Heal the Bay Blog

Category: Venice Beach

Thank You Thursdays – 10.25.12

10.25.2012 | Heal the Bay

Seeing the Heal the Bay flag fly high gives us a “Zing!” feeling. There’s not much we enjoy more than sharing our message… except when others share it for us with equal enthusiasm.

• Last weekend, Adventure Voyaging invited us along for the launch of Cruising Season. Captain Woody Henderson and Captain Jim Mather hosted our crew (Nina Borin, Development Manager, Corporate Relations & Special Events, and Eddie Murphy, Secondary Education Coordinator) on a trip to Catalina. Captain Mather and his family helped us spread the word to “Protect What You Love” Thank you to Adventure Voyaging! (Eddie and Nina pictured below with the Adventure Voyaging crew.)

Heal the Bay's Eddie and Nina with the Adventure Voyaging crew

• Multi-platinum album selling rock band Incubus just announced that they are helping Heal the Bay fund our anti-marine debris advocacy programs through their Make Yourself Foundation. We are thrilled with the partnership and want to thank the band (which originated in Calabasas!) for sustaining our work. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!

• A HUGE shoutout goes to our team of Beach Captains who worked so hard to help us go Zero Waste at the October Nothin’ But Sand in Venice last Saturday: Barrett Porter, Terumi Toyoshima, Jerry & Joady Gorelick, Tom Logan, Margarita Lozano Trejo, Olga L. Ayala, “Minah” and the “UPS dad and daughter duo.”

Here’s what Zero Waste meant for these Beach Captains and our staff: Schlepping heavy buckets and tons of garden gloves to the beach and back. Not to mention getting every item returned and cleaned. A special “WHOOT!” to Eveline Bravo, our courageous Beach Programs Manager for implementing this innovative program. The payoff was worth it: 500 volunteers only used 13 garbage bags, versus the 200 we would normally use for a Nothin’ But Sand cleanup!

Join us for the next Zero Waste beach cleanup, scheduled for Nov. 17, 2012. Remember to bring your own bucket and gloves!

We’d also like to thank:

Phins Water Sports Club for sponsoring what will now be the annual Catalina Row Event to benefit Heal the Bay

BedHead Pajamas for their ongoing support!

Soaptopia! Mention “Heal the Bay Fundraiser” at checkout and 15% comes back to us as part of their Grassroots Gratitude endeavor to fund our Aquarium, among our other programs. We are certainly grateful as we LOVE Soaptopia!

Ford Motor Company’s Community Changes program. Thank you, Ford! 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.

It’s not too late to order a tank or tee-shirt from Honu Yoga, and they’ll donate 20% to Heal the Bay! Plus, all through October, Casmaine Boutique (2914 Main Street in Santa Monica) will support Heal the Bay with every purchase of women’s clothes, jewelry or home décor. Learn more ways to shop with Heal the Bay.

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.

Read Less

4 Things To Do with HtB this Week

10.22.2012 | Heal the Bay

About Us Marina del Rey / Playa del Rey Palos Verdes Peninsula Santa Monica Venice Beach

Heal the Bay staff canvass Los Angeles County each week, hosting events and offering fun ways to engage with the local environment.

Tuesdays are the days that we really get going, with the weekly feeding time at our Aquarium, which starts at 3:30 p.m. during public hours. Come help us feed a sea star and then feed your kids at Rusty’s Surf Ranch. With proof of Aquarium entry, you’ll receive one free child’s meal with purchase of an adult meal. The Aquarium is located on the Santa Monica Pier, just below the carousel.

