Sound Water Stewards are trained volunteers working in and around Island County for a healthy, sustainable Puget Sound environment through education, community outreach, stewardship, and citizen science.
Covid-19 Alert: SWS has cancelled in-person events for through May 4 consistent with the Governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” directive. Within SWS Calendar, click through to each event to find out if there is an online option.
Find selected nature education videos and reading, curated by SWS. Send suggestions to enhance this page to Camano Coordinator.
Watch The Science Behind the Coronavirus video lecture posted 3-18-2020 by the Los Angeles Times. Get local updates from Island County Public Health.
SWS Volunteer training class
Education & Outreach are central to our organization. We believe knowledge leads to action. Each year, we provide 100 hours of training to new volunteers to equip them to serve and lead projects, activities and committees. We educate nearly 700 people annually at Sound Waters University. Throughout the year we offer educational activities for the public ranging from children’s activities to evening programs for adults.
Invasive European Green Crab – Whidbey Island
Citizen Science engages our trained members to support critical research in partnership with universities, government, scientists, and data managers across Puget Sound. As SWS volunteers we help to monitor flora and fauna on Island County beaches, observe Pigeon guillemot colonies, capture data on invasive European green crabs, collect data on marine debris and many more scientific endeavors.
Beach clean-up on Camano Island
Stewardship is the third prong of our program. Much of what we do can be considered stewardship, but we also want to feature other activities that take direct action like beach clean-ups, invasive plant removal, and fishing line collection.
Sound Water Stewards of Island County is a non-profit supported by contributions from individuals, community businesses, community partnerships, and grants from the Lighthouse Environmental Programs.
When you buy this license plate, proceeds benefit SWS and other environmental programs in Island County. Get yours today!
