Sanctuary News 2017
Learn about emerging issues, critical events, research and education activities, and other
developments in the news. NOAA and the U.S. Department of Commerce do not endorse the
following websites or the information, products or services contained therein.
5/9/17
Volunteers clean beaches of about 15 tons of debris during annual cleanup
Peninsula Daily News - Jesse Major
The results are in after 1,330 volunteers cleaned debris from more than 60 Washington beaches during
the 10th annual Washington Coast Cleanup.
Jon Schmidt, Washington CoastSavers coordinator, estimated that volunteers hauled away about 15 tons
of garbage during the cleanup of beaches on the Pacific Coast from the Columbia River to Cape
Flattery and on the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Cape Flattery to Port Townsend.
It's not quite as much as the 20 tons volunteers found last year, but it's still too much, said
Schmidt, who lives in Sequim.
5/1/17
Former Gov. Mike Lowry dies at age 78
Tukwilareporter
Former Washington Gov. Mike Lowry, 78, who also served as a King County Council member,
died on Monday from complications of a stroke.
Lowry was the leader in passage of the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act. And he worked with
Washington's congressional delegation to designate the Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary, which stretches from just north of Grays Harbor to Cape Flattery and extends
25 to 50 miles off the coast. The designation protected extensive kelp beds, whales,
dolphins, porpoises, fish and seabirds.
3/31/17
Registration is open now for the Washington Coast Cleanup on April 29
Peninsula daily News
Every April for the past 10 years, Washington CoastSavers and its partners and volunteers have
cleaned up what the winter storms have brought in.
"Usually this effort is done on the Saturday closest to Earth Day," which is April 22, "but this
year, the tides are high on Earth Day morning, so we're cleaning the beach the following Saturday,"
said Jon Schmidt, CoastSavers coordinator.
"Nobody likes to look at marine debris, especially on our wilderness coastline," said Carol
Bernthal, superintendent of the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary.
"For wildlife, it’s not just ugly; it can kill. This is a chance to make a difference, joining with
a thousand other people who share that goal."
3/27/17
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary appoints new members to advisory council
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES - The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary has announced two new members and two
returning members to serve on its sanctuary advisory council.
The newly appointed members to the advisory council, which operates under the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are Katie Krueger as citizen-at-large (primary) and Allison
Mahaney as citizen-at-large (alternate).
Jan Newton, Ph.D. (primary), and Tom Mumford, Ph.D. (alternate), were reappointed as research
representatives for another three-year term.
"We were very impressed by the quality of applicants interested in joining and becoming part of
the advisory council," said Carol Bernthal, sanctuary superintendent.
3/24/17
Feiro Marine Life Center, Planned Waterfront Facility to Share Campus
Peninsula Daily News
Williams said the new Feiro center could join forces with the Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary at the Oak Street site.
In recent years, Feiro and the sanctuary have considered creating a downtown Marine Discovery
Center - most recently in a failed 2014 attempt with an Alaska developer on the same property that
Feiro is closer than ever to occupying.
Sanctuary Superintendent Carol Bernthal said Wednesday that the sanctuary, which operates out of
Port Angeles under the aegis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is not planning
to move out of The Landing mall next to City Pier but could add visitor and educational components
to Feiro's new Oak Street site.
3/22/17
Forty thousand pounds of trash on state's coastal beaches
Chinook Observer - Guest Column
On one morning in April of last year, over 1,400
volunteers came together to remove more than 20 tons of trash from at least 50 beaches during the
Washington Coast Cleanup. Unfortunately, this was not an extreme amount of debris found on beaches
from Cape Disappointment to Cape Flattery. It was a unique day because of the amount of people
focused on addressing the problem of plastic pollution.
Every spring, thousands of pounds of plastic, rope, bottles, foam and other junk wash up on the
beaches of Washington State. Carol Bernthal, superintendent of the Olympic National Marine
Sanctuary, invites volunteers to help with this year's Washington Coast Cleanup: "Nobody likes to
look at marine debris, especially on our wilderness coastline. For wildlife, it’s not just ugly, it
can kill. This is a chance to make a difference, joining with a thousand other people who share that
goal."
3/1/17
Beachcombers Fun Fair features whale of a guest this year
Scott D. Johnson - North Coast News
The biggest guest in the 30-year history of Ocean Shores' Beachcombers Fun Fair will dominate
the Convention Center as the unique event returns this weekend, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11
a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
"Big Mama" is a life-sized, inflatable humpback whale that makes up a traveling educational
exhibit sponsored by the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is 40 long, 37 feet wide at the fins, and over 6 feet tall.
The design allows people to actually enter the inflated whale as part of the experience.
2/17/17
Washington's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary supports jobs, boosts regional businesses.
NOAA Communiciations
41 percent of state households visited the region.
Visitors to NOAA's Olympic Coast National
Marine Sanctuary and the immediate area boosted the region's economy with $102 million in spending,
supporting nearly 1,200 jobs and generating $46 million in local income for business owners and
employees in 2014, according to a NOAA analysis using the most recent figures available.
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