Heal the Bay Blog

Savvy Seafood 

Each time we go to a supermarket or restaurant we are confronted with a choice about what food items to buy.  Health concerns and a growing desire to eat local and sustainable foods have made this decision harder than ever.  Each month, Nick Fash, education specialist and Key to the Sea manager at our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, will help you make informed choices at the seafood counter as well as at your favorite local restaurant. And try one of his delectable recipes included at the end of this blog.

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Salmon? What exactly does this mean when you read it on a menu?  The truth is that it could be farmed, or wild, or any one of six different fishes from two different groups from opposite ends of the earth.  Not so simple anymore, is it?

There are two basic types of salmon: Atlantic and Pacific.  The Atlantic salmon is in the genus Salmo and originally came from the Atlantic Ocean (I say originally as they are now farmed all over the world) and Pacific salmon is in the genus Oncorhynchus, which come from the Pacific Ocean.

Salmon are born in fresh water, travel to the ocean in their adult life and return to the fresh water to lay eggs. They are a keystone species, meaning they play an important role in the nutrient-starved ecosystems where they spawn.  When the Pacific salmon die, the nutrients in their body that they obtained from their lives out in the ocean are released into the Arctic, beginning the explosion of life that occurs during the spring and summer months.  Without these nutrients the Arctic ecosystem would be unable to function properly.

Salmon are extremely sensitive to environmental changes in the ocean as well as on land.  Their populations are suffering from logging, mining, pollution and changing ocean conditions. And salmon farming is the most recent threat having a major impact. Not only are these salmon farms destroying the ecosystem with all of the waste they produce, they are spreading diseases and parasites to the wild salmon as they migrate out to the ocean.  So we are not only destroying one of nature’s finest food sources, replacing them with highly inferior farmed salmon, we are also at the risk of dismantling an entire ecosystem.

While here in Southern California we do not have open pen aquaculture – salmon farms set up off shore along the coast – we do have other problems that impact salmon populations, like pollution, coastal development and habitat destruction, which can impact our own fisheries.  Heal the Bay has spent the last 30 years cleaning up our waters, protecting our oceans by helping to establish Marine Protection Areas, and working to make our fisheries healthier. 

Looking to learn more about the plight of wild Pacific salmon?  Come to the screening of The Breach on May 20^th at Cross Campus in Santa Monica, eat tasty treats, and hear chefs, biologists and the filmmaker discuss what we can all do to help.

Heal the Bay members will get 20 percent off the ticket price by using the code BREACH20. Tickets are available here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-breach-screening-reception-santa-monica-tickets-16436392693 _______________________________________________________________________

Wild Alaskan Salmon  

(serves 4)

                          o  3lb Wild Alaskan Salmon fillet, with skin on

                    Sauce

                                      o  1 cup plain Greek yogurt

                          o  2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

                          o  1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

                          o  1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

                          o  ½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest

                         o  1 teaspoon fresh orange juice

                          o  ¾ teaspoon salt

                        o  ¼ teaspoon honey

Preheat broiler.  Line rack of broiler with foil and lightly brush with oil.

Pat filet dry and check for bones by running finger along the filet.  If you find any bones you can pull them out with a pair of clean pliers.  Season with salt and pepper.  Broil 4-5 inches from heat for 7 minutes, cover with foil and continue to cook in the broiler for another 7-10 minutes.

While the salmon is broiling whisk together all sauce ingredients.  Season with pepper to taste

Enjoy – Nick

Summer’s in full swing and the kids are voicing that all too familiar mantra: “what can I do? I’m bored!” Parents, don’t panic; we’ve got this one. Sign your kids up to enjoy some summer fun at our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium’s Science Adventures Camp.

Weeklong sessions provide kindergarten through fifth graders with fun-filled days with the fishes – and eels, sea horses and jellies – plus too many other species local to the Santa Monica Bay to name. Campers enjoy exclusive time in the Aquarium, plenty of interaction with live animals, and a week’s worth of games, crafts and laboratory practices. A different marine-themed topic is explored each day.

Whether they’re in it for the science, the animals or the beach culture, this camp is a fun, educational experience for all. It’s just enough science for a summer day! Sign up early to guarantee a spot in this popular program.

The Frightfully “Fintastic” Fishy Fest held last weekend at our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium lived up to its name. The marine center was packed with all sorts of witches, ghosts and ghouls. It was a monstrously successful event and we have some neighbors and friends to thank who contributed to the fun.

• The Girl Scouts of Troop 12815 brought reusable trick-or-treat bags they created from recycled tee shirts. The girls gave the bags out to our guests for decorating, while sharing ocean pollution education.

• Nearly 50 trick-or-treaters joined our parade on the Pier Sunday, and many were festooned with costumes donated by the City of Santa Monica’s Resource Recovery and Recycling division.

• Parade partners Rusty’s Surf Ranch, The Albright, Bubba Gump and Pacific Park all provided treats for our parade of goblins. And a special shout-out to our honorary grand marshal, Treeman of Venice, who put all his passion for the natural world – and his considerable height – into leading the parade. Thanks also to filmmaker Michael Angelo for documenting the procession and post-parade festivities at the Aquarium. It was a “tree-mendous” weekend!

