Today’s Los Angeles Times features an Op-Ed by Mark Gold, Heal the Bay’s former president, about his disappointment with new EPA beach water quality criteria that actually weaken public health protections for millions of recreational ocean users. It’s now OK for one in 28 people to get sick when they take a dip in the sea, the EPA says. Crazy, huh?
Read more of Gold’s thoughts and please urge the EPA to amend these ill-conceived regulatory revisions.
Today’s guest blogger is Margy Feldman, Heal the Bay’s director of advancement.
The fog and chill hung in the air as I arrived for a recent morning walk in Manhattan Beach. I found it difficult to see the breakers across the dark sand. Slowly the fog began to lift, the sand began to dry and as I stared into the vast and luminous ocean, the horizon finally became clearer. The sun fought through the misty sky. It was a new day on the coast of Southern California. More and more people began hitting the strand as the South Bay woke up.
The sun began to warm me, and although I had my iPod with me, it was more pleasing to hear the sound of waves crashing – the steady and forever force, clearing my head and reminding me how lucky I am to live so close to the ocean. I reflected on cherished days relaxing on the beach, reading a book, exercising, playing with my family and swimming where the water is clean and safe.
I grew up enjoying the beaches of Long Island and the Jersey Shore. And my husband and I raised our son on the sand at Redondo Beach. My fondest memories have been made on beaches. If you flip through my family albums you would think we spent our whole lives basking in the salt air. Recently, I joined Heal the Bay to help advance their financial support, fundraising and friend-raising. I was attracted by the incredible work the organization has done leading the efforts in Southern California, locally and even nationally to protect our oceans. The mission is so compelling. As a mother, nurturing what we all love drew me to the cause.
The extra bonus for me is Heal the Bay’s commitment to education. I’m getting steeped in the many programs Heal the Bay offers to children all over Southern California, from kindergarten through high school. Amazingly, countless children in areas like Compton and East L.A. have never had the opportunity. We help Title 1 schools bring kids that have never been to the beach to our shorelines.
Our programs not only introduce these kids to the feeling of sand between their toes and the awesomeness of the never-ending waves, but they also teach them to be better environmental stewards. They learn about what causes pollution, how it impacts sea life and how to safeguard the sea for generations of children to come.
If you are reading this, it’s because you are part of this extraordinary movement to protect our oceans, preserve our beaches and ensure that our sea life flourishes. It is truly a Happy New Year knowing that your generosity of time and dollars continue to help make this possible for limitless years to come!
The Los Angeles Times editorialized today that mutts should be given a chance at a pilot Santa Monica dog beach. Last week I spoke with editorial writer Carla Hall for 45 minutes on why the dog beach would be a bad idea for public health protection, environmental compliance, and the preservation of endangered and threatened wildlife. Unfortunately, her mind seemed clearly made up. Even suggestions for Hall to hang out at our local dog park for a few hours fell on deaf ears.
Clearly, science and credible opponents (state parks, lifeguards, NRDC and others) didn’t tip the scales for her. Idyllic visions of Fido frolicking in the surf were too compelling.
I can’t say I was surprised by today’s piece. But in light of all the facts, I had hoped she might support a recommendation for an enclosed dog beach away from endangered wildlife and away from the intertidal zone. But she stuck to her original position.
But there’s something more disturbing than the L.A. Times taking a position in favor of dog beaches despite environmental and public health concerns. What’s troubling is its failure to adequately cover more important environmental issues in the editorial or news sections.
Today’s guest blogger is Tara Treiber, education director for Heal the Bay.
I pulled on my rain boots on Saturday and walked the mile or so from my house to the AMC Broadway 4 on the Santa Monica Promenade to watch “The Big Fix” and participate in a Q&A panel after the film. I’d never seen the movie before the screening, but felt as though I was pretty aware of the story about the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Macondo blowout.
I’d read a great deal about it (including the 381-page Report to the President by the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling), watched podcasts and attended lectures about the spill, and participated in conversations with my marine and aquatic educator peers from the area affected.
The advantage of a well-done documentary, however, is that it brings a story to life, draws the viewer into the story. You feel like you are the one talking with the fishermen who are wondering if they’ll ever get their livelihood back, the one walking on a beach coated with a slick of oil, the one looking up to see the planes dropping gallons of the dispersant Corexit (a toxic chemical banned in the EU) on the ocean and shores, the one chatting with experts about the long-term impacts on the Gulf, and the one who is asking how in the world did this happen.
