"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.

Supreme Court "split" on Navy sonar and whales

The Supreme Court justices are "closely split" on whether the Navy is following environmental laws to protect whales and other marine mammals from sonar off the Southern California coast, according to David Savage of the LA Times.
The case, Winter vs. NRDC, landed in Washington D.C. on Wednesday after the lawsuit was brought forth by the Natural Resources Defense Council in Santa Monica.
The U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the Navy to "shut down its high-intensity sonar whenever a whale or marine mammal is spotted within 1.25 miles of the ship," according to the Times.
But the Bush administration and its lawyers contend that in war time operations and exercises, paramount to national security, the government has the right to make decisions of whether to shut down sonar. U.S. Solicitor Gen. Gregory G. Garre, asked the judge to throw out the former ruling by a Los Angeles court judge.
The issue now has developed into whether or not a judge has the right to decide whether to stop government projects to the requirements of protecting marine mammals.
But environmentalists state that whales, dolphins and other marine mammals dive deep into the ocean to escape the high frequency sounds and can end up bleeding and sometimes die when they come up to the surface.
A dolphin washed up on the shores of San Nicolas Island in January this year, during the final stages of the Navy's sonar exercises, commonly linked to the death of whales and other ocean mammals, the Times reported.
San Nicolas Island, which is owned by the Navy, is the farthest out of the Channel Islands off the coast of California, passed Santa Catalina Island. The Navy also tests rockets on the Island, which commonly known to inhabit elephant seals.
The dolphin was found with blood in its ear canals and other fluid, common symptoms also shown on whales who were discovered with similar conditions before. The discovery on Jan. 29 was very small compared to the many whales found strewn on the Canary Islands in 2000.
The federal court order would require that the Navy shutdown all sonar operations when whales are 2,200 yards within range and some spots near the Channel Islands.
The Navy will release an official environmental impact statement come next February when all their exercises are complete this year.
The justices will decide their official ruling within the next few months, according to the Times.

Discussion on Catalina's protected habitats

The staff of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative will give a presentation on the South Coast Study Region from 5 to 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Avalon City Council Chambers.
Passed into California state law in 1999, the Marine Life Protection Act requires all existing state marine protected areas be reevaluated. The act also requires the creation of a statewide system of protected areas. The goal is to protect, among other things, marine life, habitat and ecosystems.
In pursuit of that goal, MLPA Initiative staff are inviting members of the public to join the discussion of the South Coast Study Region. The study is in the initial planning stages. The study will look at state waters from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County south to the California border with Mexico, including offshore islands.
For more information about the MLPA Initiative, visit the Web site http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa
For more information on the public presentation, contact Kelly Sayce at (310) 738-2665 or Craig Shuman at (310) 869-6574.

"Millennials" on the rise, "Xers" take the lead, and "Boomers" take the back seat

Do we really know anything about kids these days?
Well, Neil Howe and William Strauss said they have predicted the characteristics of the new generation that will inevitably change our world, possibly for the better, but not with out a lot of bumps in the road.
As the "GI" generation or the folks preceding the "Greatest Generation," or people who fought in World War II, age 80 to 90, are seemingly on the edge of existence, the "Baby Boomers," now in their 60s, find themselves in the elder leadership role today, explained Howe on the Coast to Coast AM radio show last night.
The predictions have been compiled through history and statistics back in 1997, before 911, which they also predicted would occur, among such things as the fall of the stock market.
The Boomers are also a generation built on "cultural" greatness, which defined the era of the 60s and 70s with Rock & Roll. This is much different from the generation that came before the Boomers, that was built solely on "foundation" and building infrastructure.
Generations shift just about every 20 years, Howe said, but the term "Senior Citizens" we will find will be phased out, as the Boomers don't want to be called the same term that was designated to the generation before them.
The Boomers are now coming to an age where they are the elders, but not like the GIs the Boomers are a very confrontational bunch, and arguing seems to be the focal point as the country has seen with protests and how they can't ever come to an agreement on Capital Hill.
The 13th generation, born from 1961 to mid 80s and now in their late 20s to 30s, are known as the "X Generation."
This generation is, "literally the thirteenth generation to know the American flag and nation. The book,"13th Generation," shows how their “location in history” (Xers were, in fact, the real “children of the Consciousness Revolution”) helps explain their pragmatic attitude and unduly negative reputation.
What's probably so interesting about Howe's and Strauss' discoveries is the Millennial Generation, that are now teenagers growing up after the year 2000.
This generation tends to be lumped in with the Gen Xers, but as Howe and Strauss point out the group of people are entirely different.
The Xers have been seemingly known as a generation to adapt to change are now becoming the generals who care mostly about the bottom line, with such cultural attributions as Hip-Hop and so forth, says Howe.
The Millennials, are different however, and will be able to work together more as a community of soldiers, with a can-do youth revolution, that trust non-profits more than business.
A decade ago, in Generations, Strauss and Howe predicted many of the youth trends America is beginning to see today. Now, in Millennials Rising, the authors show how today’s teens are recasting the image of youth from downbeat and alienated to upbeat and engaged. The authors also show…how Millennials are held to higher standards than adults apply to themselves how they’re a lot less violent, vulgar, and sexually charged than the teen culture older people are producing for them how, over the next decade, they’ll entirely recast what it means to be young and how, in time, they could emerge as the next great generation.
Looking back to the dawn of the modern world, The Fourth Turning reveals a distinct pattern in human history, cycles lasting about the length of a long human life. Each cycle is composed of four “turnings,” and each turning lasts the span of a generation (about 20 years). There are four kinds of turnings (High, Awakening, Unraveling, Crisis), and they always occur in the same order.
For more information log on to their project known as LifeCourse Associates.

