The animals at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium get hungry. So do your kids.
Why not feed them together?
Bring your kids to the Aquarium on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m. to help feed our sea stars, then head upstairs to Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Pier where kids eat FREE with proof of Aquarium entry! One child’s meal is free with the purchase of an adult entree of $11 or more.
Happy feeding!
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This morning, after listening to the rain fall on my roof all night and waking up to soggy streets, I put on my raincoat and trekked out to see what the stormdrains were pumping out onto the beaches. What I found was quite shocking — this being my first time witnessing what Heal the Bay calls “First Flush,” or the first significant rainfall of the year.
I ventured out to the Pico/Kenter stormdrain and saw runoff flowing fast out onto the Santa Monica beach, carrying along with it strong smells reminiscent of motor oil and gasoline, hundreds of plastic cups, chip bags, soda cans, an unusually high number of tennis balls, plastic bags (some full of pet waste), bits of Styrofoam, bottle caps, and more urban detritus. It was a saddening and somber sight, to say the least.
No bucket or trash bag could clean up the mess that was before me. And the worse part about it was thinking of all the trash that I didn’t see, that ended up tossed around in the heavy surf and pulled out to sea, only to wash up on distant shores — if it wasn’t first mistaken for food by some unfortunate marine creature. And then there’s all that unseen bacteria and other pathogens spewing into the sea, ready to pounce on the surfers at Bay Street who are unable to stay out of the water when there’s decent swell.
These photos speak for themselves.
The First Flush often carries higher levels of trash/debris, pet waste, fertilizers, toxic chemicals, and automotive fluids through our neighborhoods and into our local creeks, rivers, and ocean environments. This runoff is a main source of pollution to our local waterways, because unlike sewage, this polluted water receives no treatment or screening and flows freely along our streets into the catch basins and out into the network of open channels, creeks, and rivers until it reaches the ocean. All this runoff flows through a 5,000 mile-long storm drain system that drains the Greater Los Angeles area.
So be prepared for possible localized flooding from plugged catch basins due to the large amounts of trash clogging the openings. If this happens, then please call it in to the local agency so that they can unplug the drain. Consult this listing of county hotlines.
In addition, avoid surfing or swimming this weekend. Even if the surf is up, the sun is out, and the rainstorm has passed, health officials generally recommend to stay out of the ocean water for more than 72 hours and avoid stormdrain impacted and enclosed beaches for 5 to 10 days after a storm. The reason to stay out of the ocean? This runoff can cause a variety of human pathogens, which can cause illnesses like respiratory infection or stomach flu. Near flowing storm drain outlets, bacteria indicator counts are approximately 10 times higher at ankle depth – where small children typically play – than at chest depth.
How will you know when it’s safe to return to the water? Always check our Beach Report Card for the water quality of your favorite or local beach prior to visiting it.
And yes, there are simple things you can do to help. Heal the Bay reminds L.A. residents that they can take steps in their own homes and neighborhoods to take pressure off an already taxed storm drain system: Join a local group clean-up, keep trash out of gutters and storm drains, and dispose of animal waste and automotive fluids properly. Find out more tips on how you can get involved.
Seeing all that manmade waste on the beach this morning saddened me, but there is hope in a new initiative afoot that could reduce the impact of stormwater and have a real positive impact on local water quality – Los Angeles County’s Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure. This program is an opportunity for Los Angeles County residents to reduce harmful trash and pollution in our waterways and protect local sources of drinking water from contamination. Read more about the measure.
-Ana Luisa Ahern, Campaigns Manager
Two avid surfers have set sail on a two-week expedition in a 22-foot, all-electric boat down the Californian and Mexican coasts. Their mission: Survey the health of the Southern California’s ocean waters and raise awareness about plastics in the sea.
Mark Ward and Billy Dutton will take water samples throughout L.A. County and share them with Heal the Bay. Amanda Griesbach, water quality scientist at Heal the Bay, trained Mark and Billy to analyze and report on water conditions each day.
“Taking these samples helps Heal the Bay because Mark and Billy will be testing the water far from shore,” says Griesbach. “Our monitoring compliance samples are collected close to the shore in ankle-depth water. Mark and Billy will be out where people swim and surf. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s consistency, or if the bacterial pollution in problem areas dilutes that far from shore.”
Mark and Billy will discuss their “Riding Currents” expedition on October 10 at 6 p.m. at the California Yacht Club, 4469 Admiralty Way in Marina Del Rey. Contact: 310.823.4567
Interested in how clean L.A. waters really are? Consult Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card. Know before you go.
