Tending to the Tidepools

Land and Sea Stewardship Assistant Mylasia Miklas (left) helps lead a training for the 2024 Tidepool Ambassador Program (TAP) at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

TAP Coordinator Michelle Schwegmann with 2024 TAP volunteers and NCLC Marine Program Manager Angela Whitlock (right) at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

The tidepools along Cape Falcon Marine Reserve provide important habitat for a plethora of marine wildlife.

NCLC’s TAP team during the final shift of the 2024 season.

NCLC’s TAP activities take place at Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State Park, along the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

Ambassadors bring energy and excitement to tidepool outreach and education

The 2024 season of the Tidepool Ambassador Program (TAP) at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve took place from June to September. 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.

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. 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.

“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. Read More