APA: Internet addiction may cause mental disorders

With new tech toys constantly popping up like the 3G- iPhone and other small portable hand-held Internet devices, some people might be wondering if it's a good idea to be on the Internet so much.
You see it everywhere, whether waiting in lines, in classrooms, on the bus, at the grocery store, or even in the car.
The Internet has even transformed language with such words as "blog," "text," "IM," and "LOL."
The next generation has seemingly turned into the "text" generation with the ability to have information at finger tips and chat with friends and family at the touch of a button.
But not only are legislators now taking a look at whether "texting" and over-obsessive Internet use is safe in the car, but the issue has become a main topic of discussion in psychiatric groups.
"Internet Addiction," termed in the American Psychiatric Association committee's editorial published in March, 2008, appears to be a common disorder that merits inclusion in DSM-V (Five), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the latest manual for revising mental conditions in America.
The article in the American Journal of Psychiatry was written by Dr. Jerald J. Block, who briefly discussed the epidemic on a recent showing of the Coast-to-Coast am radio program.
The diagnosis is a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder that involves online and/or off line computer usage and consists of at least three subtypes: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and email/text messaging.
All of the variants share the following four components, excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives, withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible, tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use, and negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue.
According to the APA, most research on Internet addiction has been published in South Korea, where Internet gaming cafes actually have become violent. Using data from 2006, the government says about 210,000 South Korean children (2.1 percent, ages 6 to 19 are afflicted and require treatment. About 80 percent of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications and perhaps 20 percent to 24 percent require hospitalization.
China is also concerned about the disorder with about 10 million teenagers afflicted by the disorder.
In the United States, accurate estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking. Unlike in Asia, where Internet cafes are frequently use and in the US games and virtual sex are accessed from the home. Attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial and minimization, and further complicated by comorbidity, with about 86 percent of Internet Addiction cases having some other disorder diagnosis present.

Governor vetos water quality funding

This week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated any on-going funding for the implementation of a water quality bill in a line item veto for the recently-approved state budget, according to Heal the Bay.
Water quality monitoring is the latest casualty of environmental programs due the state's billion dollar deficit this year.
In the last decade, such water quality monitoring has been funded by AB411, a state law that created public health bacteria standards and monitoring requirements for ocean water quality at California public beaches during high-traffic summer season.
The nearly $1 million program for the state's 15 coastal counties stands to be threatened of possibly cut out.
Although new funding might not be coming our way, beaches all over California saw another clean summer, 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 though.
According to Heal the Bay, nearly one out of five beaches tracked in the county received 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.
Water quality dipped at Santa Monica Bay beaches this summer as well, with 86 percent of 63 monitored beaches receiving A or B grades, compared to 93 percent last year. Bay beaches receiving D or F grades this summer include Malibu‟s fabled Surfrider Beach, Paradise Cove, Solstice Canyon at Dan Blocker Beach and Marie Canyon at Puerco Beach. Further south in the bay, Venice City Beach at Topsail, Dockweiler
Beach at Ballona Creek and Santa Monica beaches at the Santa Monica Pier and at Wilshire Boulevard also received D or F marks.
If Los Angeles County beaches are removed from the grading curve, state water quality marks improve dramatically. Nearly 97 percent of the 405 beaches outside the county earned A and B grades, with only six locations receiving failing grades.
Heal the Bay assigns an A to F letter grade to beaches along the California coast every summer, based on levels of bacterial pollution reported from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The Beach Report Card is based on the routine monitoring of beaches from Humboldt County to the Mexican border by local health agencies and dischargers. Water samples are analyzed for bacteria that indicate pollution from numerous sources. The better the grade a beach receives, the lower the risk of illness to ocean users.
Orange County boasted outstanding water quality this summer, improving upon already excellent grades, with 98 percent of its 104 beaches receiving A or B grades. Doheny Beach at San Juan Creek and Poche Creek Beach in San Clemente were the only two locations to receive D or F grades. Historical trouble spots in Huntington and the Doheny beaches maintained their improved A and B marks.

New creatures found off Great Barrier Reef

If you ever saw the movie "The Abyss," then you might be familiar with the type of brightly colored creatures found deep in the ocean.
But this time it's not a movie and the the hundreds of new marine creatures found in three reefs of Australia are a lot smaller, in fact some are the size of sand grains, according to scientists.
The new discovery led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, also uncovered 150 soft corals, never seen before shrimps, worms and crustaceans.
Here is a story published in National Geographic Magazine.
The exploration is part of a 10-year project to look at the world's ocean diversity, involving systematic sampling hidden reef animals at Lizard and heron Islands on the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef on the country's west coast.
In total, about a hundred new isopod species could emerge from the study.
Other finds include a potentially new class of marine worm known as bristle worms, relatives of leeches and earthworms.
The team is also analyzing organisms such as seaweeds, urchins, and lace corals.
Corals depend on a symbiotic relationship with temperature-sensitive algae that live inside their tissues and provide both food and color.

Calling all volunteers for Coastal Cleanup Day!

California Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier volunteer event focused on the marine environment in the country.
Coastal Cleanup Day is the highlight of the California Coastal Commission's year 'round Adopt-A-Beach program and takes place every year on the third Saturday of September, from 9 a.m. to noon.
This year, the event will be held on Sept. 20.
In 2007, more than 60,000 volunteers worked together to collect more than 900,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from our beaches, lakes, and waterways. California Coastal Cleanup Day has been hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the largest garbage collection” (1993). Since the program started in 1985, over 800,000 Californians have removed more than 12 million pounds of debris from the state's shorelines and coast.
Pre-register with your local Coordinator, or simply show up at any of our drop-in sites (which will be placed on the county contact pages as they become available).
For more information, contact (800) COAST-4U or coast4u@coastal.ca.gov.
Here is a list of locations and times to volunteer:
Long Beach
Help is needed at the 112th consecutive monthly “30-Minute Beach Cleanup” this Saturday at 10 a.m. This month's cleanup is being sponsored by University by the Sea. There is free parking at the start/finish point: 1 Granada Ave., Long Beach (Belmont Shore). All groups and individuals of all ages are welcome.
The “30-Minute Beach Cleanup” in Long Beach, presented by Justin Rudd's nonprofit 501c3 Community Action Team (C.A.T.), has collected thousands of bags of trash with the help of volunteers of all ages over the past nine years. The efforts have helped to keep our beaches clean and safe with volunteers helping just 30 minutes on the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m., rain or shine.
Door prizes (tickets from the Aquarium of the Pacific, gift cards from Aroma di Roma and coupons from Polly's Coffee) & refreshments from Duthie Power Services, and University by the Sea will be given immediately after the half hour cleanup.
Bags, gloves, refreshments, volunteer credit forms, door prizes and free parking are provided.
Volunteers may contact Rudd at Justin@JustinRudd.com or 562/439-3316.
Seal Beach
Save Our Beach conducts a monthly beach cleanup in Seal Beach from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the 1st Street Beach Lot (corner of Ocean & 1st in the Rivers End restaurant parking lot) in Seal Beach.
Garbage bags and protective gloves will be provided.
For more information email kim@saveourbeach.org or call (562) 884-6764.
Bolsa Chica Wetlands/ State Beach
At the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, operations will begin at 7 a.m. to remove trash and debris while the tide is low. The cleanup will start at the North Lot at 3842 Warner Ave. in Huntington Beach. Tools and refreshments will be provided. Come with a hearty spirit, closed toe shoes, sunscreen and a hat.

