Save Our Shores (SOS) is a

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

nonprofit dedicated to "foster thriving and sustainable ecosystems in the Monterey Bay and surrounding habitats through equitable environmental action.” Over the last 43 years, Save Our Shores has been responsible for establishing the

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) is a federally protected marine area offshore of California's Big Sur and central coast in the United States. It is the largest US national marine sanctuary and has a shoreline length of s ...

(MBNMS), preventing offshore oil drilling along the Central Coast of California, developing the nationally renowned Dockwalkers clean boating program, banning single-use plastic bags in over 30 jurisdictions, and leading various marine conservation beach cleanups and

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquir ...

educational programs throughout the

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica ...

area. Today, the organization primarily focuses on advocacy,

marine debris Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a sea or ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washin ...

(specifically

plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are cate ...

), and helping community members become ocean stewards. This includes educating the greater community about local watersheds and marine protected areas (MPA), tackling the plastic pollution problem by passing local ordinances and hosting cleanups, supporting

habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in ter ...

efforts, educating and empowering community members to help them face oncoming climate change, and continuing to implement their historic Sanctuary Stewards and Dockwalker programs.

Programs

Beach, River, Kayak, and Inland Cleanups

Save Our Shores has been conducting beach, river, kayak, and inland cleanups since 1978. The nonprofit primarily hosts its public, private, and school cleanups throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. In 2017, Save Our Shores led a total of 243 cleanups. During these cleanups, Save Our Shores and community volunteers removed over 8 tons of waste. Data is collected from each cleanup to identify pollution and

issues impacting the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

at large. For example, in 2017, the top three items collected were small plastic pieces (approximately 13,000) cigarette butts (over 12,000), like

microplastics Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a v ...

, and styrofoam pieces (nearly 7,000). Many of Save Our Shores’ advocacy efforts, including local bans on single-use plastics and polystyrene containers, are driven by cleanup data analysis.

Sanctuary Stewards

Sanctuary Stewards are the core volunteer force of Save Our Shores dedicated to conserving the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The program prepares community members to become educators, advocates and experts on issues affecting the Monterey Bay and work toward local pollution prevention. Sanctuary Stewards give academic presentations, lead beach cleanups, participate in community events, and work on various research projects, such as data collection and entry.

Dockwalkers

Developed in 1999, the Dockwalker program provides one-on-one clean boater outreach in local harbors. Dockwalkers share clean boating best practices and provide boaters with clean boating kits, such as supplies to clean up small oil spills and resources to discard used oil and waste products. Due to its success, the Save Our Shores Dockwalker program was adopted and implemented statewide by the California Coastal Commission in 2001.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Environmental organizations based in California Santa Cruz, California Water resource policy