The 2025 TAP season ran from June to September at Short Sand Beach, along the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. 
TAP Coordinator Michelle Schwegmann (from left), Darlene Burtsfield, TAP Guide Mylasia Miklas, and Anthony Lanuza during at TAP shift at Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State Park. 
A leopard nudibranch with eggs. 
The tidepools are brimming with beautiful and sensitive marine life. TAP volunteers get to speak with beach-goers about rocky intertidal habitat and share proper tidepool etiquette to make sure these areas stay healthy for years to come. 
TAP Volunteer Yvana Iovino tabling at Oswald West State Park with the felt board she originally conceptualized. It features a tidepool scene with movable felt creatures.
Tending to the Tidepools
Ambassadors build special bond to the beach, the tidepools, and marine wildlife
The 2025 season of the Tidepool Ambassador Program (TAP) at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve took place from June to September. TAP Coordinator Michelle Schwegmann and TAP Guide Mylasia Miklas were back as program leaders, bringing a wealth of prior rocky intertidal interpretive experience that proved vastly beneficial.
The 2025 season kicked off in May with a volunteer training, held in partnership with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) in Cannon Beach. Over the course of the summer, there were 17 volunteer tidepool ambassadors—up from 14 in 2024—who contributed 172 volunteer hours over the course of the summer. They were at the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve tidepools for 25 shifts, amounting to 81 total program hours spent on the beach. The ambassadors had 2,008 interactions with visitors, approximately 448 more than last season.
Additionally, there were be a few days during the summer when the tides weren’t low enough to have volunteer interpreters down on the beach, so instead, they tabled near the picnic area at the beach entrance, just down the trail through Oswald West State Park. This was a positive supplement to TAP’s presence on the beach, as it enabled volunteers to connect with people who don’t make it all the way to the tidepools.
Each year, Michelle cherishes the opportunity “to watch how we get better at serving this marine reserve, how we get better at stewarding this place, and how to best communicate with visitors about areas we want to be super cautious about protecting.” Mylasia shares that sense of responsibility, and the excitement that comes with it. “I love being out here, I love being out in the tidepools, I love being able to educate people and share what I love so much with so many other people that come down to the coast to visit.” Read More