Shark Stewards Awarded Prestigious Community Award by National Parks Service

Shark Stewards youth volunteer program has been awarded the prestigious George Jr. & Helen Hartzog National Awards for Outstanding Service for  2017.  Both the western regional and national award will be given to Director David McGuire and partner teacher Michael Guenza of Francisco Middle School at the White House August 2, 2018.

The Aquatic Park Stewards program is an ongoing volunteer program educating urban youth on Bay ecosystems and species, and collecting data in a long-term study of terrestrial and marine sources while engaging the public to support the San Francisco Maritime Historical Park.

Concurrently, we are helping lead the San Francisco Bay marine debris prevention effort through clean-ups and quantifying marine debris using the NOAA Shoreline Monitoring Field Guide and Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Methodology, as part of the Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project.

This citizen science and youth education program is collecting marine debris using NOAA methodology and recording categories, recycling and raising awareness about the impacts of cigarettes on humans and environmental health. We are working with underserved youth in San Francisco public schools learning ecosystem science and cleaning up our National Park. Youth and citizen scientists record data and are mapping and identifying species in Aquatic Park Cove. The program includes Bio Blitzes in the Park with the California Academy of Sciences with the community to observe and record species data in the Cove and ashore.

Community clean ups are the second Sunday of each month at San Francisco Aquatic Park. 

Our youth film Hang Onto Your Butts wins the youth competition for middle schools at the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival..

With our partners* our aim is to reduce plastic pollution in the Bay Tributaries, San Francisco Bay and adjacent beaches through direct action, education and policy. This campaign aims to raise awareness about the environmental impact of cigarette butt litter on our oceans, waves and beaches, and to help eliminate cigarette butt litter in San Francisco County and beyond to the Bay and Pacific Ocean.  Commonly littered on our sidewalks and streets, butts end up in our storm drains, flowing to our streams, rivers, bays, lagoons and ultimately the ocean. 

This pilot project will help reduce butt waste in the marine environment, collect data and suggest solutions to mitigate plastic pollution and other marine debris at the source.

Clean up materials and program support by Lagunitas Brewery and West Marine.

Donate $10 to support the Healthy Bay Program to fund gloves, tools and clean up materials. A $100 donation adopts a butt urn to directly solve this problem