Thank You Thursday – 6.6.13

06.05.2013 | Heal the Bay

World Oceans Day on June 8 provides us with the welcome excuse to celebrate the vast water body that links us all. We hope you find a way to honor the sea this week!

Last weekend, we honored the legacy of ocean lover Nick Gabaldon, who perished while surfing at the Malibu pier in June 1951. Gabaldon, the first documented L.A. surfer of African and Mexican descent, has inspired local surfers for generations. He continued to serve as inspiration on Saturday when the Black Surfers Collective and Surf Bus Foundation provided free surf lessons to kids from Watts and other inland communities. (You can get the feel for how awesome the day was by listening to this NPR story.)

Huge thank yous to L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and his staff for their support of the day. We are also grateful to historian Alison Rose Jefferson for sharing her work and expertise with us. In addition, we’d like to thank the following supporters:

As part of the Nick Gabaldon Day celebration, we debuted our new mobile educational game SurfGod for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. While we think the app is super fun, a lot of work went into it. We’d like to thank Matt Fairweather from Torrid Games who dedicated countless hours to making the eco app such a huge success! We’re already at 1000 downloads! Download it for free today and let us know what you think.

Download the Nick Gabaldon Day coloring book pages from the aquarium here.

A big thank you also goes to two partners who made Heal the Bay’s first gay Pride event a memorable success. Thank you to American Apparel for printing our ultra-cute neon yellow tank tops and to Roosterfish bar for hosting the after-party.

We hope you enjoy LA Pride and World Oceans Day this weekend!

Consult our calendar for more ocean celebrations all summer.