"Great White" submarine to explore ocean floor between Catalina and mainland in April, 2009

The Great White will soon prowl the waters between Catalina and the mainland, known as the Gulf of California.
This Great White, however, isn’t a man-eating shark, but an underwater vessel meant to do research and explore the ocean. It has a lot to cover since only about 2 percent of the earth’s ocean have been explored.
The submarine is a two-person vehicle that can dive to 500 feet or up to 72 hours. It’s part of The Undersea Voyager Project, which kicked off this week.
A main purpose of the project is to give the ocean a health check-up.
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach hosted an event on Dec. 15 to kick-off the project and introduced the small submersible craft.
The program will be in full swing by spring. The craft will launch from the Los Angeles Harbor in April, 2009 and should reach Avalon after three days. The distance between the island and the mainland is about 60 miles and the ocean floor is anywhere from 100 to 200 feet deep.
The idea is to collect samples "in situ" on different species and water samples as well. The type of species known in this area are giant Humboldt squids, dolphins, whales, mako sharks, blue sharks and great whites.
The overall project has three other bigger subs that can dive up to 1,500 feet.
The Undersea Voyager Project is expected to last about five years, with a budget of about $5 million per year. Its leaders said it is a “shoestring” budget, but they expect it to be enhanced by volunteers and donations.
The subs will be tested at various sites, including the trip between Catalina Island and Long Beach.
The submersible vehicles will be able to operate continuously for about 72 hours. They will have power and safety line tethers to a larger ship.
The Undersea Voyager Project will also provide educational opportunities for students and a chance for them to interact with the project's research team.
Areas of study will include global climate change, ocean pollution and energy conservation, along with new species identification and biological ecosystems.
Students will be able to track the program progress via remote technology from their classrooms around the world.
They will also submit their own experiments, ranging from robotic inventions to environmental and species research.
The project's Undersea Classroom program will connect students and their teachers with live images of the aquanauts in the submersible as well as video from multiple external cameras.
Story courtesy of the Catalina Islander newspaper

Update: Hellman wetlands purchase in 'negotations'

Out of a thick field of invasive bushes and dried up salt patches, ocean currents might flow and green reeds might flourish someday.
At least that's what government officials, property owners and residents hope to accomplish if a multi-layered purchase of several hundred acres of the degraded Los Cerritos Wetlands goes through.
The wetlands, encompassing three properties, takes up a portion of Long Beach and Seal Beach, surrounding the San Gabriel River flood channel that borders Los Angeles and Orange counties.
For decades, the land has stood with a few oil wells and mostly vacant territory, scattered with animals, birds and vegetation.
But several anticipated land acquisitions could change all that.
Last week, the City of Long Beach announced a deal that could move a portion of wetlands into public domain, according to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, a joint powers agreement, adopted among several agencies and cities to purchase and protect the land.
The agency is made up of the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, State Coastal Conservancy and cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach.
The deal would include Long Beach swapping city properties for the 175 acre piece of land formerly owned by the Bixby Company, now owned by developer Tom Dean, the authority states.
In return for the sale, the property owner would be able to purchase the city's public service yard on San Francisco Street, Long Beach Gas and Oil’s headquarters on Spring Street and Junipero, 29.5 acres of frontage on Spring Street, a location formerly known as the “Sports Park” and now designated the “Hilltop Property," and two other small parcels—one at Spring and Atlantic and one at Cherry and Creston.
“City Hall would sell the wetlands property to the LCWA for a sum currently estimated at $25 million,” the authority states.
City management plans to use the money from that sale to support efforts to acquire, restore and develop the 19-acre Wrigley Heights "oil operators" property as open space and develop 18 acres of open space at the “Hilltop Property.”
However, the purchase might not only just pertain to land in Long Beach, but could also open up the purchasing power for the rest of the wetlands, a majority that now sits in Seal Beach.
The wetlands is currently split up into three properties: the Hellman Ranch property, which is about 100 acres that leads up to Gum Grove Park below Marina Hill in Seal Beach, the Bixby property along Pacific Coast Highway past the overpass in Long Beach and the Bryant property which consists of 166 acres in both cities.
Only after purchasing all of the land would a full restoration begin to take hold, something some say would be similar to Bolsa Chica's restoration project and ocean inlet that has brought flocks of migratory birds back to their nesting places.
"We want to reintroduce the area as a salt-water marsh, by introducing a tidal flush," said Suzanne Frick, Long Beach assistant city manager. "It's what it's going to be like in the future. If in fact the land swap goes into affect, all three of those properties would be purchased and restored."
She said right now, both the Hellman and Bryant properties are closed off to the ocean waters, while the Bixby site has limited water flush.
Frick, city planners and residents gathered for a workshop session on the matter this Tuesday at Long Beach City Hall. Frick said the LCWA is in negotiations to purchase the Hellman property, but didn't know how much for.
Although it is unknown how much the Hellman property in Seal Beach is up for, the LCWA has secured a few potential funding sources to pay for all three sections of land from coastal conservancy funds and park grant bond dollars.
"I'm fairly confident they can come up with the money to purchase the land," Frick said.
The next step would be for the LCWA to start moving forward with comprehensive plans for the restoration project, which could take years to accomplish after public hearings on the matter.
Seal Beach City Councilman Gordon Shanks said he has been following the Hellman property for about 40 years, and abstained from being on the LCWA since his home currently sits directly above the wetlands.
He said the property has been a point of contention in the city, after controversy arose over Heron Point homes being put in on the edge of the land facing Seal Beach Boulevard. Although much of the acres have been degraded, he said, he looks forward to seeing the restoration process.
"It’s going to be difficult to get it back to wetlands," he said. "But there are a lot of animals and birds that live there."
Greg Cook, of Lakewood, often walks with his dog Howie down to Gum Grove Park, a hidden trail of red gum eucalyptus trees and vegetation, he didn't even know existed until about a year ago.
As a bird watcher, he said bringing the land back to its natural habitat would also bring back migratory birds that once used to flourish.
“I think it would be absolutely tremendous,” he said. “ This is such an important part of nature for migratory birds. It would be a great thing.”

