Local beach is popular with seals. Parks Tacoma starts program to protect them
Parks Tacoma this summer is bringing in volunteers to help protect seals and seal pups on a local beach.
The program will train and facilitate volunteers to keep an eye out for wildlife that hauls out on Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park to protect it from predators and well-meaning members of the public who might be curious about the animals, program coordinator Desiree Kennedy told The News Tribune. The Marine Mammal Health Watch is part of Parks Tacoma's Point Defiance Park Watch program, in which volunteers patrol the area to serve as an extra set of eyes on park rule violations.
'These people really will be the eyes and ears out in the park to let us know what they're seeing so that we can record it appropriately,' Kennedy said of the program at Owen Beach.
Kennedy said a team of volunteers will be dispatched along Owen Beach in two-hour shifts to ensure that a volunteer will be on site in the event of reports of seal appearances. Volunteers will help educate people about the animals and ensure that passersby keep a safe distance so the animals remain unharmed.
The program will focus on Owen Beach since it's a known hot spot for seal activity, Kennedy said.
'They also use that space at Owen beach naturally to mate, to give birth to their babies, to molt and to warm up or potentially cool off,' Kennedy told The News Tribune. 'So it's just really part of their natural behavior to come onto shore.'
Parks Tacoma decided to create the program after noticing the need for such volunteers over the years.
'Just the amount of questions that come from the public, we knew that we needed to be able to help answer those,' Kennedy said.
The program kicked off on May 21 when Parks Tacoma hosted its first orientation for interested volunteers. Kennedy said about 40 volunteers attended the event, and Parks Tacoma hopes to assign all of them two-hour shifts at Owen Beach to keep a volunteer presence on site at least during peak hours on weekends.
Volunteers will likely be stationed at Owen Beach starting around mid-June, Kennedy said.
Interested volunteers can contact Desiree Kennedy at desiree.kennedy@tacomaparks.com to learn more or get involved.
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