And last but not least, we thank Bob Shanman of Wild Birds Unlimited in Torrance, who is a true believer in getting kids outside and experiencing the natural world. For years, he has worked with our Key to the Sea and Key to the Watershed programs, providing binoculars at cost (or below cost) for our programs and servicing them every year free of charge.

What a treat!  

Our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium always loves dressing up for Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. There’s the colorful papel picado hanging from the rafters, mini pumpkins decorating the tanks and spooky enhancements all around. Volunteers and visitors are encouraged to celebrate the season by arriving in spooky gear the last weekend in October for the Aquarium’s Fishy Fest.

For those who need a little help putting a costume together, both inspiration and materials will be available.The Aquarium is partnering with Santa Monica’s Resource Recovery and Recycling division to offer gently used goblin garb to visitors.  Anyone who drops off a costume with the library by Oct. 15 gets a coupon to pick out a costume at the Fairview Branch of the public library Saturday, Oct. 18. Costume swappers also receive a coupon for $1 off admission to our festivities.   

The leftover outfits from the costume swap are being donated to the Aquarium and will be available for anyone to use for the parade, stepping off in front of the marine science center at 3 p.m. Oct. 26. The trick-or-treat procession will make stops at neighboring Pier businesse. What a sweet deal for all the little monsters in your life!   

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate remodeled restrooms may not sound newsworthy at first glance. But when the remodeled bathrooms are in Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, and the remodelers did all the work for free – well, that’s something to celebrate.

The dream team from One Week Bath will be lauded and the gleaming new restorooms will begin active duty this Sunday, October 12th, at 1pm. In addition to a ribbon-cutting, a presentation on water as a resource will follow in the Dorothy Green Room at 1:30 p.m.

Matt Plaskoff, a native of the area and the owner of One Week Bath, wanted to make a donation that would have a big impact to mark his company’s 2,000th bathroom redo. “When we learned that the public restrooms of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium needed help, we knew we found a great recipient.”

“I grew up in the area,” Plaskoff continued. “I went to Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College, raised my kids on the Bay, and I surf – the health of the Santa Monica Bay is something I am very passionate about. Knowing that these bathrooms are going to serve millions of kids that come to the Aquarium to learn about marine biology makes this one of the most meaningful projects in my career.”

Thank you Matt and One Week Bath!

Our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium this month has unveiled a very special exhibit:  the endangered tidewater goby. We are only one of two aquaria where the public can see this special local species. Aquarium Operations Manager Jose Bacallao writes about his relationship with this unique little fish — and a friend dedicating his life’s work to its survival. 

About 10 years ago a young man applied for an  aquarist internship position at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. This guy spent his teenage years playing baseball and racing, wrecking cars and trucks. He had recently enrolled in a local college, knowing that he wanted to work in the ocean, within the ecology of our Bay, but unsure where to start.

He started working for me at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium feeding animals, cleaning tanks and learning about local sea life. I took him on and quickly learned that this kid was great – really hard working, funny and hungry, really hungry, for knowledge.

He quickly became a special part of our Aquarium family so we hired him to help with our programs and made him part of the staff. Before long he was off to San Diego to finish his bachelor degree and then he started working as professional aquarist at the Birch Aquarium. From there he went on to work and receive his graduate degree from Cal State Northridge and today he has begun working on his doctorate at UCLA.

This story was supposed to be about the tidewater goby – and it is, but it’s more because the story of the new tidewater goby exhibit is tied to Brenton Spies. Brenton is very lucky to be one of the few people on this planet to work with the tidewater goby. I am very proud of this man and the work he is doing. Long gone are the days of wrecking racecars. Now he spends his time mucking through the marshes and lagoons of California, studying and protecting the tidewater goby.

The tidewater goby, Eucyclogobius newberryi, is a federally endangered species. It is a tiny bottom-dwelling fish that lives in marshes and lagoons, in the creeks and estuaries of California.  It feeds mainly on super tiny animals, like mysid shrimp, amphipods and aquatic insect larvae — baby bugs. This goby is an important source of food to many shore birds, the southern steelhead and the ever important California halibut. It is an important player in the complex food web of our estuaries and it is endangered. They are pretty cute, measuring about two inches long. But they are pretty tough.

Tidewater gobies have been found in extreme water salinities ranging from 0-42 ppt. They can also deal with huge temperature changes from the “burrrr…. I’m turning blue” 46F to the “meet me at the poolside lounge” of 87F. They even survive in natural pools with super low oxygen levels! Yet, as mighty as these tiny fish are, they cannot survive the intense pressures and impacts of the human species. The tidewater goby has been severely impacted as a result of coastal development, the degradation of its habitat and the alteration of naturally occurring water flows. 

As for Brenton Spies, I am thrilled to be working with him again. With the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium has the pleasure of exhibiting the tidewater goby. I hope that over the next few years this partnership will flourish, and that the work of Brenton and Heal the Bay will support public education about this special little fish and increased restoration for its habitats. I invite you to all come visit and be sure to see the gobies in the Dorothy Green Room.