Top

Heal the Bay Blog

Author: Heal the Bay

As a special thank you to our dedicated members, Heal the Bay is kicking off the summer with a couple of invite-only events, open exclusively to our current donors.

June 28-29: Join us on either Friday, June 28, at 8 a.m. in Northern Malibu, or Saturday, June 29, at 11 a.m. in Palos Verdes, for an active tidepool tour of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) with Heal the Bay scientists Dana Roeber Murray and Sarah Sikich. Highlights include whale watching, an interpretive nature hike, and a tide pool walk at low tide. RSVP here.

July 13: Like beer? Love Heal the Bay? Golden Road Brewery produced a Heal the Bay IPA, available in select local stores and bars. Now they’re opening their doors to Heal the Bay members on July 13 at 2 p.m. Join us for a tour of the brewery, learn more about the beer-making process, and you’ll even get a free beer! Of course, you have to be 21. And a current member.

RSVP to Hallie Jones for location details and to get on the list!

Sign Up

Not sure if you’re a Heal the Bay member? Contact Hallie and she can assist you.

Think that this all looks incredibly fun? Join Heal the Bay as a member to attend these and other special events exclusively for HtB donors.



Watermen and women braved some seriously huge waves on Saturday at the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival (pictured left).

For the fourth year in a row, the event’s organizers chose Heal the Bay and the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium as their charity of choice and we couldn’t be prouder!

The festival promotes the connection between the Santa Monica Bay and the community of watermen and women who have enjoyed a myriad water sports for generations – all folks who recognize the role Heal the Bay plays in keeping the ocean healthy for us all. 

We offer special thanks this week to the Roth Family Foundation and the Joseph Drown Foundation for their commitment to education and creating opportunities for LA’s youth!

A “thank you” also goes to the Union Bank Foundation for their longtime support of Coastal Cleanup Day, the annual international volunteer event held every September. Heal the Bay staff coordinates the efforts in L.A. County. Mark your calendars: This year’s CCD will be on September 21, 9 a.m.-Noon.

Speaking of cleanups, employees from DIRECTVSymantec Corporation, and Wells Fargo joined us for Corporate Healer Beach Cleanups. More than 80 employees from DIRECTV in El Segundo picked up 182 pounds of trash from Dockweiler beach. Fierce competitors, the winning cleanup team, “Direct 6,” collected 30 pounds!  Wells Fargo volunteers picked up an unbelievable 1,268 cigarette butts!

Not to be outdone, a 13-member team from Symantec Corporation collected more than their share of beach trash. Plus, all three companies made dollar donations to sustain our work. Big thanks to last week’s corporate healers!

You can support a clean ocean today and every day.



Reel in the love this weekend at Fisherman Appreciation Day on the Venice Pier.

Created to teach local anglers ways to ensure the fish they catch are safe to eat, Fisherman’s Appreciation Day will be held this year on June 15 from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Venice Pier.

Fishing experts will be on hand to share healthy tips on cooking and catching fish, plus there’ll be contests with prizes (such as family passes to Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium) and free food!

Among the experts will be members of Heal the Bay’s Angler Outreach Program (AOP team, pictured left), who’ve educated more than 100,000 anglers about the health risks of eating certain fish (e.g., white croaker). Our bilingual AOP team span eight different piers ­‑‑ Santa Monica, Venice, Hermosa, Redondo, Pier J, Rainbow Harbor, Belmont and Seal Beach‑‑ to spread their message.

Download a guide to eating fish caught in the bay and find more tips courtesy of the Fish Contamination Education Collaborative.

Are you an educator? Healthy, sustainable fish choices are also covered in the curricula for our K-5 marine education program, Key to the Sea.

Fisherman Appreciate Day



As I rode over Las Virgenes Road into the sun soaked valley, I was reciting what I would get to say to the 350-plus students and faculty of Mariposa School of Global Education.

The amazing students held their 5th Annual Beach Clean-A-Thon fundraiser and field trips April 15-17, which brought them down to the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium for education programs and a chance to help clean our beaches. As the students were learning about the animals off our coast and cleaning up their home, they were also raising funds to support their programs as well as donate to Heal the Bay. So I was there to accept the amazing gift of $2,300 they were presenting to Heal the Bay.

