Heal the Bay Blog

Category: South Bay

Take L.A. by Storm This Summer

06.14.2012 | Heal the Bay

Municipal stormwater permits regulate all urban runoff discharge from separate storm sewer systems, so-called MS4s. Because stormwater is the No. 1 source of coastal pollution in California, these permits are a big deal for ensuring public health for those who recreate in our local waters. This summer, ocean lovers have a major fight on their hands in Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is now considering a new municipal stormwater permit for the county, after years of delay. Board hearings over the summer will determine the fate of our local water quality for the next decade or more. We are at a fork in the road in terms of local water quality, with many cities and dischargers fighting hard to relax hard-won regulations that prevent them from dumping pollution into our waterways.

Our Regional Board can do the right thing and place strong protections (including pollution limits or TMDLs and low impact development requirements) in the permit. Or, they can make decisions that could result in dirtier water, and a higher risk of getting sick anytime you swim or surf. Heal the Bay will do everything we can to ensure that they make the right choice. We hope you will join us in the fight!

In order to spread the word on this important issue, we are kicking off an outreach campaign we call “Take L.A. by Storm.” We are going to have some great events this summer leading up to the hearing in October where the permit will be approved. We need the public there to take a stand to protect our bay and neighborhoods.

If you care about protecting the ocean and public health, we need you to make your voice heard. We need beachgoers of all stripes to sign our petition on Change.org telling the Board you want to be able safely swim at our beaches or fish in our rivers. Please help protect what you love.

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Recycling Champs Take the Hula Pie

06.12.2012 | Heal the Bay

About Us Long Beach / Avalon Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey More Ways to Give Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

Filling up blue bins definitely pays off, as more than 100 Glassell Park Elementary fifth graders recently discovered, having recycled their way to the beach and a seaside lunch at Duke’s Malibu.

The students won the Chivas USA Recycling Competition by filling 75 bins with recycling material during a two-week period, beating out Castelar Elementary.

Their recycling efforts also produced more long-term benefits for Glassell Park Elementary, which is near Atwater Village. According to fifth grade teacher Mrs. Shepherd, before the recycling competition the cafeteria staff didn’t recycle items, but they are continuing their efforts to fill up blue bins even now that the contest is complete.

Heal the Bay teamed with Major League Soccer team Chivas USA, the City’s Bureau of Sanitation, and the Aquarium of the Pacific to help get kids aware and excited about recycling. The grand prize was a Heal the Bay “Lunch and Learn” field trip, with the meal sponsored by Duke’s Malibu at its restaurant on PCH.

Heal the Bay provided the buses and the staff who led the students through games and beach activities all designed to teach ocean stewardship. The fifth graders learned how cigarette butts and Styrofoam end up on the beach, how trash harms animals and how they can help keep our local waters healthy and clean.

“This is the best field trip ever!” declared one student as he shook sand from his Van’s topsider. “I didn’t even realize this was the Pacific Ocean until today.”

Lunch afterwards at Duke’s was the icing on the Hula Pie.

Heal the Bay provides beach education through our Lunch and Learn program to 500 Title 1 students per year.

Read more about our science-based education resources.

Donate now to help us support our impactful education programs.

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Calif approves new marine protected areas off north coast, finishing statewide network

06.07.2012 | 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

California created another group of ocean protection zones on Wednesday, putting the finishing touches on a vast network of protected areas that dot the sea from Mexico to the Oregon border.

The Fish & Game Commission voted unanimously to approve the new zones off the state’s far north coast from Point Arena in Mendocino County to the Oregon border, where fishing is restricted or banned outright in areas.

“We are poised to return California’s marine resources to the sustainable abundance we all once enjoyed,” said Richard Rogers, a commission member from Santa Barbara, choking up as he cast his vote after more than seven years of work on the project.

The vote was an outgrowth of the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act, which called for a system of marine protected areas along the coast based on scientific study and years of public input.