Raptor research project presented Sept. 23

Scott Thomas, the director for the Sea and Sage Conservation, will host a presentation on his latest findings of the "Orange County Raptor Research Project" on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Irvine Ranch Water District Duck Club at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine.
Thomas and biologist Pete Bloom, a 35-year veteran raptor researcher, led a group of young scientists and students from University California, Irvine as well as Audubon volunteers in an effort to research the status of the county's raptor population.
Sponsored by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, where many predators still dwell, this free slide-show illustrated presentation highlights their efforts, including information that can be obtained from monitoring birds using satellite telemetry.
Some biologists and specialists say a declining amount of predators, such as red-tailed hawks, cooper’s hawks, owls and American kestrels, throughout Southern California, could be declining in numbers.
“It’s puzzling,” said Bloom, a biologist for the Audubon California Starr Ranch Sanctuary. “Certain species have declined dramatically.”
Although no official numbers have been recorded, data shows the dwindling amounts of “Birds of Prey” could be caused by a variety of environmental concerns, Bloom said.
Fewer protected habitats because of fires and development, climate change caused by global warming, West Nile virus outbreaks and less prey are all factors in the shortened number of nests over the last few decades.
Some of these predators are sometimes displaced or treated in the hands of veterinarian Scott Weldy, who works for a wildlife hospital in Lake Forest.
Weldy has seen a difference in both the kinds of predators that are brought into his hospital and the amount.
“I can tell you the numbers are a general anecdote,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s not a representation of them dying, but in general, numbers have significantly dropped down.”
Weldy works with federal and state wildlife officials on birds of prey where he treats each one in cages until they can be re-released or relocated.
He said a better representation of whether predator birds are declining would be to take a survey from all of the biologists over the state, look at the nest sightings and see how many babies fledge out of that site.
Photo by Forget Me Not Photography

"Save our park" from toll road Sept. 22

Even though some surfers were sent home packing when scientists concluded that a toll road wouldn't have affected Trestles as much as previously thought, environmental groups still had won when the California Coastal Commission shot down the proposed Foothill South fast trak in February.
Now, environmental groups who want to protect the San Onofre State Beach from development are at it again— but this time many have changed their focus.
Instead of decrying the project because it might have affected the renowned surf break, which brought out hundreds of surfers from groups like the Surfrider Foundation, this time groups like Friends of the Foothills and the Sierra Club seem to be focusing their efforts more on protecting the San Mateo Campground.
The toll road proposed by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, they say, would have cut down on traffic congestion, along with environmentally sensitive buffers for endangered species, but the Coastal Commission didn't think so.
Following the commission's vote of 8-2, disapproving the proposed extension of the 67-mile system, the TCA filed an appeal with the United States Department of Commerce.
The upcoming Sept. 22 U.S. Commerce Department Toll Road Hearing will be held on Monday, Sept. 22 at the Del Mar Fair grounds, O'Brien Hall from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard.
Environmental groups have already begun a campaign to encourage people to testify to help stop the toll road construction that would inadvertently by built on top of campgrounds and wildlife habitats.
"Speak now or forever lose our park!" states a flier. "U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is hearing from special interests and the TCA's lobbyists. Now he needs to hear from you."
Among the hundreds of attendants who came out to the commission meeting Feb. 7 many said the Environmental Impact Report was done sloppily and hides certain unavoidable concerns regarding the proposed project. Their efforts are driven to preserve state land and uphold the Coastal Act.
Either way, the TCA is still going to have one public relations hurdle if the department of commerce ever decides to overturn the commission's decision.

"Biology of Belief:" how to reprogram your mind

If you were able to tune in to Coast to Coast A.M. last night, you probably had an enlightening experience.
The Sci-fi-UFO-new-age radio program hosted by "night hawk" George Noory had an interesting guest on. His name is Dr. Bruce H. Lipton, who discussed his new book, "the Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles."
He revealed some interesting news brewing in the science and medical communities these days. The question is what actually causes the diseases, mental conditions, traumas or imbalances in our lives, that stop us from truly attaining peace and happiness. So many people feel they are bogged down by being an alcoholic, or a drug addict or depressed, because their father or mother was.
But Lipton said it doesn't have to be that way.
Lipton says that by tapping into a constant stream of consciousness, we are able to create "positive thinking," which can actually prevent these illnesses, once we "reprogram" our minds.
Sound weird? Well, let me explain...
He said more and more of today's biologists are turning away from the theory that genes control our destinies, and will in effect determine whether or not we will grow up to have illnesses, conditions and so forth.
For instance, he said he conducted an experiment with two stem cells, and later found out that the "field" or in our case our "mind," or our belief system, can actually affect whether someone will develop cancer. He said for example an adopted child actually began to have symptoms from that families blood line without even being related, but because they lived together and the child grew up to have the same beliefs.
Many people then say, well, you have the same problems like your parents, and so that is what they are told by the mainstream psychiatric world.
But Lipton said if our belief system does not change, than it doesn't matter how much therapy, medication or understanding we attain, because our unconscious mind will immediately begin to spring back into action like a "machine."
Our unconscious mind is developed at a very young age, from the age of birth to five years old. In fact in those very young years, he said, is when we only rely on a trance-like unconscious stream of thought, such as crying to get food or when in fear, or laughing when something is funny. But our conscious mind is developed about by the age of 7, and we are then able to decide and make conscious choices, but we still have an unconscious mechanism that we have to battle with.
An example he used is that when you fall in love, for instance, you are constantly living in a state of consciousness, to dress better, to feel better and to talk a certain way. You are very self aware at this point.
But after the honeymoon, and after the wedding, people often go back to their other stream of unconsciousness, allowing all the fears and negative thinking they learned as a child to take them over because there is nothing left to live up to anymore. And so many people will say, "wow, you aren't the person I married."
What Dr. Lipton says is that we can apply this simple theory of falling in love into our everyday lives and it doesn't have to stop after the honeymoon.
Dr. Lipton's Web site is offering a special for those who buy the book online until Sept. 8.