The students raised $23,000 through lemonade stands, video messages, letters and even their own piggy banks. I was welcomed on stage to shouts of “Nick!” from the audience, as they recognized me from their trip a month before. I spoke to them about how wonderful their commitment to the environment is and how they are the key to the future of our planet. When the oversized check presentation occurred (pictured left, courtesy Ziva Santop Photography), I realized I had a problem. I was on a motorcycle. Luckily for me they had a smaller version to fit in my pocket, but either way it was such a joy to accept such a wonderful gift and continue the two-year partnership with Mariposa.

— Nick Fash

Education Specialist, Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

Schedule a cleanup for your school.

Plan a visit or field trip to our Aquarium.

Help us bring our ocean education programs to Los Angeles students.



No one knows good taste like Coastal Living magazine, and now you can have that penchant for a stylized, seaside life in your own backyard!

Through the generosity of our friends at Coastal Living, these gorgeous cabana packages are being auctioned to benefit Heal the Bay.  Each cabana package, valued at $7,500 includes:

  • Lee Industries Nandina Double Chaise Lounge
  • 2 Lee Industries custom Ottomans
  • 2 Wisteria Tray Tables
  • 1 Jaipur Maroc Collection 8×10 rug
  • 2 coral scuptures with succulents
  • 12 battery operated paper lanterns

Along with Coastal Living, the stunning cabanas are provided by Sunbrella, Lee Industries, Wisteria and Jaipur. Here’s to your most stylist summer yet!

Bid now!



It was hard to ignore the front page news that a world-record breaking-size mako shark was caught this week just off our shores in Southern California. Here, Jose Bacallao, diver of 20+ years and the Operations Manager at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, provides his take on the ethics of this recent shark hunt.

The 1,323-pound mako shark caught off our coast this Monday near Huntington Beach—possibly the largest on record– was reeled in not for food and definitely not for scientific study. A crew filming a reality series for the Outdoor Channel hooked this mako. Therefore, the 12-foot-long shark was sacrificed merely for commercial entertainment purposes.

I am not arguing that the crew who caught this shortfin mako violated any California laws. They were within their full legal rights to do it. In fact they could have legally have done it twice that day, as that’s the limit. And maybe they should have killed two mako sharks, because it would have pointed out just how asinine and ignorant this killing was. Landing this giant mako shark is unintelligent, but it would best be called unethical. There is no reason to hunt this fish unless you are planning on eating it, which these men did not do.

Also disappointing was how the mako catch was portrayed by the members of the media, who allowed Jason Johnston, one of the men who caught the shark, to describe the mako as “definitely a killing machine” without disputing this notion. In reality, in the real world, mako sharks are not a threat to people. Using terms such as “killing machine,” “man-eater” or “monster” is tragically misleading. I have been in the water with mako sharks and I don’t agree with this assessment. It is unfounded and lacks any rationale. The mako does not treat humans as prey.

Another of Johnston’s comments that went undisputed in initial media reports of the mako catch was: “There are not that many sharks being taken out of the water. It’s not hurting the population. If we pull four fish out of the water per year, that’s just four.” This is both inaccurate and illogical. There is overwhelming evidence that global shark populations have been decimated by years of fishing pressure.

This impact along with the ongoing shark finning industry is altering the ocean’s ecosystems. Thank you for the math lesson, Jason Johnston. Clearly, you miss the point. The 1,300 lbs mako could have produced, not four, but dozens of new shark pups. It takes many, many years for these large predators to reproduce. Now that you killed her, for TV viewing entertainment, she will not be able to provide the much-needed contribution to her depleted species. Your hunt, which you did not eat, has removed one of the last few giants out of the ecosystem.

So what exactly were these guys thinking? Apparently the crew has plans to donate the shark’s body for scientific research. Are you kidding me? Donating it to science, really? Your effort, killing this mako shark, is benefiting the scientific community? Please educate me on this strategic plan. Explain to me how you are contributing to the conservation of the species? Give me a break, bro.

I invite these gentlemen to spend a few minutes in the water with a mako shark and me. Get educated and have an understanding as to what this animal actually is. You can reach me at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.

You can spend a few minutes getting to know the misunderstood shark at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium on Shark Sundays at 3:30 p.m.



World Oceans Day on June 8 provides us with the welcome excuse to celebrate the vast water body that links us all. We hope you find a way to honor the sea this week!

