Litterbugs are strange creatures, they come from all cultures and backgrounds, can be male or female, young or old. They are for the most part just like me and you, they also look just like me and you. If you walked past a litterbug in the street you would not be able to tell them apart from any other person on that street, they look pretty normal. They like to eat food, drink soda and smoke cigarettes. They go to work, like walks in the park, bike rides and sunny days on the beach.

Litterbugs share many things with regular everyday people, that is until they are required to perform one very specific function. This seemingly simple task exposes the litterbug for what they really are. What is it you ask? What is this task? Why are you singling out the litterbug for attack?

Listen, litterbugs are very different from me and you, let me explain how and why. Let’s start by classifying the different types of litterbug. I’m going to concentrate today on a [Read more →]

California Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier volunteer event focused on the marine environment in the country. In 2009, more than 80,600 volunteers worked together to collect more than 1,300,000 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 14 million pounds of debris from our state’s shorelines and coast. When combined with the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by The Ocean Conservancy and taking place on the same day, California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes part of one of the largest volunteer events of the year.

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. (The 2010 Cleanup will take place on the fourth Saturday of September so as not to conflict with Yom Kippur.) Coming at the end of the summer beach season and right near the start of the school year, Coastal Cleanup Day is a great way for families, students, service groups, and neighbors to join together, take care of our fragile marine environment, show community support for our shared natural resources, learn about the impacts of marine debris and how we can prevent them, and to have fun! Coastal Cleanup Day is also the kick-off event for Coastweeks—three weeks of coastal and water-related events for the whole family.

Participating in Coastal Cleanup Day is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Pre-register with your local Coordinator, simply show up at any of the drop-in sites, or find your nearest site here.

Montara’s Clean up crew will meet as usual in the Northern dirt parking lot at 9.00am on Saturday September 25th, see you there! More details on the Montara Beach Coalition website.

The San Mateo County chapter of Surfrider is holding a beach cleanup on Saturday, July 10, 2010 from 12:00PM – 2:00PM at Montara beach. Please help if you can. Full details can be found on the Surfrider web site

We had a fantastic turn out for the event! Over 75 people gathered at Montara Beach to join the 900 global locations to say NO to off shore drilling, and YES to cleaner energy sources. Thanks to everyone for joining us and a big shout out also to Lynn Adams of the Pacifica Beach Coalition, Paul Hobi of the Ocean Conservancy, April Vargas and the guys from ‘below the surface’ who paddled up from Mavericks to join us!

This event takes place this Saturday June 26th at multiple locations across the plant. You can join in by being at Montara State Beach at 11.00am, at midday we will join hands to form a protest line in the sand to say NO to off shore drilling, and YES to clean energy. Wear black to represent the tar balls on the beaches in the Gulf. You can get full details at the Montara Beach Coalition web site or the official ‘Hands Across the Sand’ site. See you there, bring your friends

Enric Sala shares glorious images — and surprising insights and data — from some of the most pristine areas of the ocean. He shows how we can restore more of our oceans to this healthy, balanced state, and the powerful ecological and economic benefits of doing so. Enric Sala searches for the last pristine marine environments on Earth — and brings back data to help governments protect them.

On Sunday, May 23rd, coastal counties throughout California are sponsoring “Save the Whale Day” to raise awareness regarding a U.S. proposed compromise agreement that would legalize some forms of commercial whaling for the first time since the international ban on whaling was approved in 1986. PACIFICA WILL HOST SAN MATEO COUNTY’S “SAVE THE WHALE DAY” ACTION When:  Sunday May 23, Program Begins at 10am and Concludes around 11:30am Where:  Sharp Park Beach Promenade/Pacifica Pier, Speakers Include:  Elizabeth Cataldo, President of the American Cetacean Society, SF Bay Chapter  –  Shari Bookstaff, Biology Professor, Skyline College; Former President ACS, SFBC   – Leland Yee     –  Assemblyman Jerry Hill     –   April Vargas Music performed by:    Dave Crimmen The Pacifica Beach Coalition is partnering with the Western Alliance for Nature, organizers of the event, to collect signatures on a petition that will be sent to the Obama Administration requesting campaign promises to support conservation be kept and a final halt to commercial whaling be committed to through the continuation of the moratorium.   Fourteen other events will be held simultaneously, from San Diego to Humboldt. What you can do:  [Read more →]

Bottled water is healthy water — or so marketers would have us believe. Just look at the labels or the bottled water ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks; healthy, active people gulping down icy bottled water between biking in the park and a trip to the yoga studio. In reality, bottled water is just water. That fact isn’t stopping people from buying a lot of it. Estimates variously place worldwide bottled water sales at between $50 and $100 billion each year, with the market expanding at the startling annual rate of 7 percent. Bottled water is big business. But in terms of sustainability, bottled water is a dry well. It’s costly, wasteful and distracts from the brass ring of public health: the construction and maintenance of safe municipal water systems. Want some solid reasons to kick the bottled water habit? We’ve rounded up five to get you started.