Talk wetlands with wine tonight!

Come join the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust for "Wine & Wetlands" tonight.
The event will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gaslamp restaurant and bar 6251 Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. The Land Trust will meet with the public the first Thursday of every month from there after.
Six tastings will cost $20, and there will be jazz by guitarist Frank Potenza.
The Los Cerritos Wetlands is an area of native marsh land, sustaining all sorts of coastal animals, birds and fish, even some endangered species.
The wetlands is located where the San Gabriel River meets the pacific ocean, sandwiched between Long Beach, Seal Beach and surrounding business development.
The land is home to herons, halibut, plovers, painted ladies, stingrays, crabs and cord grass according to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust Web site.
The area has also been the center of controversy as land owners want to develop the land and preservationists continue to make strides in purchases to help salvage some of the last remaining wetland areas in Southern California.
Plans to build a Home Depot on one lot off of Loyns Drive, and Studebaker drew much commotion from not only environmentalists but neighbors who felt the proposal would add hundreds of cars to the already congested area.
However, after the California Coastal Commission deemed the developers environmental impact report flawed, the land owner had to go back to the drawing board and then eventually squashed the idea altogether, according to the press telegram. However plans are still moving ahead for possibly another type of development there.
Another high point of contention for the wetlands whether or not portions of the land are actually zoned for development or not, which can bring about a whole host of mitigation requirements that have or maybe have not been fulfilled.
Plans to redevelop the Alamitos Bay Marina and the near historic Marina Hotel off of PCH might also have an affect on the wetlands, but plans for that project have also stalled.

Arachnid meets reptile, or should I say eats!!!

Here is a photo of what looks like some type of a black widow spider that entangled a lizard in its web at my parent’s house in Westminster, CA.
The spider and lizard were hanging from an empty Jacuzzi, which is typically the kind of place these spiders hang out. Spiders, classified as Arachnids, are predatory invertebrate animals that produce silk, a thin protein strand that normally traps insects and then are able to inject poison with their fangs.
This lizard, classified as reptile, seemed to be paralyzed until my mom killed both of them with a broom.

JUNK makes it to Hawaii!!

The environmental duo who sailed across the Pacific Ocean at a snails pace aboard a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna 310, have landed at their destination: Hawaii.
After 2,600 miles of open ocean that they crossed in 87 days from the Long Beach harbor, Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal, arrived today, "safely, to a throng of cheering supporters, journalists, and videographers," according to their blog site.
The team that works with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, an environmental non-profit that conducts regular tests of plastic in the ocean and its effects on sea life, took off on the journey in June as a way to help spread the word about doing away with single-use and disposable plastic entirely.
Here is what the two had to say about their excursion:
"From our first week of sinking hopes on a sinking raft, through four hurricanes that swept under us, to the unbelievable chance meeting with Roz Savage in the middle of nowhere, we have had quite an adventure. We’ve collected 10 ocean surface samples using our marine debris trawl, managed to snatch a few large pieces of plastic debris that floated under us, and caught fish with stomachs filled with particles of plastic. Plastic is forever, and it’s everywhere."

Catalina bald eagles, foxes make comeback

Catalina's bald eagle and fox populations continue to make strides in survival.
This season produced six young eagles that hatched on their own. The eaglets now join four other baby balds that hatched without human help last year for the first time in more than 50 years, according to the Catalina Island Conservancy.
But the endangered birds aren't out of the woods just yet.
The conservancy states that the protected species still has to deal with potential natural hazards, along with the Island's fox population.
"Last week, two fishermen spotted a 4 1/2-month-old eaglet struggling in the waters at Empire Landing and notified the Bay Watch Patrol, who called the Conservancy. Arriving at the scene, a Bay Watch crewmember jumped into the water and made gentle waves to push the bird ashore.
Conservancy Ranger Dave Skoff received the call from Bay Watch and alerted his supervisor Lenny Altherr, who notified Steffani Jijon, research assistant for the Wildlife Institute.
Meanwhile, Conservancy Ranger Phil Lopez happened to overhear the radio transmission about an eagle in trouble. He called and Gilbert and Sherry Hernandez, who opened the gate so that Skoff and Jijon could get down to the beach where the bird had washed ashore and was being dive-bombed by seagulls," according to an article published this week by Kathy August in the Catalina Islander newspaper.
Bald eagles had disappeared from the Island in the early 1970s.
Their eggs, damaged by DDT residue in the San Pedro Channel, were too brittle to hatch naturally. And the Island fox population plummeted from 1,300 to about 100 in 1999 due to a virulent case of canine distemper, according to the CIC.
However, both species are making a comeback thanks to the efforts of the Catalina Island Conservancy and its partner, the Institute for Wildlife Studies.
Between 1999 and 2004, the Conservancy and the IWS, through the Island Fox Recovery Program, were able to save the species from possible extinction because of a particularly nasty bout of canine distemper virus that had infected the fox population.
Now, eight years later, nearly 600 animals roam the Island. Despite the success, the Conservancy keeps a vigilant eye on the fox population.
It is possible that the disastrous event that threatened the population in 2000 may have caused a “genetic bottleneck” increasing the chances of malformations or sensitivity to diseases in the recovering population.
Also possible—and a topic of current research—is sensitivity to factors such as ear mite parasites, or other yet-to-be-discovered cause.
Nevertheless, the Conservancy continues to be committed to the protection and restoration of these endangered and threatened species. Catalina’s unique plants and animals make the Island’s ecosystem especially sensitive to disturbances and catastrophes.

