This Undersea Voyager Project takes citizen scientists on trips in a glass bubble submersible that goes up to 900 ft below the surface! They travel all over the world, but right now they’re in Catalina, and they are even taking some Avalon school kids down to places that really have never been seen. They might even see things like undiscovered ship wrecks!
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Heal the Bay Blog
Category: Locations
This group of four people (3 men and 1 woman) completed an awesome relay for charity, each swimming 22 miles from Palos Verdes to Catalina! Some of them swam in the middle of the night, but all of them swam in the open ocean with sharks, dolphins, whales and other marine life. Think about how much effort it would take to swim 22 miles in the open ocean. Now think about doing it in October. Without a wetsuit. They were raising money for Jay Nolan Community Services, which provides services for people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Incredible endurance for a very worthy cause. http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/25181.asp?q=Four-Swimmers-Attempt-Simultaneous-Catalina-Channel-Crossing-for-Charity
Marking an encouraging trend, California beachgoers basked in a fourth consecutive summer of excellent water quality, according to the 2010 End of Summer Beach Report Card® released September 29, 2010 by Heal the Bay.
The Report
- 2010 Summer Report Card
PDF 300kb
Press Releases
Online Beach Report Card
In its latest survey, Heal the Bay assigned an A-to-F letter grade to 453 beaches along the California coast, based on levels of bacterial pollution reported from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This summer, 92% of sites received A or B grades, which is similar to last year.
Testing is Threatened
But in a very troubling twist, state funding for routine water quality testing along California beaches may be eliminated next January due to the statewide budget crisis. If regional ocean-testing agencies can not secure the necessary funds, they will be forced to end water quality monitoring and the associated warning signs and public notification systems. Any cutbacks in testing pose a significant health risk for the millions of beachgoers who enter California oceans each year. Heal the Bay will continue to work with state and local governments to ensure funding for these critical programs.
Inaugural Report Card for the Pacific Northwest
In another development, Heal the Bay this year expanded the reach of its popular Report Card to the
Pacific Northwest. Working with local monitoring agencies, the organization issued its first set of
summertime water-quality grades for 154 beaches in Washington and Oregon. Overall, Pacific Northwest ocean users enjoyed very good water quality.
Southern California
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County beaches were relatively clean this summer, with 79% of beaches receiving an A or B grade (similar to last year). Some of the beaches of most concern in L.A. this summer: Avalon Beach on Catalina, Long Beach’s Colorado Lagoon, Will Rogers at Temescal Canyon and Cabrillo Beach.
The perennially polluted Santa Monica Pier showed dramatic improvement this season, most likely from a number of water quality improvement projects over the past year. Santa Monica Pier received an A grade for the reporting period, which is a marked improvement from previous D and F grades.
Orange County
Orange County once again enjoyed great water quality this summer, with 97% of beaches receiving an A or B grade. Poche Beach and Newport Bay at Garnet Avenue received F grades, while perennially polluted Doheny Beach received a D grade. All historically poor beaches in Dana Point (Baby beach) received A grades.
San Diego County
San Diego County had excellent water quality, with all 77 monitored beaches winning an A or B grade (76 As and 1 B).
Ventura County
Overall water quality at beaches throughout Ventura County was excellent again this summer and among the best in the state. All 40 monitoring locations received A grades. Unfortunately, that figure is down from the 54 historically monitored locations, due to budget cuts.
Santa Barbara County
Water quality at beaches in Santa Barbara County was fairly good this summer, with 88% of monitored beaches receiving an A or B grade. Goleta Beach (C) and Arroyo Burro (F) were the only locations that did not earn an A or B grade.
Central and Northern California
In Central and Northern California, beach water quality was generally speaking very good. The beaches that received D or F grades include: Cowell Beach and Capitola Beach in Santa Cruz, Aquatic
About the Beach Report Card
The Beach Report Card is based on the routine monitoring of beaches by local health agencies and dischargers. Water samples are analyzed for bacteria that indicate pollution from numerous sources. Heal the Bay analyzes the data and assigns easy-to-understand grades to each beach. The better the grade a beach receives, the lower the risk of illness to ocean users.
Users can check updated weekly grades at www.beachreportcard.org. Heal the Bay offers the searchable online database as a free public service. Users can find out which beaches are safe and unsafe, check recent water quality history and look up details on beach closures.
Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card is made possible by the generous support of The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, simplehuman, Grousbeck Family Foundation, Carlson Family Foundation, Inc., and Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA). Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card is in its 20th year.
Everyone gets so freaked out about sharks, but the truth is that sharks have way more to fear from us than we do from them. Most sharks are small, and eat tiny crustaceans and stuff like that. Especially around SoCal. We have lots of sharks here, but not many of them could do much damage even if they wanted to (which they don’t). Case in point: at Mother’s Beach right now there are TONS of leopard sharks and rays. All small, not going to hurt you, but an incredible sight. Don’t miss it.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/29/local/la-me-leopard-sharks-20100830
The tide has turned against plastic water bottles! These super wasteful environmental nightmares clog landfills, float for years in the ocean, and the caps are often eaten by birds. Even scarier, those bottles can leach chemicals into the water, especially when they are reused or left in a hot car. That’s why it’s such good news that so many people are moving towards those reusable metal bottles, which are better for you and better for the world. There are some giant companies making reusable bottles out of all sorts of metal, but there’s a local who is making them out of stainless steel, which means they don’t need a chemical liner. Check out his company, and buy a bottle next time you see them in a store.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/ci_16125116
Back in the ’80s we heard so much about blue whales and bald eagles. They were both seriously endangered, and were probably going to go extinct. That’s why it’s so exciting to hear about how many blue whales are off the coast of SoCal this summer. If you want to see the largest animal that has ever lived, now is the time!