State restores water quality monitoring funds

As the state moves forward with a near-record budget deficit, the California State Water Resources Control Board unanimously voted Nov. 4 to make sure water quality monitoring at the state's beaches won't disappear.
The board assured that the state will provide "restored funding for beach water quality monitoring at 15 coastal counties throughout the state through the end of the year," according to an announcement by Heal the Bay.
"In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used a line-item veto to ax near $1 million in funding for this critical program.
Heal the Bay applauds the board's decision to fund testing that is critical for protecting the public health of ocean users throughout the state. Funds will be re-appropriated from grant program funds derived from the Clean Beaches Initiative, which voters approved in 2000. The board has the option to extend the agreement for another year.
According to Heal the Bay's end of summer report card, about 91 percent of the 514 beaches monitored statewide this summer received A or B grades, which indicated excellent or very good water quality. Those grades are essentially the same as last year when 92 percent of sites got good grades.
Two years of drought conditions contributed to the positive results statewide, because the dry conditions limited the amount of urban runoff, the biggest source of pollution, according to the group. Also, infrastructure enhancements also played a part, funded by the state's $100 million Clean Beach Initiative, to improve grades at beaches.
Los Angeles County still leads the state for bad grades, with nearly one out of five beaches tracked in the county receiving F grades, 21 out of 109 sites monitored this summer.
Despite some modest improvements, Long Beach still suffers the worst water quality in the state, largely because it sits at the terminus of the contaminant-plagued Los Angeles River. With nearly half of its 25 monitored beaches receiving C to F grades, the city of Long Beach has undertaken proactive source tracking and abatement measures.

Los Cerritos Wetlands land swap for $25 million

The City of Long Beach is getting close to saving the Los Cerritos Wetlands— a proposed land swap that has been in the works for months, aimed at making sure wetlands stay wetlands.
If done correctly, the proposed 190-acres of somewhat environmentally protected land could be restored after years of oil dredging and land development threats.
But don't count your acres before they're hatched.
The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority still has to come up with $25 million to purchase the land along with millions more for any restoration that would take place. How the public agency is going to do that is unknown right now.
Before any restoration moves forward, the city has to sort out a "complex" land swap with the current land owner, Los Cerritos Inc., which is headed by investors Tom Dean and Jim Berger, according to Press Telegram's report as well as the District Weekly, which first broke the story.
Basically, in return for the 66-acre Bryant property and the 174-acre Hellman property, the land owners will be able to develop a portion of what was originally going to be a $50 million Sports Park at Spring Street and Cherry Avenue,... so the wetlands will have its costs. City officials say the deal was made after plans for building the extensive recreational park went sour amidst economic hardships.
Once the deal is made final, the wetlands acres will then be bought by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, a public agency, designating the land for restoration, with government officials by their side.
During a press conference this Wednesday, city officials said protecting the land will by the most extensive "wetlands" restoration for the city of Long Beach, envisioned as a "jewel," similar to nearby Bolsa Chica's efforts.