Long Beach rolls out bio-diesel fleet

The city of Long Beach stepped up its efforts to reduce the amount of smog in the air last week by launching the preliminary stage of using bio-diesel blends for a portion of its vehicle fleet.
Mayor Bob Foster and First District Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal, who helped spearhead the program, both announced the plan last Tuesday aboard one of the city’s John Deere tractors that replenishes sand daily by raking the beach.
For a city flagged for having poor air quality over the years, ten total vehicles, including all of the city’s tractors and skip loaders and a portion of bulldozers and dump trucks, will now be fueled with B20, which is made of 20 percent vegetable oil and 80 percent petroleum diesel.
The blend is most common for cities now using cleaner alternative fuels such as Santa Monica, which has used the blend for its vehicles for years, city officials said.
Larry Rich, sustainability coordinator of the Sustainable City Commission, said using bio-diesel will reduce particulate emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and smoke particulates.
Air quality has long been a problem in Los Angeles County because of port trucks and container ships that inundate the harbor and freeways.
“Using just the B20 reduces the amount we see,” Rich said. “That is a positive reduction, at very little cost differential not having to mechanically upgrade.”
Rich said the first step is to see if there are any problems with using the bio-diesel blend and then possibly using the fuel for all of its 250 addition diesel vehicles.
"The City of Long Beach is launching this bio-diesel program as part of our ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability. We are proud of our environmental record, and we are always looking for ways to expand it," Foster said before pumping bio-diesel fuel into a tractor and taking it for a demonstration spin up and down the Belmont Shore area.
Bio-diesel is a cleaner-burning alternative to petroleum diesel, and testing shows that bio-diesel poses significantly less of a risk to human health than petroleum diesel.
"The City of Long Beach was looking for better sources of fuel to improve the area’s air quality and health. Using bio-diesel is also the City’s way of taking the next step toward using more renewable resources," said Lowenthal. "It’s only been a short time since I brought the agenda item forward that initiated this bio-diesel project. I am eager for the results as a validation of its worth in terms of improving the air and, thus, the health of our community."
In using B20, it is more cost effective because there is no engine conversion needed and the vehicles can switch back and forth with either diesel or bio-diesel. He said using B100, or pure vegetable oil, would mean all of the vehicles’ engines would have to be converted.
If everything goes well, in the next few years, the next step commonly considered is using B50, a 50/50 blend.
Rich said the supplier of the city’s first batch of bio-diesel is Merrimack Energy Group, a broker of all fuels, and gets its bio-diesel mainly made from soy beans from US domestic sources from the Midwest and possibly Canada.
“As we go through this pilot program, we may be using bio-diesel from different sources,” he said.
The city council requested in January to start using the alternative fuel and city officials spent seven months trying to get a parameter, figuring out a way to use bio-diesel in one location.
The Port of Long Beach, however, is going a different route requiring new equipment, newer modern engines to clean up the fuel conditions. While the state is planning on regulating the type of trucks and the engines, to slowly be replaced with Liquid Natural Gas. The city will still have some diesel engines that can use bio-diesel at a cheaper cost.
The city is also increasing use of Compressed Natural Gas, propane, electrical and hybrids.

Wildlife service to further protect bald eagles

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published an environmental assessment last week regarding a permit program, designed to protect bald and golden eagle populations while working with property owners and businesses.
"This program would allow issuance of permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act authorizing activities that may disturb eagles, require nest removal, or otherwise result in the death of or injury to a bird," according to a USFWS press release."While the bald eagle was protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Service had the authority to allow landowners, under certain limited conditions, to undertake otherwise lawful activities on their property that could result in death or injury to eagles." A Notice of Availability regarding the draft environmental assessment appeared in the August 14, 2008, edition of the Federal Register. "The draft environmental assessment lays out the biological foundation for a proposed nationwide permit program, and examines the impacts of the new permit proposal within the context of all threats to eagles," the release states. "It proposes upper limits to how many eagles can be taken conditioned on increasing or stable populations."
Last year, two bald eagle chicks hatched on Santa Catalina Island on their own, without the help of humans for the first time since the 40s.
The eagles on Catalina at Two Harbors are taken care of as part of the Channel Islands Bald Eagle Restoration Project conducted by the Institute for Wildlife Studies and funded by the Montrose Settlements Restorations Program and donations, according to the Catalina Island Conservancy. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Long Beach reopened after sewage spill!

It's safe to go swimming at Long Beach, if you dare, according to the city.
At about 1:45 today, Friday, Aug. 15, a near 4-mile stretch of Long Beach was reopened after a 20,000-gallon sewage spill closed off the various beaches earlier in the week.
“Beaches are now open and there are no advisories in effect,” said a voice message on hotline recording for the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services.
The beach, from 1st Street to 72nd street, remained closed for about three days after a sewer line broke in Watts, leaving sewage to flow into the Los Angeles River and out into the ocean.
The city's health officer, Dr. Helene Calvet issued a beach closure on Tuesday, Aug. 12, and was waiting for a second round of test results for state standards on Friday before opening the beach again.
The sewage spill that closed such "chronically polluted" beaches such as Mother's Beach, was the fifth time Long Beach has experienced a sewage spill since January. It was the second largest spill recorded this year as well.
For more information, call the Department’s Water Quality Information Line, 570.4199, or visit www.longbeach.gov/health and click on "Services" and then "Recreational Water Quality."

'Aquatic insects' thrive on Catalina Island

Fleas, ticks, and ants are common in households during the summer, and with the hot weather today, they might be making you mad, along with your cats and dogs.
But another world of insects also exists on the surface of the ocean, in small ponds, estuaries, lakes and reserves.
Don't worry, most of them don't bite.
These insects feed off of algae and floating organisms found in stagnant waters.
They are a little more colorful, and have been around for a long time— more than 100 million years, since the age of the dinosaurs.
Although they looked a little different back then, the insects haven't changed much, after all, most insects breed in water anyway, such as mosquitoes that can carry disease and West Nile virus.
"Aquatic insects" can be found off of Catalina Island, according to Carlos de la Rosa, a biologist for the Catalina Island Conservancy who posted a detailed slide show on the conservancy's Web site.
De la Rosa says insects in general have a short life spans and "live fast and die young."
Most butterflies, for example, live only a few weeks to a few months.
However, there are insects, like an African queen termite, that can live up to 50 years.
Among the short-lifers, "aquatic insects" are the champions.
Some, like mayflies, caddisflies and non-biting Mosquito-like midges that come out during the night, only live for a few hours as adults – barely enough time to find a mate and produce the next generation. These aquatic insects live dual lives, though, de la Rosa wrote.
Known scientifically as Chironomidae, the non-biting midges have differences in the sexes, like most insects, where the male has feathery antennas and external organs and the female has a rounder body.
Most of these common aquatic insects are well-known to fly-fishermen who use fake rubber lures that look like the real thing to reel in fresh-water fish.
Besides occasional fish, other species that feed off of aquatic insects are frogs, spiders and birds.
Other aquatic insect species that breathe air and then dive into the water include diving beetles and water boatmans.