Check out these whale watches off the coast of Palos Verdes, and see what they’re looking at!
Long Beach has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, sometimes the LA River isn’t so pretty. So Long Beach gets all the trash that falls on city streets, is swept through the stormdrain system into the LA River and makes its way straight to the port. Good news, though. Starting now, 16 cities in LA County are putting super cool grates in their stormdrains, which means that when your neighbor throws his Styrofoam coffee cup out the window of his car, instead of being eaten by sea birds it will be caught in the grate and taken to a landfill. Now you just need to work on getting that neighbor to switch to a reusable cup…
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/keeping-trash-from-going-with-the-flow-into-the-la-river.html
On Tuesday afternoon, the California State Water Board voted unanimously to support the Regional Water Board’s prohibition of on-site wastewater plants in the Malibu Civic Center area. Commercial facilities must be off septics by 2015 and residential sites must be off by 2019.
Read more» (Spouting Off Blog at WordPress)
Key to the Sea is Heal the Bay’s marine environmental education program for teachers and elementary school children (K-5) throughout Los Angeles County.
The program focuses on watershed stewardship, stormwater pollution prevention, and marine conservation. Key to the Sea endeavors to promote environmental stewardship by stimulating students’ sense of wonder, learning and empowerment through key environmental experiences. Engaging hands-on educational activities for students, including a field trip to the beach, as well as exciting professional development opportunities for teachers are hallmarks of the program.
Plus, all of this is FREE*!
Program Components
Professional Development and Classroom Enrichment
Key to the Sea gives teachers the tools to conduct both pre- and post-field trip educational activities in the classroom and to prepare students to get the most out of the field trip.
Teacher Professional Development Workshops
Workshops are required to participate in the Key to the Sea program. These outstanding workshops prepare teachers with the knowledge and tools to be leaders of environmental stewardship with their students.
In Year 1 of the Key to the Sea program, teachers attend Workshop I. In Year 2, teachers attend Workshop II. At the workshops, each teacher receives a multi-disciplinary, standards-aligned guide and complete ready-to-use curriculum kit. Testimonials we’ve received show teachers find the trainings especially rewarding and well done! In addition, lunch is provided.
After completing Workshops I and II, teachers may continue to participate in the Key to the Sea program as “Veteran Teachers” for many years to come with no further workshops to attend. Veteran Teachers attend field trips with their students and receive supplies for classroom activities.
Beach Exploration Field Trip
The heart of the Key to the Sea program for your students is a field trip to a local marine science center (Field Trip Options). The field trip includes an exciting Beach Exploration environmental education program on the sand. Children use scientific equipment to explore the beach and do hands-on, fun, educational activities.
*Note: Some field trip locations may have additional costs associated with them. Please refer to the Field Trip Options page. Buses are not provided; however, some funding may be available. Please call 310-393-6149 x108 for more information.
Enviro-frames & Photos
While on the beach, pictures are taken of each student. Back in the classroom, each child receives a special “enviro-frame” for his/her photo to color and personalize with memories of the Beach Exploration. This personal memento helps to anchor the outdoor learning and the children are thrilled to be able to share their experience on the beach with their families. According to the teachers, the enviro-frames and photos are one of the most popular components of the Key to the Sea program!
Why Key to the Sea?
Young people, as future stewards of the environment, need to become aware of how stormwater pollution affects the beaches and marine environment, how they can protect themselves from the health risks of exposure to polluted waters, and how they and their families can make a difference by preventing pollution. Simple behavioral changes in our everyday living can make a positive impact on the problem. Children must be empowered to know that one person can make a difference.
It is to these ends that the Key to the Sea program aims. Key to the Sea makes it possible for children to experience nature and to learn about the important responsibility we all share in taking care of our coastal environment.
For example, the Beach Exploration portion of the field trip is designed to encourage students to use their senses, increase their observation skills and develop their sense of wonder. Children smell the salty air, hear the roaring surf, use binoculars and birdguides to observe bird behavior, and often see dolphins! They survey the organisms of the “wet zone” and “dry zone” of the beach, dig for sand crabs and bean clams, and examine beach wrack with magnifying lenses. The children see first hand the marine pollution and debris, learn how it impacts marine life, and make the connections to pollution prevention behaviors. In fact, many children who attend our Key to the Sea programs have never been to the beach, even though they may live within a few miles of the coast. This is the kind of direct experience with the natural environment early in life that is essential to caring about the environment as an adult.
Background
In 1999, Heal the Bay established the Key to the Sea program in response to requests from Los Angeles County marine science centers and teachers for assistance in expanding their environmental education programs. Each year, Key to the Sea serves up to 10,000 students and 400 teachers. Reaction from teachers and students has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic!
Got plans the 25th? Work up an appetite cleaning the beach in celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day and then head over to The Beach Gives Back: A Food Truck Festival for Heal the Bay at Latitude 33 on 330 Washington BLVD. in Marina del Rey to reward yourself with everything from dim sum to ice cream. Heal the Bay gets rewarded too, 10% of proceeds from truck sales as well as attendee donations go to us and the International Bird Rescue Research Center. The event will be covered This is just one of our many varied Coastal Cleanup Day events to check out this year. Others include a craft beer crawl, a Pourtal happy hour and even yoga on the beach.
Register for Coastal Cleanup Day.
Food for thought-some of the most commonly found beach trash items are bits of styrofoam, plastic straws and plastic bottle caps. So, after you’re done gorging for the sake of the Bay, make sure your trash makes it in the approprate place. Want to check out other Heal the Bay cleanup trash stats? Visit our trash database.