You’re also invited to return October 27-28 to the Aquarium’s Fishy Fest, our annual Halloween/Dia de los Muertos celebration from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Experiment in the mad scientist laboratory, create colorful Dia de los Muertos crafts and masks. Costumes are encouraged, but you can also dress up in our costumes and pose with a marine themed backdrop at our photo booth. Both days will feature a glow in the dark bioluminescent deep-sea experience. Face painting and spooky story times are scheduled throughout the weekend as well. The weekly Saturday story time at 3:30 p.m. is guaranteed to be ghostly; and at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, special guest author David Derrick, will read his new children’s book, “Animals Don’t So I Won’t.” Derrick is also a story artist at DreamWorks Animation and the author of “Sid the Squid,” which he read last year to a captivated Aquarium audience. Shark-themed Sunday will also feature spine-tingling facts about these misunderstood marine creatures and a feeding at the shark exhibit.

Check out the SMPA Pinterest site to get into the spooky mood!

Also this weekend, we’ll be hosting our first annual fall festival at WAYS park on Saturday, October 27, 2-5 p.m. Come carve a pumpkin, climb a hay bale and create an art or a craft!

Once the weekend’s over, it’s time to get Hallow-clean with Soaptopia, which is offering $1 donation to HtB for every bar of Beauty and the Beach or OCEAN’s 12 purchased. Mention “Heal the Bay Fundraiser” in the note section of checkout, and Soaptopia will donate 15 percent to Heal the Bay. Want a coupon? Become a Heal the Bay member through Soaptopia and receive a $10 coupon! Shop now.

Want to plan next weekend’s Heal the Bay fun? Consult our calendar.

Read Less

Thank You Thursday – 10.11.12

10.11.2012 | Heal the Bay

About Us Beach Report Card 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

Heal the Bay has been fighting to protect our local waters since 1985 and we’ve made a lot of friends along the way who steadfastly support our efforts.

For almost 20 years, actress and glamour gal Amy Smart’s been in our corner, fearlessly speaking up against plastic pollution. A Heal the Bay board member, Amy is often called upon to help us in our campaigns, whether it’s advocating for a Los Angeles plastic bag ban or Coastal Cleanup Day. Yet, she still finds creative ways of supporting us, including teaming up with her favorite clothing designer, Rachel Pally. Through October 13, Rachel Pally is donating 20% of all her proceeds to Heal the Bay. Thank you to Amy and Rachel for your help in sustaining our mission.

We also thank one of our neighbors, Rusty’s Surf Ranch. Bring your kids to the Aquarium on Tuesdays at 3:30 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. Thank you, Rusty’s!

We’d like to take the time to thank the Grousbeck Family Foundation. If you check our Beach Report Card before you swim or surf, then you’ve benefited from their support. We appreciate their help in sustaining this valuable public health tool.

Heal the Bay thanks Feit Electric

We wish the Riding Currents team a bon voyage as they head south on their expedition along the California Coast, collecting water samples for us along the way! We’re grateful for the help gathering data for our water quality monitoring.

Last Saturday, employees from Feit Electric (pictured, right) did their part, by cleaning the beach in Hermosa and helping us defend our Bay from pollution! Thank you, Feit!

Protect your car and the ocean with the Ford Motor Company’s Community Changes program. Thank you, Ford! 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.

It’s not too late! Order a tank or tee-shirt from Honu Yoga and they’ll donate 20% to Heal the Bay! Namaste. And, all through October, Casmaine Boutique (2914 Main Street in Santa Monica) will support Heal the Bay with every purchase of women’s clothes, jewelry or home décor.

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.

Read Less

A Storm Drain Encounter of the Disturbing Kind

10.10.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

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.

2012 First Flush

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

Read Less

You Stood Up for Clean Water

10.09.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

Apex Students at MS4 Hearing

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.

Read Less

Thank You Thursdays – 10.04.12

10.04.2012 | Heal the Bay

About Us California Bag Ban 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

One of the many joys of working at Heal the Bay is making new friends and partners in our community.

Green Vets LA 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.

Read Less

Big Personalities Wanted for Cleanup Captains

10.02.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

Read Less

What Type of Salmon Should You Eat?

10.01.2012 | Heal the Bay

Heal the Bay Aquarium 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

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.