The movie, helmed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, also looks at the power of perception in our world – what makes the ocean seem clean versus actually being clean, safe and healthy for the people and animals that rely on it? I think this is a powerful movie that is well worth seeing.
The only issue I have with the movie is that the producers left me with a feeling of dread and anger, but not much of an outlet for taking action. It surprised me, because they did such a great job leaving us with a sense of hope and purpose at the end of their previous film, “Fuel,” which looked at alternative energy.
Working for Heal the Bay, I know everyday actions can make a big impact on the health of our environment, and, if you want to make a difference, you can. Heal the Bay has provided a helpful Q&A about offshore drilling and what you can do to help.
Santa Monica Bay scored two big victories Tuesday night in the ongoing fight to keep harmful and unsightly plastic debris from reaching the seas.
The Hermosa Beach City Council decided in a 3-2 vote to ban polystyrene (Styrofoam) food take-out containers at local restaurants. The measure, which came as a recommendation from the Hermosa Beach Green Task Force last September, received broad support from environmental groups, educators, business, and local residents. Mayor Fishman, Mayor Pro Tempore Duclos and Councilmember Tucker all voted for the ban. Hermosa Beach now joins the over 50 California municipalities including Santa Monica, Calabasas and Malibu, in banning some type of polystyrene food packaging. The County of Los Angeles is completing its stakeholder process to evaluate the feasibility of a similar measure for restaurants within its jurisdiction.
Also Tuesday night, the Glendale City Council unanimously directed staff to draft a single-use bag ordinance similar to L.A . County’s policy and begin the necessary environmental review. The City of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Burbank and Culver City are also considering similar measures. These local initiatives will hopefully encourage state legislators to take action as well in the coming year.
And remember, Dec. 15 is Heal the Bay’s fifth annual Day Without a Bag, in which we encourage local shoppers to forego harmful plastic bags in favor of resuable ones. We will be distributing free bags throughout Los Angeles County. Save the date! More details to come.
We collected a sample of water off the Santa Monica Pier today, and got a bit of a surprise. Instead of the blue-gray water that we usually collect, a rusty, brownish-red liquid filled the collection jar. Welcome back red tide!
Aquarium staff has been bombarded with questions regarding what people perceive as “polluted water” these past few days. So here’s a little background on this interesting phenomenon.
The term red tide is a bit of a misnomer as the color of the water is usually not red, and the blooms are not associated with the tides. Hmm….ponder that wonder of science.
Red tides occur when there is a high concentration of mostly dinoflagellates, a small, single-celled phytoplankton that possess two flagella, or whiplike projections. The water appears as a rusty-brownish color as the light reflects off the accessory pigments in the cells of the numerous phytoplankton, or algae, floating on the surface.
Dinoflagellates reproduce by fission, meaning the single cell divides in half and then creates two new cells, and so on and so on as the population continues to grow exponentially. Under the right conditions the organisms can reproduce once a day, creating a massive population bloom. During the peak of the red tide there can often be tens or hundreds of thousands of dinoflagellates in one drop of water.
This phenomenon can occur all over the world, and about 200 species are known to cause the red tide. However, during a red tide other organisms aside from the dinoflagellates have been found, such as cyanobacteria and diatoms.
Contrary to what many believe, not all red tides are harmful. But to be clear, many can cause adverse health effects.
Many of the dinoflagellates that are responsible for these occurrences are simple organisms. However about a third of the species causing red tides have the ability to produce toxins as metabolic by-products.
During a toxic bloom, mussels, clams and other shellfish that filter feed plankton as a food source, end up concentrating high amounts of the dinoflagellates and can tolerate the toxins by storing it in digestive glands or other tissues. However, when people eat these animals they can suffer nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, tingling or numbness. Fatalities can occur in the most severe cases. This is known as Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and one species of dinoflagellate in the genus Alexandrium is the culprit. That’s the reason behind the annual mussel harvesting quarantine along the entire California coast from May 1- Oct. 31.
