.
  10. Evaluate the response, on the field card circle:
  11. 1 if flew or dove and quickly returned.
  12. 2 if flew or dove but did not return quickly.
  13. Evaluate your confidence, on the field card circle:
  14. 1 if you are not sure or disturbance was causal.
  15. 2 if disturbance was likely.
  16. 3 if there was pursuit or a direct correlation.
  17. Count birds and list species by group (Shorebirds, ducks, gulls, raptors, loons/grebes, cormorants, geese), unknown bird/duck, or specific species:Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Black Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Glaucous-winged Gull and Pigeon Guillemot. Record the maximum number of each species.
  18. Note any wildlife interactions; i.e. Bald Eagle caused shorebirds to fly.
  19. Put any additional observations in the notes section.
  20. Take copies of the Reserve Brochure to give to interested parties on the beach.
  21. After each session record the data from the sheet into the online form or send the reports via mail to Whidbey Watershed Stewards P.O. Box 617, Langley WA 98236. All the data forms, this protocol and links to the calendar can be found at aquaticreserves.org or whidbeywatersheds.org. The monitoring form is found at this link:goo.gl/fSsyQW