Valentine’s Day is for Plovers: Walk and Cleanup

Longtime marine conservation nonprofit, Save Our Shores (SOS), is taking time the day after Valentine's Day to show affection for the Monterey Bay’s western snowy plover population Marina State Beach to Sand City Beach in Monterey County. The nonprofit encourages loved ones to spend the day together, walk, enjoy the beach and help pick up trash that can harm wildlife like the snowy plover. Weather is forecasted to be clear, sunny, and beautiful. Contact [email protected]?to RSVP for the special Valentine’s Day is for Plovers: Walk and Cleanup.

Snowy plover mating and nesting season is on the horizon. The stretch between Marina State Beach and Sand City Beach is prime snowy plover habitat. The coastal stretch is vast, difficult to patrol, and not entirely managed by CA State Parks. The equation leads to illegal bonfires, parties, and camping. The area is considered a Save Our Shores Hotspot given the sensitive habitat and amount of trash found. Visitors are more likely to leave their trash because it is a journey to get to the area and requires even more effort to pack­out.

WHERE: Meet up at the Marina State Beach in the parking lot on 11 Reservation Rd in Marina.