The Humboldt Bay Exploration Tours, our most successful community project, is a great example of Baykeeper volunteers in action. Every year, from Godwit Days through October, Humboldt Baykeeper brings hundreds of community members aboard our 28 ft Boston Whaler to share the natural history of Humboldt Bay. In 2011, the Bay Exploration tours connected more than 450 people from all walks of life to the Bay through wildlife sightings, up-close views of eel grass beds and salty spray. For many, Humboldt Baykeeper provides the first, and often only, boating experience that local residents have. Bay Exploration tours run every weekend, guided by trained volunteer skippers and docents who have deep knowledge and passion for Humboldt Bay. The tours are an opportunity to share that passion with the public.
Dedicated volunteers also provide the work force for several annual beach and estuary clean-ups. 2011 saw the removal of hundreds of pounds of garbage from Liscom Slough to the Samoa Bridges. On July 5th, a crew of Humboldt Baykeeper volunteers cleaned up post-Independence Day festivities on Mad River Beach picking up debris from exploded fireworks, cellophane wrappers, broken glass and nails. Two longtime volunteers, Pam and Ted Halstead, have adopted Liscom Slough in the Arcata Bottoms as their primary clean-up site. To date, they have removed car parts, televisions, household chemicals and pretty much everything imaginable from this important aquatic habitat.
Humboldt Baykeeper also maintains an Adopt-a-Highway stretch on the Samoa Bridges crossing over the Bay. Throughout the year, volunteers head out on Saturday mornings to intercept the great trash migration from our roadsides into the Bay and ultimately the ocean. 2012 marks an expansion in this clean-up effort as we begin to tally the number of plastic bags found in this critical two-mile stretch.
The day-to-day operations are critical to keeping Humboldt Baykeeper running. A special thank you to the volunteers who stop by our office to stuff envelopes, write letters, run errands, and generally cheer us up. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who work so hard for a better community and environment - we couldn’t do it without you!