About UsLong Beach / AvalonLos Angeles StormwaterMalibu / Pacific PalisadesMarina del Rey / Playa del ReyPalos Verdes PeninsulaSanta MonicaSouth BayVenice Beach
On Friday, October 5, Heal the Bay supporters and staffers packed a Metropolitan Water District meeting room to lend our voices to the fight to keep strong stormwater protections in place throughout Southern California.
Thanks to those of you who came to the “Take L.A. By Storm” hearing, for taking time to share your testimony with the Regional Board. Your words were powerful and effective in letting officials know that the Los Angeles community supports swimming and fishing in safe waters.
In addition, the NRDC and LA Waterkeeper as well as experts Rich Horner, Jenny Jay, and Mark Gold, and a diverse cross-section of people (mothers, divers, NGOs, surfers, beachgoers and ocean lovers) presented robust testimony. All wore buttons declaring: “I support a strong permit.”
While we won’t know until November 8 how the board will rule on the push by many cities to weaken existing pollution limits, we felt we made progress on key elements of the permit, including Public Participation, Low Impact Development and Monitoring. However, due to the concerns raised by a coalition of cities that will be regulated under the permit, the Board is also contemplating a proposal to weaken the permit by allowing something other than strong numeric limits for receiving waters ‑‑ our waterways.
To those of you who couldn’t make the hearing, but who lent your support by either signing our petition or providing moral fortitude, we also thank YOU!
You would have been proud to hear the AP environmental science students from Apex Academy in Hollywood (pictured, below) share their love for clean water. “We have to protect what we have,” one 15-year-old testified. “We can’t live without water. We have to take care of it.”
Sign up for our Action Alerts to stay up to date on the Take L.A. by Storm campaign as we continue to push for numeric, enforceable limits. Or follow us on Twitter for real-time updates with the hashtags #LAbyStorm and #CleanWater.
Help us sustain our fight for clean water. Donate now.
About UsCalifornia Bag BanLong Beach / AvalonMalibu / Pacific PalisadesMarina del Rey / Playa del ReyMore Ways to GivePalos Verdes PeninsulaSanta MonicaSouth BayVenice Beach
One of the many joys of working at Heal the Bay is making new friends and partners in our community.
We’d long known Green Vets Los Angeles (pictured right) for their durable reusable bags, so when it came time for us to replace our worn out beach cleanup bags (to carry our tents, flags and other items), we knew whom to call! Their team came through big time, sewing and customizing military-worthy carryables. We can’t wait to debut our new collection at our next Nothin’ But Sand on October 20. Plus, it feels good to know that we are supporting job training for veterans, both injured and non-injured as they readjust to life here at home.
We mostly know Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks because we love her music! (“Lullaby” anyone?) However, we were recently lucky enough to receive a contribution from the singer to help us protect the ocean. Thank you, Natalie!
Big thanks to the Ford Motor Company for including Heal the Bay in their Community Changes program. Get your next oil change through this program at one of four local dealerships (it doesn’t matter what make of car you drive) and name your price. Whatever amount you choose to pay will go directly to Heal the Bay. Register here.
UMeTime provided a respite to the freeways this past weekend when the local app developer donated proceeds from their Carmageddon pub crawl to further our work. Thank you!
To celebrate the Fall Equinox, Naam Yoga hosted a free beach yoga session on September 30 and included us in their community circle. Om-m-m. And to keep the yogi spirit going, don’t forget to order a tank or tee-shirt from Honu Yoga and they’ll donate 20% to Heal the Bay!
Check back next week to see whom we’ll thank!
Want to see your name here? You and/or your company can also help support Heal the Bay’s work to keep our local waters healthy and clean. Learn how.
NBC LA reported today (10/3/2012) that a weekend sewage spill will likely keep Long Beach Alamitos Bay beaches shut down for at least two more days.
A private sump pump that serves a residential community near the Cerritos Channel failed on Sunday, spilling sewage that flowed in Alamitos Bay, city public health officials said.
Two locations at Alamitos Bay – the Second Street Bridge at Bayshore, and 56th Place – recently received “C” grades on Heal the Bay’s annual Beach Report Card for summer water quality.
The baby swell shark at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium was developing in its egg for exactly one year when it broke free of the egg casing on Monday, October 1, 2012. For one whole year the tiny shark grew in its egg, living off a yolk, on display for the Aquarium’s thousands of guests to see. The baby shark occasionally squirmed enough to shake its egg casing, often called a “mermaids purse” by beachcombers. Starting the cycle all over again, two new shark eggs have been laid in the last 24 hours.
The shark nursery is now bursting with life. Plan your visit to the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.
These new eggs and the baby shark, called a pup, need a sponsor. Sponsor the shark pup through Aquadoption.