20,000-gallon sewage spill closes Long Beach

An exceeding 20,000-gallon sewage spill closed almost 4 miles of beach on Tuesday, city officials warned, which is the fifth and second largest sewage spill for Long Beach this year.
This time, a broken sewer line near Watts out poured sewage that flows down the Los Angeles River from Compton Creeks, affecting the beach from 1st place to 72nd place, according to the Long Beach Health Department press release.
The spill was reported by the Los Angeles County Health Department at about 3:10 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Helene Calvet, the city's health officer, closed the beach to water-based recreational activities "to protect the public from serious illness due to exposure from untreated sewage," according to a city statement.
The water will be tested by the Health Department to determine its bacterial content and when the levels are low enough for the beaches to be reopened.
For further information, call the water department hotline at 562-570-4199 or go to www.longbeach.gov/health.

California brown pelicans take flight

My trip to Two Harbors Catalina last weekend was a safe voyage.
We had fare winds, a nice breeze, and little or no white caps out on the seas. Despite a few jolts in the night, the rocking wakes just put us right to sleep, for the most part.
Although we didn't spot any dolphins, one thing that was interesting was an enormous amount of California brown pelicans this year, to go along with the overabundance reported recently since the government banned the use of DDT, a chemical used as a pesticide that depleted the already thin shells of pelicans and other birds.
Here is a story about this reported in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Also, I spotted about three bat rays this time, which seem to be breeding over from the natural habitat sanctuary reserve at the USC Marine Lab.
Overall, a stellar vacation...as usual.

Aftershocks still rock Southern California

Nearly two days after the southland experienced what was thought to be the "big one," Orange County residents felt something go bump in the night last night.
A 3.5 earthquake centered west of Petrolia rumbled the area Wednesday night, July 31, at about 7:30 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey that lists a number of quakes in Southern California and Nevada. A 4.2 had hit the same area on Tuesday.
An aftershock of 3.0 near Yorba Linda occurred on Tuesday, caused by the Chino Hills 5.4 earthquake that rattled Southern California that same day.
According to the site, there have been 15 small-size earthquakes starting at 3.0 from July 25.

Seal Beach wildlife hangs on the balance

The sun peeked its way through the overcast skyline, as vacationers flocked to the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station early in the morning last Saturday.
“I want to see how our tax dollars are being spent,” said one visitor.
Droves of onlookers expected to get an up-close glimpse of wildlife during the base’s free tour, held on the last Saturday of each month.
Volunteers wearing beige vests then went over a few rules: no smoking, no cameras and, most recently, no cell-phone cameras.
The security regulations are due to the wildlife’s relationship with the Navy base, used as a holding ground for ammunitions.
This hidden natural habitat, known as the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, which takes up one fifth of the 5,000-acre Navy base, is one of the last remaining protected areas for bird species.
Predators in peril
But some biologists and specialists say a declining amount of predators, such as red-tailed hawks, cooper’s hawks and American kestrels, throughout Southern California, could threaten the very existence of this vast ecosystem.
“It’s puzzling,” said Pete Bloom, a biologist for the Audubon California Starr Ranch Sanctuary. “Certain species have declined dramatically.”
Although no official numbers have been recorded, data shows the dwindling amounts of “Birds of Prey” could be caused by a variety of environmental concerns, Bloom said.
Fewer protected habitats because of fires and development, climate change caused by global warming, West Nile virus outbreaks and less prey are all factors in the shortened number of nests over the last few decades.
However, Navy biologist Bob Schallman said the problem is more of a regional issue.
“Open space at the Seal Beach refuge continues to provide suitable breeding and foraging areas for a wide variety of bird species, including raptors,” Schallman said. “The Navy and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service staff continue to work together to monitor the health of the station's bird population through regular surveys and studies.”
Schallman said this year has been a banner year for California least terns, small sand-dwelling birds that are currently on the endangered species list.
The count, about 207 nests, matched or exceeded the base’s all time high this year, he said. The increase in population is mainly due to more protection from volunteers and more small fish to feed off.
The nests are protected on an island formerly used as a testing sight for NASA projects.
Least terns are then expected to leave in August.
Prey also in danger
But, the Navy continues to have challenges with predators targeting these young birds, resulting in relatively low fledgling numbers compared to previous years, he said.
A number of potential predatory species on the base that feed on the terns likely include the great blue heron, northern harrier, common raven and American kestrel.
Volunteers from the Friends of Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge's "Eyes on the Colony" program have provided assistance to the Navy and the USFWS staff in monitoring the tern-breeding site for these predators, providing quick notification when predators target the site.
Some of these predators are sometimes displaced or treated in the hands of veterinarian Scott Weldy, who works for a wildlife hospital in Lake Forest.
While he admits Seal Beach is not a good representation of sampling, Weldy has seen a difference in both the kinds of predators that are brought into his hospital and the amount.
“I can tell you the numbers are a general anecdote,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s not a representation of them dying, but in general, numbers have significantly dropped down.”
Weldy works with federal and state wildlife officials on birds of prey where he treats each one in cages until they can be re-released or relocated.
He said a better representation of whether predator birds are declining would be to take a survey from all of the biologists over the state, look at the nest sightings and see how many babies fledge out of that site.
In general, however, birds during this time of year aren’t as abundant as in other months.
“Winter is the best time to see a lot of birds,” said John Fitch, a volunteer who has been monitoring birds since 1988 and helps protect least terns on the base.
The marshland provides food and a way of life for almost 200,000 shore birds on a day-to-day basis during those times.
Predators, he said, add up to about 4,000.
Marsh lands disappearing
“We have only 2 to 5 percent of marsh left in Southern California,” he said. “We got more and more red tails that will start hunting in here.”
In addition, the Seal Beach wildlife refuge is home to one of the last remaining burrowing owls in Orange County. With about eight to 12 owls, the Navy has set up protected artificial burrows on the north side of the base.
Kristen Bender, president of the Friends of the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, said she considers the refuge a jewel for all types of wildlife in the midst of coastal development. She said without the shallow nutrient waters of the wetlands, local fish off the coast wouldn’t have a place to lay eggs.
“If the marshes go, then so goes the fish,” Bender said. “This is vastly more productive than a marina.”
To learn more about the Naval base wildlife tours log on to http://www.pelicanvan.org/ or call (562) 598-1024.

