Diver Stewardship
As Reef Environmental Education Foundations Conservation Partner, we provide Marine identification training and certification for all levels. Once you achieve level 4 expertise you have graduated to the Advance Assessment Team for more dive opportunities. Your REEF survey of Saltwater State Park throughout the year is valuable long term data.
We have compiled reports from our Marine Life Surveys, and they are available to the public below for you to see how the marine life has done here over the years.
Historically, bull kelp flourished throughout Poverty Bay, contributing to the local marine ecosystem. However, over the years, it has disappeared due to several factors, including environmental changes and human activities. In response, the Friends developed a kelp project in 2022 to test the suitability of the Saltwater Marine area for bull kelp growth. A variety of techniques were tested over the course of the project and showed positive results, indicating that bull kelp can thrive again in Poverty Bay. After confirming success, the testing materials used during the trials were removed, and the Friends are collaborating to develop restoration plan.
Young of Year Rockfish Surveying
Rockfish are a genus of long-lived, slow to reproduce and live-bearing that are found throughout the Pacific coast of the United States integral to the health of the Salish Sea. Unfortunately, they have been overharvested to the point that no recreational or commercial take is permitted in Puget Sound, and two species bocaccio (Sebastes pauscispinus) and yelloweye (S. ruberrimus) are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has released a recovery plan to return these fishes to sustainable levels that includes rigorous surveys of offspring settlement success, known as recruitment. Paua Marine Research Group leads these surveys in partnership with Friends of Saltwater State Park and has provided community divers training and dives to collect data and establish trends in young of year rockfish.
Buoy Monitoring and Maintenance
In the marine park there are 4 marker canister buoys that help boaters recognize where the Marine Preserve Area is located. Inside the MPA there are two mooring buoys for dive boats and there are two buoys for divers to descend on the reefs. Volunteer support is needed in many marine oriented activities including photography, data analysis, and buoy maintenance. Both diver and non diver volunteers are welcome.