About UsLong Beach / AvalonMalibu / Pacific PalisadesMarina del Rey / Playa del ReyPalos Verdes PeninsulaSanta MonicaSouth BayVenice Beach
Are you a take-charge kind of person? Do you enjoy hearing your voice boom out over a megaphone? Have a passion for finding solutions to pollution? Then you might be a potential beach cleanup captain.
Beach Captains help orchestrate cleanup events each third Saturday of the month called Nothin’ But Sand. Captains help guide volunteers, address the audience via a cool megaphone, handle registration, safety and supplies. They are Heal the Bay’s face to the public at our monthly events.
If interested, contact Eveline Bravo-Ayala. Volunteers must attend orientation and training (and be a little bossy).
Orientation:
Nov. 12, 2012, 7-9 p.m.
Heal the Bay office
Training:
Nov. 17, 2012, 9 a.m.-Noon
Will Rogers State Beach
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October is National Seafood Month, and it’s time to celebrate our favorite fishy foods, but also to reflect on how best to select the food we put on our plates.
Each time we go to a supermarket or restaurant we are confronted with a choice about what food items to buy. Concerns over mercury levels and a growing desire to eat local, sustainable foods have made this decision harder than ever.
Salmon? What exactly does this mean when you read it on a menu? The truth is that it could be farmed or wild, and any one of six different fishes from two different genera from opposite ends of the Earth. Not so simple anymore, huh? Let me help you out a bit.
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). These fish hatch in freshwater rivers and then head to the ocean to grow and mature. Once they are ready to spawn, they will swim back up the river from which they came, spawn, then head back out into the ocean. They may repeat this process several times over their lifespan.
Pacific salmon, on the other hand, are in the genus Oncorhynchus, and come from the Pacific Ocean. Unlike their Atlantic Ocean cousins, they die after their one and only spawning event, and this is where the trouble begins. All farmed salmon is Atlantic salmon, and it is now farmed all over the world including places like Chile and British Columbia (read “Pacific Ocean”).
Not only are these salmon farms destroying the ecosystem with all of the waste they produce and all of the diseases and parasites they harbor, but on occasion the Atlantic salmon will escape and make their way into the same rivers to spawn as the native Pacific salmon, where they can outcompete the single spawning Pacific salmon, as well as disrupt the delicate arctic ecosystem they have invaded. When the Pacific salmon die, their bodies’ nutrients are released into the nutrient-deprived arctic, beginning the explosion of life that occurs in the arctic during the spring and summer months. Without these nutrients the arctic ecosystem would be unable to function properly.
Furthermore, the healthy omega-3 fatty acids are virtually nonexistent in farmed salmon. They are fed a pellet of chicken parts, corn, and ground up fish, amongst other things, instead of the omega-3 rich marine crustaceans they consume in the wild. Also, farmed salmon is dyed its typical bright orange or else it would be an unappetizing drab gray. There are a host of other reasons why farmed salmon should never ever wind up on your plate, and I will be happy to inform you further if you still need more reasons to avoid this poor excuse for natures mighty wild salmon.
So when looking for salmon, always make sure that it is wild Alaskan. Not only is it much healthier for you, but it tastes so much better and is not destroying our ocean ecosystem.
–Aquarium Education Specialist (and avid fisherman), Nick Fash
Sustainable seafood choices are available at Heal the Bay partners, including the local Santa Monica Seafood and your neighborhood Whole Foods Market.
Find more seafood facts at fishwatch.gov.
Angelenos are once again being asked to stay off the roads this weekend as Caltrans closes a portion of the 405 freeway to demolish the north side of the Mulholland Drive Bridge. The second phase of the mega project, known as Carmageddon, inspired staff at our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium to remind locals to visit our locals – of the marine life variety,that is! Programs manager Tara Crow put a blanket invite out on Facebook to the Westside crowd. She even went the extra mile (surface streets only), designing her own Carmegeddon logo:
“What you doin’ this weekend Westside? ” Tara wrote. “Avoid the traffic and come hang out with the local sealife at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium between 12:30-5 p.m. We’ll have shark feeding, story times, crafts, puppets and all sorts of other activities to keep you busy.”
Facebook fans bit – and raised her one –taking liberties with a Boy George hit of the 80’s. (Full disclosure here: the opening lines of the chorus were re-written by my husband, which prompted our education director Tara Treiber to rework the lyrics to the second half of the chorus. Sing along with their combined efforts: “Carma-carma-carma carma carma-aquarium–with fish that glow, fish that glow, Swimming would be easy if your seaweed were like my dreams – red, brown and green, red, brown and gre-e-e-een.”)
So hum a few bars and make your way to the Aquarium this weekend for a rockin’ good time beneath the Pier. We’ll even reward you with a free Heal the Bay wristband and a sticker for your bumper!
-Randi Parent, Outreach Manager at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium