Ruby Beach
Ocean Stewards
Olympic National Park & Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
Washington
http://www.nps.gov/olym/index.htm
Senior Friendly
Completed: June 25, 2017
While visiting Olympic National Park this summer I was offered their Ocean Stewards Junior Ranger program. It is a program which focuses on the ocean environment within Olympic NP in conjunction with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. As we were camping at Kalaloch Beach for several nights I would be able to complete the activities. Camping at Kalaloch campground was wonderful; the access to a wide, sandy beach which had plentiful wildlife to view. One of the highlights was seeing a juvenile and adult Bald Eagle while walking along the beach one morning.
This program is considered Senior Friendly as there is no upper age limit. The instruction are for each person to complete the number of activities equal to their age, and those older than eleven should complete all of the activities.
The activities include; Chart Your Adventure, Field Journal, Leave No Trace, One Ocean, Tidal Zones, Coastal Study Plots, Coastal Word Search, Sea Stack Maze, At Home on the Water, Sea Otters Abound, and Interview a Ranger.
The Field Journal allowed me to explore Kalaloch Beach and record what I heard, saw, felt and smelled. I most enjoyed seeing the eagles and many of the animals in the tide pools. One Ocean activity provided information about marine debris that impacts animals, it included searching the beach and recording debris found.
As a Desert Rat, the activities taught me a lot about the ocean, especially about the issues impacting sea life due to human interaction, both positive and negative. Learning that Sea Otters had disappeared from this area in the early 1900s, and now there are 1,000 that live in the sanctuary along the coast of Olympic National Park gave me hope for the future.
I returned to the Kalaloch Ranger Station and finished the activities in the booklet by interviewing Ranger Jared about his job. He told me that in the winter it rains sideways, at times, and they had a record 140 inches of rainfall this past year. After he reviewed my booklet he gave me the very attractive Ocean Steward patch. This program was a great addition to the standard Junior Ranger program for Olympic National Park. A similar program focusing on the rainforest would be interesting.
Junior Ranger - Senior Friendly Programs 