Red tides are unpredictable and the causes of them are not entirely known, however, red tides have been occurring more frequently. Some factors that may contribute to the blooms are reduced salinity, optimal light and nutrients, warm surface temperatures, transport in ballast water of ships and pollution. Sewage and fertilizer found in urban runoff contribute a high level of phosphates and nitrates into the ocean environment. Burning of fossil fuels also contributes to the amount of nitrogen, and is considered the greatest source to the open ocean environment. Excessive amounts of these nutrients cause the primary producers to grow rapidly.
Primarily a problem in coastal habitats, the algae grow quickly and reduce the amount of sunlight that is able to penetrate to the bottom. As the phytoplankton blooms and then dies, and as metabolic wastes builds up from the zooplankton and fish that feed on the abundant phytoplankton, decay bacteria break down the matter and in the process use up the oxygen. Also, due to the turbulence in the water the decaying phytoplankton become crushed and create a foaming effect on the shore.
What does all this mean to the beachgoers and lovers of the sea? Some believe that swimming, boating, or breathing sea spray that is affected with red tide organisms can cause eye irritations, skin discomfort and sore throats, so be careful out there! But do go out there and check it out. It’s pretty amazing.
Oh, and if you have the chance to visit the ocean at night, check out the bioluminescence that occurs in the waves. These dinoflagellates can take energy from a chemical reaction and convert it to light energy so that they produce an awesome blue-green light that looks like a fireworks show in the water.
Happy exploring!
—Vicki Wawerchak, Director, Santa Monica Pier Aquarium
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today signed the Low Impact Development Ordinance, which the City Council endorsed unanimously last month. On hand were a handful of key local civic and enviornmental leaders that helped birth the long-gestating measure, which promises to signifcantly reduce the amount of polutted runoff that reaches our shores and beaches. The Department of Public Works, especially the Bureau of Sanitation, has shown strong leadership and perseverance on this critical issue. It’s to be commended for moving the city to a more integrated, natural approach to water policy, one that relies on watershed management.
Heal the Bay worked closely with former board of Public Works commissioner Paula Daniels and Bureau of Sanitation executives Adel Hagekhalil and Shahram Kharaghani to put together early drafts of the ordinance. Heal the Bay’s work on the measure was lead by Kirsten James.
Vicki Wawerchak, director of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, has been chronicling the process of readying a very special marine artifact for exhibit. Below is the fourth and final installment about the prepping of whale baleen.
Previous installments in this series:
1. A Whale of a Tale (December 22, 2010)
2. Brushing Up On Our Baleen (January 5, 2011)
3. Unraveling the Mysterious Baleen (January 11, 2011)
I hate waiting. Especially if it is for something I am really excited about. So when we finished prepping the baleen for the drying-out process, the next step was to wait. And wait. And wait.
It was a bit easier because I wasn’t going to be at the Aquarium for a few days so I didn’t feel the need to check on it daily. But when I finally returned, I barely set my bag down and turned on the computer before I went to check on our newly prepped specimen. (Baleen are plates with hard bristles inside a whale’s mouth that trap and filter small organisms for nourishment.)
And to our excitement, the marine artifact was drying perfectly. The bristles were straight, the color was good, and the piece did not curl. Whew! But now we had to wait a few more days before we could take it out of the contraption we designed. We continued to monitor it daily because as the moisture evaporated from the baleen, the piece shrunk. That meant the C-clamps had to be tightened and the drying rack had to be readjusted.
As a scientist who works with numerous live animals (including humans) every day, I have a few priorities. One is to ensure we provide an inviting, comfortable, safe, learning environment for students, the general public, volunteers and staff. The other is to ensure we provide a safe, healthy, high water quality habitat for all the animals we have on exhibit. From the smallest skeleton shrimp to our biggest bass, we want to make sure that the environment we create mimics their natural one. I do not take these tasks lightly.
The amount of care given to our live animals is replicated with our marine artifacts that we acquire through the many partnerships and relationships we have created through the years. The utmost care, attention to detail and responsibility needs to be executed when prepping and dealing with these artifacts.
We understand that they were obtained from once-live animals and therefore we have an obligation to make sure we succeed not only in the prepping process, but also in how we use them for education. The room for error is small and at times the need to succeed can be overwhelming.
And succeed we did. We untied the lines that were holding the baleen plates together, carefully removed all the wood that we used to separate the baleen plates and slowly unscrewed the C-clamps.
