Out And About: Diving At The Aquarium, Hiking On Catalina

As a weekly endeavor I will be posting some things to do every Saturday or so to highlight some ways to get out and see the surrounding abundance of ecological wonders that Southern California has to offer.
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So here we go... First, I checked this out from the LA Times blog Outposts, which I might add is a great online version of their Outdoor section that folded years ago, that says that the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is offering (for the first time ever) a dive program for general certified divers to be able to plunge into the aquarium’s Tropical Reef Habitat. This is definitely a first, and one that I don’t know why wasn’t allowed earlier. The dive might come with a hefty price (nearly $300 a pop), but I would say to be able to dive in the tank at the aquarium would be pretty cool. After all, it’s not everyday you can check out a tropical habitat with “over a thousand colorful fish and beautiful coral, including sea turtles, zebra and blacktip reef sharks, porcupine puffers, and a large blue Napoleon or humphead wrasse,” and not have to fly out to tropical island to do it.
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Secondly, the Catalina Island Conservancy notes that the 37-mile Trans-Catalina Trail is becoming pretty popular this summer season. Apparently it’s quite a journey: normally spanning six days and five nights, through the rugged terrain of the island’s interior. This LA Times blogger tried to do it in a weekend, but not quite sure if it can be done. The trail opened last year. The Times notes that Coastwalks offers a package to scale the crossing that some times reaches 2,000 feet above sea level at a price of about $600, or you can opt to take the hike yourself, if you can. I would suggest not doing it alone, but being one with nature certainly sounds inviting. This is something that I definitely have to get out and try...

The Colorado Lagoon and the "junky"est monster

The Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach is one of the murkiest swaths of water I have seen. I should know, I used jog along its shoulders on a regular basis when I lived near there. And for all intents and purposes, I don’t know who would want to swim in it, I mean who knows what type of toxins lie beneath its surface—well apparently DDT, Mercury and other poisonous metals and contaminants, at least according to this LA Times article. The lagoon has made Heal the Bay’s “Beach Bummer” list last year, and was the culprit of many a sewage spill over the years, since mostly when drains get clogged the junk remains stuck in this stagnant water that surrounds, unflatteringly, the rather plush homes of Naples Island.
Anyhow, the city is now moving ahead with its $15 million effort to clean up the gunk and contaminants in phases, which began in March.
The city announced today that it will be holding three public meetings, starting July 8, regarding Phase 2 of a study to clean up the lagoon. The study is available here.
The lagoon itself is a 28.3-acre tidal mere located in east Long Beach providing an estuarine habitat and “retaining and conveying storm flows.” The State of California lists it as an “impaired water body,” due to high levels of water and sediment contamination. In addition, the Lagoon's estuary habitat has deteriorated over time as native plant species have significantly declined due to the encroachment of invasive ornamental landscaping, according to the city’s Website.