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A Gift to California's Coast

06.07.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

June 7, 2012

Today’s guest blogger is Sarah Sikich, Heal the Bay’s coastal resources director

Just in time for World Oceans Day, the Fish and Game Commission in a 3-0 vote, designated new marine protected areas (MPAs) along the North Coast (CA/OR border to Alder Creek near Point Arena in Mendocino County). This is a major milestone that completes the statewide network of underwater parks in California’s coastal waters.

These new MPAs were designated under the Marine Life Protection Act, a visionary law enacted in 1999 that called for a new approach to ocean management, and enlisted local fishermen, scientists, business and tribal leaders and conservationists to plan science-based protections for their part of the state. Heal the Bay played a major role in the creation of Southern California’s MPAs by sitting on a panel of stakeholders that designed our local set of underwater parks that went into effect on January 1 of this year.

California’s network of underwater parks now includes 119 MPAs, five recreational management areas, and 15 special closures, representing about 16% of all open coast state waters. With only about half of these areas designated as no-take marine reserves, the vast majority of California’s coast is open to fishing. The new North Coast MPAs are expected to go into effect by early 2013.

As an investment to protect ocean health for future generations, MPAs safeguard key areas for marine life and their associated habitats. They will help ensure a vibrant coastal environment that delights visitors, supports local businesses, and makes local places, like Malibu Palos Verdes, and Catalina a great place to enjoy California’s coast and ocean.

With World Oceans Day just days away, Californians can be proud about the legacy we’re leaving for our kids and grandkids.

Visit the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium or join us on June 9 for the Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival to help celebrate.

Volunteer for our MPA Watch program to help monitor these new underwater parks.

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Debris Check: What’s in the Waves?

06.06.2012 | Dana Murray

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

Today’s guest blogger is Dana Roeber Murray, a marine and coastal scientist with Heal the Bay.

A little more than a year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Heal the Bay is conducting our first tsunami debris monitoring of Los Angeles area beaches in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Beginning June 8, we will launch monthly monitoring efforts that will also help gather information about how trash and debris unrelated to the tsunami accumulates on our local beaches over time. Our first survey will be in Palos Verdes, and we will also survey in Malibu.

This monitoring occurs not a moment too soon, as I discovered on a recent family trip to Hawaii when I brought my daughter to one of my favorite beaches – Honokalani Black Sand Beach in Wainapanapa State Park in Maui.

I had camped at this state park a couple years ago and had remembered it being one of the most scenic and unique beaches I’d ever been to, complete with sea turtles riding in the waves. However, during this visit, I was surprised to see quite a lot of plastic debris fringing the tide line on this black sand beach. Other visitors thought they were little shells and would stoop down for a closer look, only to find bits of white and multicolored plastic lining the beach.

When I took a closer look at the plastic debris, I found Japanese writing and odd shaped plastic pieces, and determined that I was likely looking at plastic marine debris that had washed ashore all the way from Japan after the tsunami last year. In March 2011, the tsunami washed boats, buildings, appliances, plastic objects, and other items into the sea, which initially were visible by satellite as a debris field off the coast of Japan, but have since dispersed. Wind and ocean currents have scattered the items throughout the North Pacific Ocean, and some items likely sank to the seafloor.

In addition to what I witnessed first-hand on the beach in Maui, on mainland U.S. shores, there have been a few confirmed reports of tsunami related debris washing ashore in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, including a soccer ball, motorcycle, and fishing vessel. However, we have yet to see evidence of any tsunami related debris washing ashore in Southern California. NOAA and oceanographic experts believe the debris will continue to disperse by wind and ocean currents, and they are uncertain as to if or when we will see effects in Southern California, which is part of the importance of regular monitoring.

If you find anything on the beach that you think might be related to the tsunami, please contact Heal the Bay’s Policy Analyst Kathryn Benz. In addition, you can report it to report it to NOAA.

Want to know more? Read our Tsunami Debris FAQ and NOAA’s Factsheet.

Marine debris persists as a problem here in Southern California, whether it comes from overseas or from inland sources. Heal the Bay conducts regular beach cleanups throughout Los Angeles County. Please join us for a cleanup.