1) Bottled water isn’t a good value

Take, for instance, Pepsi’s Aquafina or Coca-Cola’s Dasani bottled water. Both are sold in 20 ounce sizes and can be purchased from vending machines alongside soft drinks — and at the same price. Assuming you can find a $1 machine, that works out to 5 cents an ounce. These two brands are essentially filtered tap water, bottled close to their distribution point. Most municipal water costs less than 1 cent per gallon. Now consider another widely sold liquid: gasoline. It has to be pumped out of the ground in the form of crude oil, shipped to a refinery (often halfway across the world), and shipped again to your local filling station. In the U.S., the average price per gallon is hovering around $3. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, which puts the current price of gasoline at a fraction over 2 cents an ounce. And that’s why there’s no shortage of companies that want to get into the business. In terms of price versus production cost, bottled water puts Big Oil to shame. [Read more →]

West Seattle: But no sign debris caused death, researcher says

A gray whale that washed ashore in West Seattle last week had an unusually large amount of man-made debris in its stomach, marine mammal researchers announced Monday.

The 37-foot-long whale had more than 50 gallons of undigested stomach contents, including more than 20 plastic bags, small towels, surgical gloves, sweatpants, duct tape, pieces of plastic and a golf ball, according to John Calambokidis of the Olympia-based Cascadia Research Collective.

“It’s not a very good testament to our stewardship of the marine environment,” Calambokidis said.

The debris, while abundant, represented about 1 percent to 2 percent of the stomach contents, which consisted mostly of algae, he said. There is no sign that it caused the whale’s death.

But it clearly indicates that the whale had tried to feed in urban waterways where it was exposed to debris and contaminants, he said.

Gray whales are filter feeders that feed on the bottom and suck in sediment from shallow waters to strain out small organisms that live there. This feeding process can lead to ingestion of rocks, wood debris and human litter.
Read more from the original News Tribune post:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/04/20/1155343/dead-whale-had-plastic-sweatpants.html#ixzz0lgxVMwZ7

Though nearly 7 years of existence the Montara Beach web site has undergone several design changes. It’s just morphed again, this time taking on a more blog/magazine type feel. It’s easier to read and browse than the last version while retaining it’s environmental tilt. Check it out at montarabeach.com.

The San Mateo County chapter of Surfrider is holding a beach cleanup on Saturday, July 10, 2010 from 12:00PM – 2:00PM at Montara beach.

I took this video on Sunday morning, extremely high tide, many sneaker waves washing in. Several people nearly got washed out while trying to take photos. Note the amount of sand moved on the beach, the stairs and life ring station are half buried under sand.

I saw this video on coastsider.com and had to share.

Montara Beach Report 2/9 from Kevin Stokes (Coastsider) on Vimeo.

A short video report showing the damage to the sandstone bluffs on Montara Beach sustained during the recent high tides and winter storms.

Styrofoam covers a Pacifica Beach. Photo © Ian Butler

This problem just gets worse and worse, we must enforce a styrofoam ban NOW. Make your voice heard by clicking here. Take a look at John Mayburys Peninsula Coastside Blog entry by clicking here.

Plastics: made to last for ever, designed to throw away.

Plastic garbage in the Ocean. (Photo in public domain).

I received this email from Dan Jacobson, Environment California Legislative Director.

“The Pacific Garbage Patch has grown to be twice the size of Texas. That’s why we’re calling for simple steps to cut the waste that’s fueling this enormous floating patch of trash. Unless California does something about our plastic trash it will only get worse. That’s why we’re calling for simple steps to cut the waste that’s fueling this enormous floating patch of trash. Every year, California uses 19 billion plastic bags – many of which find their way out to sea and ultimately to the Pacific Garbage Patch. – many of which find their way out to sea and ultimately to the Pacific Garbage Patch.

We’re calling for a small fee on plastic bags at the grocery store, to encourage reusable bags to encourage reusable bags. Join the call. Ask Gov. Schwarzenegger to put a fee on plastic bags. Environment California has launched a new effort – The Great Pacific Cleanup — to cut the waste that’s ending up in the Pacific Ocean.