Baby hammerheads hanging around Cat Harbor

A few baby hammerheads have lately been found hanging around Cat Harbor, the foggy less-visited version of Two Harbors on the backside of Santa Catalina Island.
The baby hammerhead sharks were found mulling about in the last two weeks, among the shallow waters of the rocky backside, where a few much more dangerous sharks such as Great Whites have been spotted in the past. Some spots on the backside are also ripe with rocky reefs for wave riding.
Doug Oudin, the Isthmus' harbor master, wrote in a column for the Catalina Islander newspaper, that there are about 15 to 20 of the sharks found, some caught on fishing lines in the waters near the mud flats.
The hammerheads average less than two feet in length, he said, and were born sometime in the later summer, and are still "hanging around" in Cat Harbor to feed on the shoals of anchovies and sardines in the cove. The sharks are known to inhabit cooler waters.
He said there were no reports of mature hammerheads in the cove, as mother sharks are known to give birth and then abandon their young.
Most hammerhead species are fairly small and are considered harmless to humans. However, the great hammerhead's enormous size and fierceness make it potentially dangerous, though few attacks have been recorded.

Mammal Center: Northern fur seals malnourished

A small Northern California fur seal named "Jasper Johns" was so weak that he had to eat threw a tube.
His body was thin and he couldn't hold on any longer.
Last Thursday he died, as biologists are starting to see a string of the malnourished fur seals found off the coast, according to the Bay Area-based Marine Mammal Center's blog.
Fur seals are relatives of sea lions, rather than seals, because they have external ear flaps and can walk on their hind flippers, so their name is somewhat of a misnomer, the center says.
Normally, the furry seals that have 300,000 hairs per square inch, don't come to shore, and predominantly dwell in the open ocean feeding off of small schools of fish like walleye pollock, herring, hake and anchovy, and squid.
But recently the center had five fur seals being treated on site, a few have died in past weeks, including Jasper Johns that died after having a seizure. The center anticipates more of the
"The Center sees a spike in the number of fur seal patients it rescues in some years, but it's unknown exactly what causes this spike and what factors are affecting their health and/or normal feeding patterns in the wild," the center explains.
In the mean time, veterinarians and volunteers have their hands full caring for this unique species. Fur seals are small and often appear to be harmless, but in fact, can be extremely aggressive and quick. With razor sharp teeth, they really keep their caretakers on their toes!"

Clapper rails released at Seal Beach refuge

Team Clapper Rail, a group of more than 100 individuals and organizations dedicated to breeding, raising and releasing the endangered light-footed clapper rail, started a Species Recovery Program in 1998. Through the Team's highly successful captive breeding and translocation program, 200 birds have been released into Southern California's coastal salt marshes since 2001. On Oct. 16, that number will rise again, with a release of seven birds at the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, located within Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. This upcoming release follows a very successful year (2007) for Team Clapper Rail in terms of the number of birds released, and the number of breeding pairs estimated in the wild, the largest statewide breeding population detected since the counts began in 1980.
The light-footed clapper rail is rarely seen in its natural habitat of coastal marshes. The long-legged wading bird’s virtual invisibility is due partly to its crepuscular nature — most of the animal’s activity occurs at dawn and dusk — and, more than that, the bird is unseen because its numbers plummeted so low that it has remained on the endangered species list since 1970. But thanks to the cooperative efforts of local and federal agencies, grassroots organizations and wildlife specialists, we will continue to see more and more of the light-footed clapper rail in the months and years to come.
Team Clapper Rail consists of bird experts from the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld San Diego, the Chula Vista Nature Center, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and independent wildlife biologists. Each agency and individual plays a critical role in the captive breeding protocol.
The Wild Animal Park breeds, hatches and raises clapper rail chicks to support this endangered species.
The 28th annual census of the light-footed clapper rail in California was conducted last year, and 443 pairs of rails exhibited breeding behavior in 19 marshes in 2007. This is the largest statewide breeding population detected since the census began in 1980, representing an 8.3 percent increase over the former high count in 2006, and a 36 percent increase of the 24-year high reached in 1996. It’s also the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking high counts.