The 2022 Coastwatch Citizen Scientist Autumn Shore Survey for the island of Ireland ran from Sept 15th to Oct 15th and its first results will be presented on Monday the 5th December at a public event open to those interested in citizen science and the health of our coast and sea.
The Coastwatch Survey is designed to give an overview of the state of the coast. It involves volunteers from all walks of life checking their chosen 500m stretch of coast (survey unit) once around low tide, and jotting observations down on the survey questionnaire while on the shore. This citizen science work can be augmented with water tests. Data is then collected and pooled to provide a snapshot of state in areas surveyed at that time.
The Coastwatch Survey was born in 1987 and has adapted over time with updates from paper maps to modern GIS and alignment to EU water laws. It takes in several countries all around Europe, with some common base questions that are identical and can be pooled for a European report.
The survey this year had a special focus on small coastal streams, due to their importance for fishes like seatrout and eel.
The Coastwatch Autumn Survey 2022 Results Launch will be held in the Simon Perry Building Demo Room in Trinity College Dublin on Monday the 5th December from 10am. It will be a hybrid event, so it is possible also to attend online: to register, please use Evenbrite.
The programme of the event is as follows:
The survey is supported by the Marine Unit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. For further information, please email Survey@coastwatch.org.