Junk is on its way!!!

Our guys are determined, that is, Joel and Marcus, two environmentalists who took to the seas of the Pacific to make a point about the pollution our plastic contamination is causing on our much needed ocean environment.
I have faith in both these men, who, with the help of hundreds of people, are making a difference.
It sounds like fun, but right now they have passed Isla De Guadeloupe, the farthest south island off the west coast. They're heading for the Big Island of Hawaii, now only surviving off of cans of beans and corn on a make-shift boat made of 15,00 plastic bottles, Cessna fuselage and a sail, named JUNK.
The energy that these two have is fueled by the pure will to spread the word about environmental causes, such as the fact that tons of plastic is dropped into our ocean currents each year.
That is ridiculous!!!
We need to reduce, reuse, and recycle, which is in order for a reason.
I applaud these guys for not only making our generation of people look good, but also for telling the world, scientifically, what is going on.
Cheers!

NASA: there's ice on Mars!!!

This just in:
Today NASA has confirmed the existence of frozen water on Mars, the first such discovery of ice on a distant planet, according to Bloomberg.com
"Water in liquid form is an essential ingredient for life," the web site states.
Whitish, dice-sized chunks, which were dug from the rocky red soil and warmed in the sun, vanished four days after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Phoenix probe dug them up June 15.
They confirm what NASA satellites have suggested for years: Frozen water exists several centimeters beneath Mars's surface.
Scientists believe ice exists on planets including Pluto, though Phoenix is the first probe to confirm it on the ground. The survey is part of NASA's theme in Mars exploration: follow the water," the Web site states.

Sewage spill closes 1.75-mile stretch of Long Beach

A 1.75-mile stretch of coastline in Long Beach is closed due to a 16,000-gallon sewage spill that occurred Tuesday, June 17, in Glendale and entered the Los Angeles River, according to Heal the Bay.
Since the river empties into San Pedro Bay, Long Beach locations are closed as a precaution. Beaches are closed west of Belmont Pier to 3rd Place until testing determines bacteria levels in the water are within state standards.
For further information contact the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services at (562) 570-4199.
If state standards for recreational water quality are not met the beach is posted with signs, warning the public to avoid body contact with the ocean water.
The health warning stays in effect for the beach until water re-sample results are below the state bacteriological standards.

Sea lions didn't exhibit gunshot wounds

Marine biologists say domoic acid outbreaks in Southern California have decreased since the last few years
Specialists said they did not find evidence of gunshot wounds in two sea lions that washed up on the Seal Beach shore last week.
Last Wednesday, lifeguards had reported what they thought were small bullet holes in the carcasses found on the north and south sides of the pier.
Once lifeguards called the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for an investigation, the pinnipeds were then hauled off to the Marine Mammal Center in San Pedro for a necropsy to determine the cause of the deaths.
Dr. Lauren Palmer, a veterinarian for the center, said there were no signs that the holes were caused by bullets, after inspecting the badly decomposed bodies last week.
“I found no evidence that they were shot,” Palmer said.
NOAA spokesman Jim Milbury confirmed humans did not cause the sea lion deaths.
“From the outside, you see a bullet hole when in the ex-rays the hole going in would be perfectly round. But it turned out to be splintered,” Milbury said. “It was definitely not human cause.”
Instead, biologists have not ruled out the cause to be from domoic acid poisoning from toxic algae, which Palmer said commonly occurs during spring and could continue throughout the year.
Sardines, anchovies and shellfish often feed off of the bio-toxic phytoplankton and then are consumed by the larger predators such as sea lions, seals, dolphins and birds far off the coast, causing many to be poisoned, ending up dead on nearby shores more frequently in the last five to 10 years.
Although Palmer said the two sea lions were too decomposed to determine if they were infected with domoic acid, this year the amount of poisonings in marine life has actually decreased.
Only about 15 dead sea lions from Long Beach and other beaches off of Southern California have shown up in recent weeks, she said.
“We have not seen nearly as many animals as in the past,” Palmer said. “There were a lot more last year and even more the year before.”
Officials say when 40 to 50 marine mammals start showing up on the coast then it is time to worry.
In 2006, the blooms came earlier and killed more sea life than previous years, with more than 36 sea lions found dead on Orange County beaches. The state also issued a quarantine on clams and mussels due to the outbreak of toxic algae blooms that year.
The phytoplankton produces the toxin, which is a natural process, Palmer said.
But just what exactly is causing the phytoplankton to produce the toxin is not determined.
“It looks like it might be nutrient related, or also could be caused by upwelling,” she said.
Some marine mammals could be affected by recent outbreaks, were others could have been suffering from long-term effects that cause seizures and brain damage in the mammals over time, Palmer said.
Domoic acid was first identified in 1991 in samples of mussels, razor clams and other seafood at several locations along the pacific coast, including California.
But no known cases of human poisoning from this toxin are known to have occurred, according to officials.

California experiences driest spring on record

California experienced the driest spring season on record, as the United States had its 36th coolest March through May spell on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
The average spring temperature of 51.4 degrees F was 0.5 degree F below the 20th century average. The average May temperature of 60.3 degrees F was 0.7 degree F below the 20th century mean, based on preliminary data," the Web site states.
California had its driest spring on record, while Nevada and Utah had their 10th and 11th driest on record. For May, two states were much drier than average -- New Hampshire had its ninth driest May on record and Florida its 10th driest.
As California witnessed the driest last few months in the country receiving the lowest ranking, other states on the central East Coast, where storms and tornadoes recently have touched down, received an increasing amount of precipitation.
For the spring, Missouri had its fourth wettest, Arkansas its sixth wettest, Indiana and Iowa their eighth wettest and Illinois its 10th wettest. For May, Arizona, Maryland, and Nebraska were much wetter than average, with Nebraska ranking fourth wettest and Maryland fifth wettest on record.

'Junk' stalls from San Nicolas Island

The courageous environmental duo, who set sail on June 1 for Hawaii aboard a 20-to-30-foot raft named "Junk" made of 15,000 plastic bottles, are now on their own. The two researchers, who want to bring attention to the damage caused by plastic in the ocean, were escorted for three days by the ORV Alguita catamaran vessel. Now the crew will be sailing solo.
Junk's blog will be updated until the craft makes it to the Big Island, expected to take about 40 days. So far, the vessel is held down at San Nicolas Island after experiencing some "wicked winds"...