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Mariposa School Holds Creative Cleanup

06.06.2012 | Heal the Bay

About Us Long Beach / Avalon Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey More Ways to Give Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

At a time when most schools are focused on fundraising to support their own libraries and arts programs, one local school decided to share some of the money their families raised at a beach cleanup event to help further Heal the Bay’s mission.

Mariposa School of Global Education students donated $1,200 (out of more than $12,000 raised) from their 4^th Annual Beach Clean-A-Thon to Heal the Bay. The Beach-Clean-A-Thon is a school-wide event that involves all grades. In April, kindergarten classes cleaned Malibu Lagoon, while other grades cleaned Malibu Creek State Park to learn how the creek flows into the ocean and affects local oceans and beaches.

“We must remember to model community partnerships and philanthropy towards those causes we wish to see furthered,” said Jeff Lough, principal of the Agoura Hills-based school in Las Virgenes Unified School District. “Our donation and partnership with Heal the Bay is an example of our commitment to this idea. Mariposa’s donation will come back to our children tenfold when they grow up and enjoy the coastline that Heal the Bay works so relentlessly to protect.”

When Mariposa sixth graders presented Heal the Bay Coastal Resources Director Sarah Sikich with the check on May 21 at their campus, she reminded the students that their contributions would pay dividends for all beach lovers. “The money you raised will go to keeping wildlife and the ocean healthy and clean,” she said.

Sarah also noted that the students will be supporting Heal the Bay’s beach cleanup programs, as well as our work to bring underserved kids — some of whom have never been to the beach before — to our Aquarium to learn about the ocean and the animals who live in Santa Monica Bay.

Mariposa formed a new partnership with Heal the Bay this year to help support student conservation efforts and as part of the school’s educational components. Students learn responsibility by participating in activities like the Beach Clean-A-Thon, which acts as both a fundraiser and educational event. The remainder of funds raised will go directly to programs, resources and services for Mariposa students.

Fundraising efforts by students included children sponsoring other children, start-up lemonade stands, kids’ video messages filmed at the beach and hand-written letters with ocean-themed art. Donations came in all shapes and sizes, from hand-picked coins from kid’s piggy banks to online donations from out-of-state friends and relatives.

Mariposa’s 2013 Beach Clean-A-Thon will be held near our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium location and will include an educational tour of our marine learning center.

Schedule a cleanup for your school.

Plan a visit or field trip to our Aquarium.

Help us bring our ocean education programs to Los Angeles students.

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Lonely Planet Tours Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

06.05.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

Tune in to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Lonely Planet “California Adventure” special at 10 a.m. Sunday to tour Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium with the popular travel show’s host, Dominic Bonnuccelli.

Maria Calleia, who works in program development for Lonely Planet Television, requested permission to film at the Aquarium a few months ago. She said the show was eager to feature Heal The Bay and our Aquarium in an upcoming special, ‘Subaru California Eco Adventure.’ Host Bonnuccelli travels to locations up and down the California Coast – in…no surprise, a Subaru – to experience eco-oriented adventures and visit organizations active in conservation and preservation.

Calleia, an L.A. native, said she selected Heal the Bay to represent Southern California’s environmental community because of the enormity of our efforts, the organization’s credibility and our lengthy track record of making the region’s coastal waters and watersheds safe, healthy and clean. More than 100 species of marine animals and plants call the Aquarium home, including Pacific sea horses, sea stars and swell sharks.

Along with the segment on the Aquarium and Heal the Bay, featured are the 31^st Annual Avalon Harbor Cleanup, a visit to the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center and an interview with Sara Bayles, founder of a cleanup effort to pick up trash on the beach around Santa Monica lifeguard tower 26 for 365 non-consecutive days. Sara blogs about her experiences at The Daily Ocean.

Watch BBC America on Sundaymorning to see how our Aquarium shines as the public face of Heal the Bay. Check your local listings, but Time Warner Cable station 131 will air the show from 10-11 a.m.

Tour our Aquarium for yourself. Plan your visit .

