Save Our Shores

Save Our Shores is a marine-conservation nonprofit organization serving California’s Monterey Bay region, with particular activity in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Founded in 1978, the organization combines public education, volunteer mobilization, community science, policy advocacy, and direct pollution-prevention work. Its stated mission is to foster thriving and sustainable ecosystems in Monterey Bay and nearby habitats through equitable environmental action. The organization emerged as a volunteer-led coastal-protection movement and became associated with several significant conservation efforts along California’s Central Coast. Its work contributed to the establishment of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and to campaigns opposing offshore oil drilling in the region. Over time, Save Our Shores also developed programs intended to translate environmental concern into recurring community participation, including coastal cleanups, school education, the Sanctuary Stewards volunteer network, and the Dockwalker clean-boating initiative. Marine debris and plastic pollution are central to its contemporary work. Save Our Shores organizes beach, river, kayak, and inland cleanups for the public, private groups, and schools. Since 2008, it has collected standardized information from cleanup activities to identify recurring sources and types of pollution. The organization uses those observations to support local policy campaigns, including restrictions on single-use plastic bags and expanded controls on polystyrene and other disposable materials. Its cleanup activities also provide a mechanism for residents to participate directly in the protection of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and connected watersheds. Education and stewardship are another major part of the organization’s model. Sanctuary Stewards receive training to act as educators, advocates, and local sources of knowledge about marine protected areas, watersheds, pollution prevention, and other threats to the bay. They may lead presentations, participate in public events, support cleanups, and assist with research and data collection. The Dockwalkers program, introduced in 1999, conducts one-to-one outreach in harbors, encouraging boaters to adopt practices that reduce oil, chemical, and waste pollution. Its success led the California Coastal Commission to adopt a statewide version of the program in 2000. Save Our Shores remains an advocacy and community-engagement organization rather than a commercial product company. Its current priorities include marine debris, plastic pollution, habitat conservation, climate-change education and preparedness, marine protected areas, watershed awareness, and building broader public participation in ocean stewardship. The organization was entirely volunteer-based until Dan Haifley became executive director in 1986. Haifley served in that position through 1993, and Katie Thompson became executive director in 2024.

Save Our Shores was established in 1978 by a group of California coastal advocates and volunteers: Karen DeLaney, Joan Harrington, Karol Mountz, John Murray, Bonnie and Gordon Schmeisser, Kay Smothers, Kim Tschantz, Van Tunstall, and Nelson Wolf. The organization began as a volunteer-based effort focused on protecting the Monterey Bay and nearby coastal environments. Its work developed in the context of growing public concern about offshore development, marine pollution, habitat degradation, and the need for stronger protection of California’s central coast. One of the organization’s major historical contributions was its role in efforts that helped establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Save Our Shores also participated in campaigns that opposed offshore oil drilling along the Central Coast. These activities established a pattern that has remained characteristic of the organization: combining public education and grassroots mobilization with policy advocacy directed at local, state, and regional environmental decisions. For its first several years, Save Our Shores operated entirely through volunteers and had no paid staff. Dan Haifley became executive director in 1986 and held the position until 1993. During and after this period, the organization broadened its methods beyond issue campaigns to include structured programs for public participation, environmental education, pollution prevention, and community stewardship. Save Our Shores has conducted beach, river, kayak, and inland cleanups since its founding. These activities take place primarily in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties and involve schools, private groups, public volunteers, and community organizations. In 2008, the organization began systematically collecting data from cleanups. The resulting records allow it to identify recurring marine-debris patterns and connect local observations with broader pollution-prevention campaigns. In 2017, it led 243 cleanups and reported the removal of more than eight tons of waste. Small plastic pieces, cigarette butts, microplastics, and polystyrene fragments were among the frequently collected materials reported for that year. The organization’s use of cleanup data has supported advocacy for local restrictions on single-use plastic bags, polystyrene containers, and related disposable products. Save Our Shores has reported that its work contributed to single-use plastic-bag bans in more than 30 jurisdictions. Rather than treating cleanups solely as maintenance activities, the organization uses them as educational events, sources of community science, and evidence for policy intervention. In 1999, Save Our Shores developed the Dockwalkers program to provide direct outreach to boaters in local harbors. Dockwalkers explain clean-boating practices and distribute practical kits and information, including materials for responding to small oil spills and guidance on disposing of used oil and other waste. The California Coastal Commission subsequently adopted the program statewide in 2000, extending the model beyond the organization’s original local service area. The Sanctuary Stewards program became another core element of the organization’s approach. Volunteers are trained to educate the public, advocate for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, participate in community events, lead cleanups, and assist with research and data work. The program reflects Save Our Shores’ emphasis on building long-term local capacity rather than relying only on short-term campaigns. In its current form, Save Our Shores focuses primarily on marine debris, plastic pollution, habitat conservation, watershed and marine-protected-area education, climate-change preparedness and public engagement, and ocean stewardship. It continues to combine advocacy with hands-on programs such as cleanups, Dockwalkers, Sanctuary Stewards, and K-12 education. Katie Thompson became executive director in 2024. The organization remains a regional environmental nonprofit centered on Monterey Bay and the surrounding coastal habitats.

• 2024

  Katie Thompson became executive director

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  Katie Thompson assumed the organization’s top executive role.