Seal Beach: West Nile virus threat high this year

By Charles M. Kelly

Seal Beach Councilman Michael Levitt warned the public that the threat of West Nile virus is high this year.
“There are more dead birds in Orange County that have died of West Nile virus (this year) than since 2004,” Levitt said.
The Seal Beach District 5 representative spoke during the council comments segment of the City Council’s Tuesday, May 27 meeting.
Levitt represents Seal Beach on the board of directors of the Orange County Vector Control District. Vector Control is the agency charged with containing disease carrying-creatures.
West Nile virus is a potentially fatal disease. So far this year, there have been no confirmed human cases, according to information posted on the Vector Control District’s Web site.
Thirteen birds collected in Orange County tested positive for West Nile virus last month, according to a Vector Control statement issued Tuesday, May 20.
The Vector Control announced that nine American crows, two house finches, a hermit thrush and a black-headed grosbeak, all collected between May first and the ninth, were found to be positive for WNV.
Two separate laboratories tested the dead birds.
“Thirteen birds in such a short time frame is reminiscent of 2004 conditions,” said Robert Cummings, scientific and technical director for Vector Control.
“The high number of positive birds, the variety of species, and the wide distribution is a strong reminder that WNV is present and being actively transmitted throughout Orange County,” Cummings said.
In a memo to the Vector Control board for the week ending May 30, District Manager Gerard Goedhart stated, “As expected, the calls to the district on dead birds have increased significantly over the past week. For example, over the last six days there were 110 calls for dead bird pickup. The district has hired one additional part-time employee in the lab to handle the increase.”
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of birds dying from West Nile virus in Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos or Sunset Beach.
The birds were reported by residents from San Clemente to Brea and from Huntington Beach to Fullerton. In all, nine West Nile-positive birds have been collected in the city of Garden Grove since 2008 began. Four birds were collected in one Garden Grove neighborhood alone.
Vector Control is asking the public to report any dead birds they may come across by calling (714) 971-2421, extension 117.
The district is advising people to eliminate standing water wherever they find it. Apparently, mosquitoes can develop in a week in as little as a quarter inch of water.
For more information, visit the district Web site at www.ocvcd.org.

'Junk' on its way to Hawaii from Long Beach

The junk has launched into the ocean...
No, not the 6 billion tons of plastic from California alone that ends up in the Pacific, but rather a man-made craft that was built to bring attention to it.
"Junk," made from 15-000 tightly sealed plastic bottles along with a Cessna cockpit, took off from Long Beach harbor yesterday, on a calm afternoon.

Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal, both environmentalist educators who have worked many years in the field of science, boarded their raft made of trash to bring attention to the world's plastics that have damaged the ocean habitat.

The two left last weekend with a wind generator and one large sail, all the way to Hawaii, and they will not be towed in. They have radio GPS systems, along with two radio phones for contacting help.
The trip will take close to seven weeks to make it all the way to Hawaii, with nothing but dried food, aluminum cans with water(enough for three months) and fishing poles for fishing.

"Take care and we'll see you in Hawaii," said Erikson, as he wrapped up his speech before casting off the dock.

(Photo Credit: Sean Belk)

Look for continued coverage

UPDATE: California single-use bag bill steps forward

A proposed California measure, known as the most stringent restriction ever imposed on grocery chains and pharmacies by any state in the country, is one step closer to being signed into law.
On May 28, AB 2058 (Levine–Brownley-Davis) passed off the California Assembly floor with 44 votes. If passed, this bill would require large grocery chains and pharmacies statewide to charge a 25-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags if a 70 percent reduction in bag usage is not achieved by the end of 2010, according to Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay.
Similar policies in other countries such as Ireland have been extremely successful and have resulted in reductions upwards of 90 persent, the group says.
"Single-use bags, especially plastic bags, wreak havoc in the marine environment and cause extreme environmental blight. Each year local governments spend millions of dollars to clean-up litter such as plastic bags and to landfill this waste," Heal the Bay says.
The bill now moves to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
Having consulted closely with the bill’s authors for the past few months, Heal the Bay is hopeful that the Senate will pass the measure, as it tackles one of the worst sources of marine debris.

Researchers to sail to Hawaii on 'Junk'

In an effort to bring attention to the "growing problem" of plastic contamination and debris in the world's oceans, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation will set sail from Long Beach to Hawaii aboard "Junk," a raft made out of 15,000 plastic bottles.
The trashed up ship will launch on June 1 at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific at 100 Aquarium Way during an event from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
On board will be Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal of the Algalita foundation, and there will be an updated blog as the sea voyage continues.
The Alguita vessel, a large catamaran used to troll the ocean during research excursions of trash in the middle of the Pacific known as a spiraling gyre, returned on May 19 from an overnight trip acting as tow and the escort for the first and only sea trial of the vessel Junk, according to crew member Jeff Ernst.
On the way back from Hawaii here's what Ernst said:
Myctophids, a large fish family consisting of 246 species in 33 genera which retreat down to open darkness at 300-1200 meters during the day. But at night they are quite abundant and a significant constituent of the largest daily migration on the planet, of organisms from the depth of the ocean up to the surface to feed.
On the trip back from Hawaii an interesting question was raised when we saw over and over again so many of these fish mixed in with so much plastic debris. The fish that were captured in our manta trawls from the trip home have all been separated out and are currently being analyzed by our resident ichthyologist Christiana, who to date has done a gut content analysis on over 200 of these fish finding plastic fragments in the stomachs of 38 percent of the fish, with a record maximum size piece of 5mm.
We caught a few fish in the trawls from 2 nights ago but no myctophidae that I could identify in the field. It remains to be seen what we will find once we get the samples back into the lab, but my suspicion is that its simply too shallow a habitat for this species to be in any high abundance.

For updated constant feeds on the trip log on to Junk's blog.
According to Heal the Bay, marine debris has injured or killed at least 267 species world-wide, primarily through ingestion and entanglement.
More than 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals, and countless fish have died annually in the north pacific from ingesting or becoming entangled in marine debris.

Look for continued coverage as Eye On Ecology will be covering the launch from Long Beach...