Seal Monitoring Training

Date and Time

February 22 (for returning volunteers only)

1:00pm – 2:30pm

February 29, March 2 (for new and returning volunteers)

10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Locations

February 22 session:  Meet at the Courtenay Airpark by the Park Cafe. 

February 29 and March 2 sessions: Meet at the Condensory Bridge, Courtenay side. Parking on either side of bridge.

Description

If you enjoy walking along the Courtenay River and being involved in citizen science this is the activity for you. To investigate the impact of removing the wall at Kus-kus-sum we want to monitor seal and sea lion (known as pinnipeds) behavior in the Courtenay River before and after the wall is removed. To do this we need volunteers to watch for these creatures at distinct points along the river and enter what they see into an online data gathering system.

On February 22 we will be holding a session for volunteers who are already familiar with the monitoring protocol to go over the new digital system for entering data. New volunteers, and any volunteers who would like a refresher on the locations, are asked to sign up for either the February 29th or March 2nd session.

Please note: attendees of the training should be interested in signing up for monitoring shifts on roughly a monthly basis from March to November. Monitoring is also done in teams of two. If possible, bring a friend who is also interested in joining with you to the training. We can make pairs from individual attendees if needed.

We will be driving between monitoring sites. Carpooling with your monitoring teammate is ideal.

For more information about what’s involved, please visit our seal monitoring webpage.

Volunteer Sign Up