Churned slowly by ocean currents, more than 100 million tons of plastic bags, bottles, toys, containers, packaging and other junk are swirling together, forming a moving island of trash off our coast that’s known as the Pacific Garbage Patch. Approximately 80% of that waste came from land. Cleaning up the mess poses an enormous array of challenges, but a few things are dead-certain: To start the cleanup, we have to stop generating so much ocean-bound waste. And California can lead the way.” Environment California has launched a new effort – The Great Pacific Cleanup — to cut the waste that’s ending up in the Pacific Ocean.

This is not breaking news for me, I have been following this story for some time now. It just gets more and more disturbing every time I read another article. So please click the link in the story and take some action right now! For a really informative low down on the pollution of the planets five gyres click here.

Volunteers gather for the briefing and split into teams.

State Parks Chet Bardo helps dig a post hole

Around twenty volunteers from Montara Dog Walkers, the Coastside Horse Council, Montara Mountain Chain and Sprocket Society and The Montara Beach Coalition joined State Park Rangers to work on various trail maintenance projects this Saturday morning for the first of the rejuvenated ‘Montara Mountain Trail Volunteer Day” meets. After rallying the wife to get up at 7.30 a.m. we walked across the open space to the meeting point by the Martini Creek Bridge. An enthusiastic crowd was gathering ready to get to work. [Read more →]

One of Montara Mountains many trails. Photo ©KStokes 09

I’m passing on a message from Gary of the Montara Mountain Trail Volunteers, please help if you can.

“In the face of budget cuts and their resulting threats to parkland, several people are floating the idea of resurrecting Trail Day (TD). You’ll recall this local effort to put in a few hours, one Saturday morning each month, to help repair the trails, clean up brush and do whatever needs to be done to help maintain McNee Ranch. TD was a terrific community effort and great fun.”

“If you use this incredible resource to hike, bike, walk dogs, ride horses why not give a few hours of easy labor each month to help maintain it?  Even if you don’t use McNee often but value its capacity to preserve nature and give wildlife a place to thrive, please join us. In a real sense, McNee is our commons—we all benefit from it.  How about giving back just a little and getting a lot in return.”

Since then, representatives of the Montara Dog Walkers, the Coastside Horse Council, and the Montara Mountain Chain and Sprocket Society, along with park officials, have met and put together a plan. The consensus is to meet on the first Saturday of each month to join in a community effort to maintain the trails, facilities and other resources at McNee.  With the state’s crushing budget shorfalls, few funds remain to keep the parks from ruin.  We need to step in here if we hope to enjoy continued use of McNee, a valuable community resource for all to enjoy.

Details for the first Trail Day

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Place: McNee Ranch by the pump house (next to the trail bridge over Martini Creek behind the horse ranch)
What to bring: A thermos of coffee and work gloves
What will be supplied:  Coordinators, tools
What we’ll work on: 1) Trail prep for the rains 2)  Signs – installation and restoration
Transportation: The gate to Hwy 1 will be unlocked, you can drive in and park or better yet, hike or ride a bike

Questions: Contact Gary at poteenspa@gmail.com

We also will have a brief discussion about meeting times and coffee/lunch options for future TD sessions.

Please help if you can, Montara Mountain needs you!

Albatross chick dead from plastic consumption-Midway Atoll ©Chris Jordan

Midway
Message from the Gyre

“These photographs of albatross chicks were made just a few weeks ago on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.”

~cj, October 2009

(Reproduced from www.chrisjordan.com)

This guys work is incredible, please click here to check out his web site.

Litterbugs are strange creatures, they come from all cultures, can be male or female, young or old. They are for the most part just like me and you, they also look just like me and you. If you walked past a litterbug in the street you would not be able to tell them apart from any other person on that street, they look pretty normal. They like to eat food, drink soda and smoke cigarettes. They go to work, like walks in the park, bike rides and sunny days on the beach. Litterbugs share many things with regular everyday people, that is until they are required to perform one very specific function. This seemingly simple task exposes the litterbug for what they really are. What is it you ask? What is this task? Why are you singling out the litterbug for attack?Listen, litterbugs are very different from me and you, let me explain how and why. Let’s start by classifying the different types of litterbug. I’m going to concentrate today on a particularly nasty and prevalent type, Idontcare leavemyshitanywhereus more universally known as the beach litterbug most commonly found on hot sunny days around the coast, very rarely seen in the winter months. These creatures normally migrate great distances to visit the beach with their offspring in the Summer season. [Read more →]