Through in-depth interviews with gatekeepers in the surfing community, such as surf shop owners and employees, Surfrider representatives, and others, we were able to establish important themes around the issues of surfers, water quality, and decision-making related to risk. From there we developed and tested a 5 minute intercept survey to administer on popular surf beaches in New Hampshire and Southern Maine. The survey included 10 questions and an additional 6 demographic questions.
From Spring 2015 through the end of October 2015, we surveyed surfers about their perceptions of risk, awareness of water quality issues, and interest in receiving information about beach advisories. We collected 291 survey responses and conducted 20 interviews with key informants in the surfing communities of Maine and New Hampshire. We employed a mixed methods approach, combining the qualitative and quantitative methods of in-depth interviews and intercept surveys, to address our research goals of understanding surfers’ perceptions of water quality risk and how this impacted their decision to enter the water to surf.
Read the Technical Report summarizing the research findings.