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Heal the Bay Earns Top Tourism Award

06.04.2012 | Heal the Bay

About Us Beach Report Card Long Beach / Avalon Malibu / Pacific Palisades Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Marine Protected Areas More Ways to Give Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica South Bay Venice Beach

June 4, 2012

The California Travel Association (CTA) will bestow its annual Tourism Stewardship of the Year award this week to Heal the Bay, recognizing us for doing the most to “protect, preserve, restore, improve, expand, or otherwise enhance California’s natural, cultural, or historical treasures.”

In honoring Heal the Bay, the CTA noted our education and advocacy initiatives to protect oceans statewide and beautify beaches for the millions of people who visit California each year, including:

The Beach Report Card® that provides weekly water quality grades to more than 500 California beaches;
Our advocacy work to help create newly established Marine Protected Areas off the coast of Southern California;
The ongoing education of nearly 100,000 visitors to Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and
Our contribution to ending the scourge of pollution on our shores by sponsoring a number of regional and statewide measures that have significantly reduced urban runoff and marine debris.

Heal the Bay’s Coastal Resources Director, Sarah Sikich, will accept the award on Heal the Bay’s behalf during an event organized by the state’s leading travel trade organization during its annual convention June 4-6 in Sacramento. Heal the Bay is among seven honorees designated by the CTA, including surf industry legend Jack O’Neill, the Francis Ford Coppola winery and Napa Valley chef Michael Chiarello.

“Protecting the California coastline isn’t just good for the environment,” said Sikich. “It’s good for the statewide economy. The millions of visitors who come to our beaches each year expect clean water and sand. We all have a duty to protect what we love.”

Three Ways to Salute World Oceans Day

05.30.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

On World Oceans Day, traditionally held each year on June 8, people around the globe gather to celebrate and honor the ocean and the life it contains. The theme for 2012 is “Youth: the Next Wave for Change” and the event boasts a long list of activities designed to encourage young people to realize that the future of ocean conservation is in their hands.

To help celebrate locally, 5,000 students, teachers and volunteers will gather on Thursday, June 7 at Dockweiler State Beach for “Kids Ocean Day.” Not only will they help clean up the beach, but they plan to form an aerial art piece—a massive shark holding a shield, emblazoned with the message “Defend the Sea.”

Volunteers are still needed for the event, which is organized by the Malibu Foundation. Sign up.

Meanwhile, Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will celebrate World Oceans Day on June 9, 12:30-5 p.m. The Aquarium will offer ocean-themed games, activities, scavenger hunts and presentations. Staff will also announce the winners of the “My Perfect Ocean Contest,” which offers free registration at a Heal the Bay summer science program as the grand prize. Find out more.

But that’s not all! The Aquarium’s June 9 activities are part of the Santa Monica Pier Honolua Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival, featuring ocean swim, SUP and paddleboard races. This all-day event from 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. benefits the Aquarium and also features hula dance groups, live music and an ocean sport history exhibition.

For more information, visit www.pierpaddle.com.

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Know Before You Swim in the O.C.

05.29.2012 | Heal the Bay

Beach Report Card Beach Report Card Spanish South Bay

Ocean lovers in the Orange County now have a newly-enhanced resource for assessing water quality conditions before going for a swim.

The Orange County Health Agency’s Ocean Water Protection Program just upgraded its public web tool, making it more user-friendly with features that include:

An interactive Google Earth map on the homepage that allows a quick status check of current ocean water quality conditions.
Color-coded map pins (green-yellow-red) indicating the current ocean water quality conditions.
A “menu bar” along the top of the Google Earth map that provides an easy-to-use drop down list to find your favorite local beach area, from Huntington Beach to San Clemente.
Clicking on the drop down list provides a close up view of the local beach area with water quality status, current weather conditions, beach amenities and beach information links.
Clicking on a color-coded pin provides a photo and directions to the beach along with information about the monitoring location and its sampling frequency.

Give it a try!

Read how California beaches fared in Heal the Bay’s recently-released annual Beach Report Card® . Weekly grades are also available from your iPhone or Android or online at www.beachreportcard.org. In addition, grades can now be viewed on Weather Underground.

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