What was left was a beautifully dried out specimen that is going to enhance our education capabilities. Most of the staff at the Aquarium had never seen a full section of baleen like this before, let alone used one this large as an educational tool. So, I am sure the passion and excitement that each one of them feels will come out when using the artifact to educate the general public about the majestic gray whales that migrate annually right off our beautiful coast.
Please visit the Aquarium during Whale of a Weekend, Feb. 19-20, to view the baleen first hand. Check back after the weekend to read how we used the baleen during education programs and how it was received.
Vicki Wawerchak, director of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, chronicles the process of readying a very special marine artifact for exhibit. Below is the third installment about the prepping of whale baleen, plates of hard bristles inside a whale’s mouth that trap and filter small organisms for nourishment.
Previous installments in this series:
1. A Whale of a Tale (December 22, 2010)
2. Brushing Up On Our Baleen (January 5, 2011)
After the final cleanout of the baleen plates, Aquarium staffers passed around ideas about how best to separate the individual plates to allow for adequate drying. Thoughts included everything from using cardboard, PVC pipe to plastic sheeting. We finally settled on using wood. We inserted the wooden boards carefully, again using the toothbrush to straighten out the individual bristles and to ensure they wouldn’t bend while securing the piece to the drying rack.
Meanwhile, we received an email from our contact at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito — the facility that gave us the baleen specimen — with more details about the animal whose baleen will soon be used to educate our visitors.
The carcass of the gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, was floating between Alcatraz Island and Fort Mason in San Francisco, causing a hazard to vessel traffic in the Bay. The U.S. Coast Guard towed the body to a nearby beach, where Marine Mammal Center staff examined it. They determined the whale to be a juvenile male, estimated to be two to four years old. While they noted lacerations typical of a great white shark bite, staffers guessed the wounds probably occurred post mortem. Cause of death was undetermined.
With the additional knowledge of the baleen’s origins, we turned our concern back to the specimen. We worried about the baleen curling during the drying process. To prevent this, we secured the whole plate with twine and tied it onto a plastic grating that we elevated on a board. The elevation of the baleen allowed for increased air circulation as well as a way to allow for any dripping that might occur. We then secured two L-shaped brackets on either side of the entire piece and used C-clamps to position the artifact to ensure the shape of the piece would not change as it lost moisture.
As we finished securing the baleen on our homemade drying rack, we moved the piece inside the Aquarium’s Green Room and set it up with a few fans to aid with air circulation and to speed up the drying process. And then the wait began … this step is going to take about two weeks.
Check back next week to read about the unveiling – and see the final product.
Vicki Wawerchak, director of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, chronicles the process of readying a very special marine artifact for exhibit. Below is the second installment about the prepping of whale baleen. (Read the first installment).
Last week, we continued the prepping process for the two baleen segments donated to us by the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Baleen are plates with hard bristles inside a whale’s mouth that trap and filter small organisms for nourishment. These baleen pieces are from a gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, that was found on April 20, 2010 as a floating carcass between Alcatraz Island and Fort Mason in San Francisco.
After soaking the baleen pieces for three days in freshwater (imagine me opening the lid to the cooler at least twice a day to check on it, did I think it was going to get up and walk away?) we were ready for step two. This took a few extra hands, so Jose Bacallao, the Aquarium’s senior aquarist, and Aaron Kind, our education specialist, also stepped in. We pulled the smaller of the two plates out of the freshwater and decided to work on one piece first to see if our technique would pan out. You don’t want to make a mistake with something like this.
We planned to clean out any organic material (soft tissue) that might be stuck in between the individual plates. The scientific weapon of choice? Nothing other than a high-tech toothbrush. We used pieces of wood to separate the individual plates, which allowed us to thoroughly clean the material. We got to work brushing the baleen, pulling out organic matter and separating the bristles. We wanted all the plates and bristles to dry straight during the drying out process. After loosening the material, we removed the wood pieces and decided to gently spray the baleen with fresh water and give it one last cleaning.
Now we were ready to figure out how to secure it for the drying process so that it would stay intact, not curl, or become infested with bugs. We brainstormed and came up with about four different techniques, before finally settling on one…
Check back next week to read about the drying process and how well it worked.
Find out if your favorite watering hole is on the honor roll or flunking out.