Last weekend, we honored the legacy of ocean lover Nick Gabaldon, who perished while surfing at the Malibu pier in June 1951. Gabaldon, the first documented L.A. surfer of African and Mexican descent, has inspired local surfers for generations. He continued to serve as inspiration on Saturday when the Black Surfers Collective and Surf Bus Foundation provided free surf lessons to kids from Watts and other inland communities. (You can get the feel for how awesome the day was by listening to this NPR story.)

Huge thank yous to L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and his staff for their support of the day. We are also grateful to historian Alison Rose Jefferson for sharing her work and expertise with us. In addition, we’d like to thank the following supporters:

As part of the Nick Gabaldon Day celebration, we debuted our new mobile educational game SurfGod for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. While we think the app is super fun, a lot of work went into it. We’d like to thank Matt Fairweather from Torrid Games who dedicated countless hours to making the eco app such a huge success! We’re already at 1000 downloads! Download it for free today and let us know what you think.

Download the Nick Gabaldon Day coloring book pages from the aquarium here.

A big thank you also goes to two partners who made Heal the Bay’s first gay Pride event a memorable success. Thank you to American Apparel for printing our ultra-cute neon yellow tank tops and to Roosterfish bar for hosting the after-party.

We hope you enjoy LA Pride and World Oceans Day this weekend!

Consult our calendar for more ocean celebrations all summer.



In honor of dads and grads and in celebration of the male seahorse’s unique role in childbirth, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium’s seahorses are available for aquadoption at the special price of $50 during the month of June. Fostering a seahorse through the Aquarium’s aquadoption program is a special way to connect with an animal; leave the actual daily care to Aquarium staff while you can feel proud of your important contribution to this unique creature’s well being.

Growing up to 12 inches in height, the Pacific seahorse, Hippocampus ingens, is among the largest of the world’s seahorses and the only one to be found along the California coast. In the seahorse family, the males do all the heavy lifting, carrying eggs in their brood pouch, which are deposited there by the female. The male can give birth to hundreds of babies – known as fry – at one time.

A yearlong aquadoption of a seahorse includes a personalized packet with an adoption certificate, photo, fact sheet and a yearlong membership to Heal the Bay – and free family admission to the Aquarium for the year. Aquadopt now!



Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium joins more than 1,800 museums nationwide in offering free admission to military personnel and their families this summer. In collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Department of Defense, the Aquarium will admit all active duty military personnel and up to five family members free of charge from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

This is the third year the Aquarium has participated in the Blue Star Museums program. Blue Star Families is a national, nonprofit network of military families from all ranks and services, including guard and reserve, dedicated to supporting, connecting and empowering military families. Blue Star Families hosts an array of programs with its partners and also works directly with the Department of Defense and senior members of local, state and federal government to highllight military family issues. Working in concert with fellow nonprofits, community advocates and public officials, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life and works to make military life more sustainable.

Congress established the National Endowment for the Arts in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.

View the complete list of Blue Star Museums.



Sipping on an artisanal cocktail, winning a life-changing vacation and jamming to the music of Ziggy Marley during a Santa Monica beach sunset — does life get any better? Yes, it does when it goes to benefit clean oceans!

Bring Back the Beach on May 16, 2013, at the Jonathan Beach Club in Santa Monica, was truly the ultimate beach party. Hollywood A-listers and guests joined us for an evening under the stars to honor Heal the Bay’s former president Mark Gold, D. Env., Oscar-winning actor and environmental champion Jeremy Irons, and founder of the Inclusive Health movement and philanthropist Dr. Howard Murad.

Our supporters were treated to a special acoustic performance by five-time Grammy Award winner Ziggy Marley, who received the true VIP treatment, with Heal the Bay’s Marine & Coastal Scientist Dana Roeber Murray and her husband Brian chauffeuring him home after the show!

Guests had the chance to bid on a completely decorated cabana set, courtesy of Coastal Living magazine, and a new 2013 Scion FR-S, contributed by LAcarGUY.

Thanks to our dedicated guests, we exceeded our goal, and raised more than $1 million for programs that work toward clean beaches and oceans. Rest assured: Our teachers, water quality scientists, policy advocates, beach cleanup organizers, and aquarists, to name a few, plan to put those dollars to good work.

Check out photos from Bring Back the Beach or spot your friends in the Lucky Laughter Photo Booth!

Update: We’ve added even more photos of guests at Bring Back the Beach on Flickr! Or tag your blue carpet moment on Facebook!

To our table sponsors, ticket buyers, and auction bidders, new and long-time supporters alike, we are truly grateful.