• 2017

  243 community cleanups conducted

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  Save Our Shores led 243 cleanups and reported removing more than eight tons of waste with volunteers.

• 2008

  Systematic cleanup data collection began

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  The organization began recording standardized information from cleanups to identify marine-debris trends and inform advocacy.

• 2000

  Dockwalkers adopted statewide

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  The California Coastal Commission adopted and implemented the Dockwalkers model across California.

• 1999

  Dockwalkers program developed

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  Save Our Shores created a harbor-based outreach program promoting cleaner boating practices and responsible disposal of boating waste.

• 1986

  First executive director appointed

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  Dan Haifley became executive director after the organization’s initial period as an entirely volunteer-led group.

• 1978

  Save Our Shores founded

  [1]Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org

  A group of named California coastal advocates established Save Our Shores as a volunteer marine-conservation organization.

A community-based marine-conservation nonprofit that combines local environmental advocacy, volunteer action, education, cleanup data, and practical pollution-prevention programs to protect Monterey Bay and surrounding coastal habitats.

• Community environmental program · 1978

  Beach, river, kayak, and inland cleanups

  Save Our Shores organizes public, private, and school cleanups across coastal and inland sites in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Activities remove litter while also generating information about the types and quantities of debris affecting the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and connected watersheds. The program includes beach, river, kayak, and inland formats, allowing participants to address pollution before it reaches the ocean. Cleanup observations have also been used to support local campaigns against disposable plastic and polystyrene pollution.

• Volunteer education and advocacy

  Sanctuary Stewards

  Sanctuary Stewards is a trained volunteer network focused on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Participants can serve as public educators, advocates, event representatives, cleanup leaders, and contributors to research and data-collection projects. The program gives community members structured ways to learn about marine protected areas, watersheds, pollution prevention, and other environmental issues, then share that knowledge with schools and the wider public.

• Clean-boating outreach · 1999

  Dockwalkers

  Dockwalkers provides one-to-one outreach to boaters in local harbors. Trained participants explain practices that reduce oil, chemical, and solid-waste pollution and distribute clean-boating kits and disposal information. The kits can include supplies for addressing small oil spills and guidance on handling used oil and other waste products. The program began locally in 1999 and was adopted for statewide implementation by the California Coastal Commission in 2000.

• Environmental education

  K-12 marine and environmental education

  Save Our Shores provides education for younger students and schools as part of its broader effort to build ocean stewardship. Educational activities connect local watersheds, marine protected areas, pollution, habitat conservation, and community action. The organization’s education work is complemented by school cleanups and presentations led by staff or trained Sanctuary Stewards.

• 2008Cleanup data and marine-debris advocacy

  Santa Cruz County · Monterey County

  The organization began systematically recording debris collected during cleanups, creating a local evidence base for pollution-prevention and policy campaigns.

  Outcome. Cleanup data became an ongoing input into advocacy concerning plastic, cigarette-filter, microplastic, and polystyrene pollution.

  Source
• Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary establishment

  Central Coast of California

  Save Our Shores participated in efforts that helped establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a foundational protection for the marine ecosystem around Monterey Bay.

  Outcome. The sanctuary was established and became a central focus of the organization’s education, stewardship, and advocacy programs.

  Source
• Central Coast offshore oil-drilling opposition

  Central Coast of California

  The organization helped oppose offshore oil drilling along California’s Central Coast as part of its broader marine-habitat protection work.

  Outcome. The campaign contributed to preventing offshore oil drilling in the organization’s regional area of concern.

  Source
• Single-use plastic bag and polystyrene advocacy

  California · Monterey Bay region

  Save Our Shores used marine-debris observations and community advocacy to support local restrictions on single-use plastic bags and polystyrene containers.

  Outcome. The organization reports that single-use plastic bags were banned in more than 30 jurisdictions, while its broader policy work continues to address plastic pollution.

  Source

• 2008

  Use standardized cleanup data to guide advocacyStrategy

  Background

  Recurring cleanup events generated information about the forms of marine debris affecting Monterey Bay, but consistent records were needed to identify patterns.

  Action taken

  The organization began collecting data from each cleanup and using the results to inform pollution-prevention campaigns and local ordinances.

  Aftermath

  Cleanup findings helped focus attention on small plastics, cigarette butts, microplastics, and polystyrene, and supported advocacy against disposable plastic pollution.

  Source

• 1999

  Create the Dockwalkers clean-boating programStrategy

  Background

  Local boating activity can introduce oil, chemicals, and other waste into harbors and coastal waters.

  Action taken

  Save Our Shores developed direct harbor outreach in which trained Dockwalkers educate boaters and distribute practical pollution-prevention resources.

  Aftermath

  The model was later adopted and implemented statewide by the California Coastal Commission in 2000.

  Source

• Prioritize marine debris and plastic pollutionStrategy

  Background

  Marine debris, especially plastic pollution, remains a persistent threat to the Monterey Bay ecosystem and connected watersheds.

  Action taken

  Save Our Shores made marine-debris reduction, plastic-pollution policy, community cleanups, education, and ocean stewardship central elements of its ongoing work.

  Aftermath

  The organization continues to combine local advocacy, cleanup operations, volunteer education, and public engagement around these issues.

  Source

1. 1Save Our Shoresen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Save Our Shores official websitesaveourshores.org