Evaluation of two outreach tools, an educator program and a mobile tidepool exhibit, in reducing deleterious visitor activities and raising marine protected area awareness in rocky intertidal ecosystems of southern California, USA

Rocky intertidal habitats in urbanized settings, such as in southern California, USA, are heavily perturbed by human visitors (tidepoolers) through the deleterious activities of collecting, handling, and trampling. To protect rocky intertidal biota, certain locations have been designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), yet MPA status can be ineffective when public knowledge of regulations is low and regulations do not protect flora and fauna from the impacts of handling and trampling. To help reduce detrimental activities of visitors, propagate environmentally-safe tidepooling behaviors, and increase public knowledge of MPA regulations, two outreach tools were instituted in southern California, USA: 1) an education program whereby trained educators are on-site, interacting with the public and educating visitors about MPA regulations, and 2) the ISOpod (Interactive Sealife Outreach pod) vehicle, a mobile tidepool exhibit parked near the site for visitors to observe organisms in a controlled setting and where MPA awareness is emphasized. To determine if these tools were effective in reducing deleterious activities, visitors were discretely observed at two sites, counted, and placed into behavior categories under four scenarios based on combinations of the presence and absence of both the ISOpod and educators. A questionnaire was conducted at one site to determine if MPA regulation and conservation knowledge increased with public interaction with outreach programs. The ISOpod and, in part, educators were effective in reducing the frequency of individuals engaged in detrimental activities. This occurred despite high MPA awareness of visitors, which was further increased by public interaction with the ISOpod. Results from this study suggest that outreach programs focused on conservation education can be effective options to assist with protection of coastal ecosystems.