Read Less

An Epic Amount of CCD Trash

09.15.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

Despite scorching temperatures, Southlanders showed up in droves on Saturday to pick up nearly 20 tons of ocean-bound debris as part of Heal the Bay’s 23^rd annual Coastal Cleanup Day.

From Agoura Hills to Wilmington, 9,323 Angelenos worked together to protect what they love, scouring local beaches, inland waterways, regional parks and urban neighborhoods from 9 a.m. to noon.

Heal the Bay’s efforts spanned 58 sites and 56 miles, mobilizing volunteers from local corporations, service groups, faith-based organizations, school clubs and youth sports teams who worked in tandem to gather and remove 38,598 pounds of debris. Cigarette butts, plastic bottles and caps, snack-food packaging, plastic bags and Styrofoam fragments were among the most frequently found items at cleanups.

Among the unusual objects found at the September 15 cleanups: a dead rooster with its head cut off, likely a remnant of a voodoo or Santeria ritual (Santa Monica Beach); a dead cat found in a bag (Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park); a rifle barrel, later confiscated by police (Torrance Beach). And in the “Only in L.A.” file: a tattered headshot of an aspiring actor found by divers on the sea bottom near the Santa Monica Pier.

Read our news release for more details.

If you missed Coastal Cleanup Day, no worries! Heal the Bay hosts monthly cleanups, every third Saturday 10 a.m.-Noon. Learn more.

Still feeling left out? Donations fuel our cleanups. Just $20 can help run a cleanup site in your neighborhood. Donate now.

Read Less

Ready for Your Cleanup Closeup?

09.15.2012 | Heal the Bay

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

Thousands of Angelenos braved the heat on Saturday’s Coastal Cleanup Day, ridding their neighborhoods and favorite waterways of harmful and unsightly trash while simultaneously capturing the moments on their Smartphones and cameras.

This year’s CCD motto was “Every Piece of Trash You Remove Reveals Something Beautiful” and if you took a great photo we’d love to see it! Please share it with @HealTheBay on Instagram, and your photograph could be on exhibit at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and featured in the Coastal Cleanup Day wrap-up publication! Images can be of a beach or kayak cleanup, underwater photos from a dive cleanup, pictures of trash, clean beaches, volunteers, or anything from Coastal Cleanup Day 2012!

How to enter: Upload photos from Coastal Cleanup Day to your Instagram feed, make sure they are public, and tag them with #CCD2012 AND @HealtheBay, as well as including location information through Geo-Tagging and/or hashtagging with your cleanup site’s name (i.e. #DockweilerBeach). At the end of the contest, Heal the Bay will collect all of the photos and decide the winners. You can enter as many photos as you want!

You can submit photos from now until September 29, and the winner will be announced October 1 through Instagram, so start uploading to Instagram! Good luck!

Prizes:

First Prize: Your photograph will be exhibited at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and published in our Coastal Cleanup Day 2012 wrap-up book. You and a guest will also receive a private, behind-the-scenes tour of Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium!
Second Prize (2): Your photograph will be exhibited at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and published in our Coastal Cleanup Day 2012 wrap-up book.
Third Prize (5): Your photograph will be exhibited at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.

For those not familiar with the photo sharing app, Instagram is an app for Smartphones that lets you easily tweak photos from your mobile device to give them an artistic look. If you don’t have it already installed on your phone, download the app for free.

No purchase necessary. No automated entries. Enter as many photos as you like. Photos must be taken at a Coastal Cleanup Day 2012 volunteer site in order to be eligible. By entering the contest, each entrant agrees that his or her submission is an original work of authorship and he or she owns all right, title and interest in the entry as of the date of submission. By entering the contest, entrants agree to assign all right, title, and interest, including copyright rights, in the entry to Heal the Bay and grant permission for Heal the Bay to publish or publicize all or part of their entry, including but not limited to entrant’s name, likeness and photo, in whole or in part, for advertising, promotional and trade or other purposes in conjunction with this and similar promotions in any and all media now known or hereafter developed, worldwide in perpetuity, without notice or permission and without compensation, except where prohibited by law.

Read Less