Heal the Bay Blog

Category: Locations

Insane Rain

12.22.2010 | Heal the Bay

It looks like the rain might finally be slowing down, but that just means the clean-up can begin. Among the downed trees and mudslides, there are also some ocean issues for you to keep in mind. This much rain carries huge amounts of bacteria and pollution straight through the stormdrain system to the beach, and can also cause sewage spills. Make sure you stay out of the ocean for a full 72 hours and avoid stormdrain impacted and enclosed beaches for 5 to 10 days after a storm, to give the bacteria time to disperse. You might even want to wait a little bit longer, given how much rain fell.

For up-to-date info, check out the Beach Report Card.

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Let It Rain!

12.20.2010 | Heal the Bay

Venice Beach

What a surprising way to end a two-year journey. As rain fell outside City Hall on Friday morning, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the proposed Low Impact Development ordinance . . . on consent. For more than a year, the Building Industry Assn., the Central City Assn. and others provided numerous objections on the LID ordinance. As a result, staff included a number of changes to accommodate developer concerns.

The measure now includes a grandfather clause to exempt most proposed development in the city approval pipeline. Also, the “in lieu fee clause” option has been eliminated because it’s viewed as a fee rather than an alternative for developers to comply with the LID requirements. The proposed measure now includes a strict biofiltration option to be used if on-site LID approaches prove unfeasible.

With all of these changes and yet another pitch for greater exemptions for the LID regulations, the environmental community expected success at City Council, but not without a fight from the development community.

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Jesse Martinez Benefit TONIGHT!

12.17.2010 | Heal the Bay

Santa Monica Venice Beach

If you’re in Venice tonight, stop by the benefit for Jesse Martinez, a local skateboarder who has dedicated a ton of time and energy to the Venice Skatepark. Unfortunately, while doing his best for the park, Jesse was severely beaten, resulting in some serious hospital bills. Good Hurt Night Club at 12249 Venice Blvd in West LA. Dec 17, 2010 at 8 pm. Features Neighborhood Watch, DJ Fluffy and the Venice All-Stars along with Tone Def Punk Rock Karaoke. Ages 21 and over, $10 cover. Sponsored by Dogtown Skateboards, Venice Originals, Juice Magazine, Indie on the Westside and the Good Hurt Club.

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San Jose Does it Right

12.17.2010 | Heal the Bay

Long Beach / Avalon Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

San Jose banned the bag! Just the latest in a series of local goverments doing the right thing. Locally, Long Beach did it, as did LA County. All of these local bans on plastic bags are going to help end the blight that litters our streets, beaches and parks, and kills our marine life. But as the San Jose Mercury News points out, a statewide ban would be more effective, easier to implement, and better all around.

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Marine Protected Areas Approved for Southern California

12.15.2010 | Heal the Bay

Long Beach / Avalon Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Marine Protected Areas News Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

In a history-making decision for ocean protection, the California Fish and Game Commission approved a collection of Marine Protected Areas for Southern California. The decision, made on December 15, 2010 in Santa Barbara, is the final step in a multi-year collaborative process to establish a network of safe havens for marine life throughout the region as a part of the implementation of the California Marine Life Protection Act.

More About the Dec. 15 MPAs Approval

Heal the Bay Press Release

Spouting Off Blog

Map of Approved MPAs

Dept. of Fish & Game News Release

More About MPAs

MPAs Fact Sheet

MPAs Web Page

Marine Life Protection Act Initiative – South Coast Study Region

The network of south coast MPAs was created by a stakeholder group consisting of representatives from environmental and fishing communities, local government officials and educators. Heal the Bay was extremely active in the MPA process, representing the conservation community and also providing a science-based perspective. Our participation was spearheaded by Sarah Sikich, Heal the Bay’s Coastal Resources Director, who served as a member of the taskforce charged with drawing up the map of MPAs.

The final map of MPAs creates 36 new MPAs encompassing about 187 square miles of state waters (~8% of the South Coast), with about 5% designated as fully-protected no-take areas, leaving the vast majority open to fishing.

Locally, this network includes:

A marine reserve east of Point Dume in Malibu
A partial take marine conservation area off Zuma Beach
A marine reserve and partial take marine conservation area at Abalone Cove and Point Vicente in Palos Verdes
A partial take marine conservation area at Farnsworth Banks
A marine reserve at Long Point and Wrigley for Catalina Island

By protecting the entire ecosystem in select Southern California waters, these MPAs will help restore and safeguard marine life and coastal heritage for future generations. Southern California’s new network of MPAs will take effect in 2011, following a period where local communities will be educated on MPAs.

Southern California’s MPAs join such ecologically diverse areas as California’s northern Channel Islands, the Florida Keys and New Zealand in establishing safe havens for marine life to thrive and reproduce.

MPAs Overview

Southern California’s marine ecosystems are stressed and continue to face many threats such as polluted runoff, marine debris, habitat destruction, and overfishing. Kelp beds throughout the Santa Monica Bay have declined substantially since the early 1900s. Several fish stocks have crashed statewide, causing many fisheries to be closed or severely limited. The majority of fishing throughout the State occurs in Southern California – together, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties account for over half the recreational fishing activity in California.

Currently 13% of land on earth is protected. However, less than 0.5% of the oceans are protected. As a valuable tool for both ecosystem protection and fisheries management, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are likely to help replenish depleted fish populations. MPAs have shown to be effective in parts of California, the Florida Keys, New Zealand, and in close to 50 other countries around the world.

Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs, consist of three levels of protection:

State Marine Reserves, in which no fishing is allowed
State Marine Parks, in which commercial fishing is prohibited but recreational fishing is allowed
State Marine Conservation Areas, in which commercial and recreational fishing are allowed in limited amounts. MPAs do not restrict access or any other kind of recreational use

Learn more about MPAs.

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A Well-Earned MPA Victory!

12.15.2010 | Dana Murray

Long Beach / Avalon Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Marine Protected Areas Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

After two years of marathon stakeholder negotiation sessions, endless contentious public hearings and reams of studies and environmental documents, the California Department of Fish and Game today finally established a network of Marine Protected Areas in Southern California, passing a slightly revised version of the Integrated Preferred Alternative by a 3-2 vote.

The final vote reflects tough compromise. The maps protect some key places from extractive uses, like Point Dume, Naples and La Jolla, but fail to meet scientific guidelines in some locations. (For example, the fishermen won the battle for Rocky Point, and the MPA at Farnsworth Banks is little more than a paper park). The commission also made a few small changes at Swami’s and La Jolla in San Diego County.

The final hearing and vote took place in Santa Barbara, a fitting location given that the northern Channel Islands became California’s first designated marine protected areas years ago.

A Holiday Gift to Big Oil

12.10.2010 | Heal the Bay

Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

No surprises. Today, the State Lands Commission provided an early Christmas present to Chevron.

As if they needed it.

The Commission voted 2-1 (controller Chiang was the no vote) to approve a 30 year lease for the offshore marine terminal used by oil tankers. No changes and nearly free rent of the Bay for the next 30 years (any renters out there getting longer than an annual lease? Even a 5 year lease?). And worse, no new marine mammal protection measures. Zero. Zed. Zippo. Zilch.

Was it the support from Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, the Sea World Hubbs Research institute, the Tree Musketeers, the Roundhouse, and the long beach sportfishing community? I felt bad that all of the recipients of Chevron’s philanthropy were obligated to speak in support of the lease. But I don’t think it influenced the Commission’s decision. That was greased long ago between Chevron, Maldonado and the Governor.

The Local Aquarium Network

12.10.2010 | Heal the Bay

Heal the Bay Aquarium Long Beach / Avalon Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica

Did you know that the Aquarist staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium collects the majority of the animals we exhibit? We don’t order these animals online and we don’t run to the local store to buy a new fish or invertebrates. A Scientific Collections Permit from the California Department of Fish and Game allows us to dive and collect organisms for display at the Aquarium. But every once in a while, when we are looking for new, elusive and hard to find animals, we need to call out to our friends in the network.

Over the years, the Aquarium staff has developed very special relationships with neighboring aquaria and marine science learning facilities. This unique network helps all of us in the fight for marine conservation and the pursuit of marine science.

One special relationship is with the folks at the Catalina Island Marine Institute, CIMI. Over the years we have had the pleasure of using their facilities when we dive and collect animals in the waters surrounding Catalina. We also have helped each other by sharing animals, knowledge and support. In fact, there are current staff members at the Aquarium that used to work at CIMI and some CIMI staffers that first worked as interns at the Aquarium!

Last week, as the CIMI camps closed for the winter break, we received many new animals from Camp Fox and Camp Toyon, including sunflower sea stars, a juvenile sheephead and the rare slate pencil urchin, Eucidaris. The animals came over on the ferry, transported in coolers with battery-operated aerators. Some of these animals will become part of the Aquarium’s permanent collections, but some will live here temporarily. Our staff will care for these critters as if they were our own and once the CIMI camps reopen in January, the Aquarium staff will carefully pack up the animals in transport coolers to sail back across to Santa Catalina Island.

Most of these animals are currently being held off exhibit in quarantine to ensure they are acclimating to their new environment. We hope to exhibit some of the species after the new year, so please grab your friends and family and visit the Aquarium to see what’s new.

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Hermosa Beach Goes Low-Tech

12.10.2010 | Heal the Bay

South Bay

Hermosa Beach is on the cutting edge of low-tech pollution prevention. Right along the Strand, they’ve installed a 1,000 foot trench to capture urban runoff. All the trench does is capture the water and allow it to slowly filter into the sand. Since sand is so fine, it will capture any pollution particles and basically completely clean the water. It’s such a simple way to prevent pollution, and, in theory, water capture like this can also recharge our groundwater supplies. Read more about this win-win project at Hermosa Beach Patch.

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A Good Start for December's Agenda

12.08.2010 | Heal the Bay

Long Beach / Avalon

So far, so good. Yesterday was the first critical date for the coast this month and Long Beach and L.A. got the ball rolling. Last night, the Long Beach City Council voted 6-2 to approve a single-use plastic bag ban ordinance identical to the L.A. County’s recently enacted measure. Like the county, grocers and other retailers can sell green paper bags for a dime with 100% of the proceeds going to the store. The only difference in the ordinance is that the start date is Aug. 1 next year instead of July 1.

The momentum on local bag bans is definitely growing. Long Beach is a city of nearly half a million people and it joins the over 1 million people in the county’s unincorporated area with bag ban ordinances in place locally. Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal led the way on advocating for the bag ban measure. Support from the environmental community, some grocery store chains and the grocers’ union made a big difference in the final vote.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the city council’s Energy and Environment committee finally heard the Low Impact Development ordinance that the Board of Public Works unanimously approved in January. Although the panel did not vote on the proposal, it appears that chair Jan Perry and members Paul Krekorian and Paul Koretz support the measure. Perry postponed the vote to the Dec. 14 meeting, but she made it clear that she wanted the full council vote before members go on winter recess on Dec. 17.

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