If Saturday's Blogger Beach Cleanup wasn't enough, Sunday the girls from Peace Troop came out to the beach to do another cleanup. 
Thank you to everyone who came to the Blogger Beach Cleanup. I will have a longer post with pictures and details up by tomorrow. This weekend was non-stop and has spilled over to Monday. Sorry if you have checked my blog and not found more info. on our cleanup, but please come back Tuesday for lots of pictures, etc.! We collected about 39 pounds of trash, good work!
life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
There was a delay in the decision of the Blue Ribbon Task Force to recommend a map for the Marine Protected Area's. Yesterday was supposed to be the day, but they "blinked" as Mark Gold says, director of Heal The Bay in Santa Monica. Read what he had to say about this on his blog, Spouting Off
Sylvia Earle also weighed in on the MPA decision by writing an Op-Ed piece for the LA times. Read it here.
The beach was covered in a soft, thick fog last night when I went down there at sunset. I was enjoying the change in atmosphere from the usual Southern California sky. Don't get me wrong, watching the sun set over the pacific is one of the highlights of my life, but the ocean/beaches shifting faces all have a beauty of their own. 
Goosewing Beach (Little Compton) October 5: 1 lbs. 4 oz. collected
I have a little trouble getting to Goosewing Beach, which is a preserve adjacent to South Shore Beach, separated by a stream that’s not passable at high tide. From the map it looks like there’s a road in to the beach but that turns out to be private property. An electronic gate confirms that.
So, I drive on to Padanarum Village and return to Goosewing Beach at low tide when it’s easy to walk across to the beach.
Goosewing Beach is extremely clean – I see the plus side of limited access to a beach. Few gulls, and very little trash. I find a few things – plastic pieces, fishing line, half a fishing rod. I enjoy walking for a few minutes, actually straining to find trash. The sun feels great and the water is beautiful – just rocks and seaweed on the wet sand. In the end I’ve got only 1 lbs. 4 oz. gathered from my 20 minute walk.
On Monday I head out to Little Compton – out from Newport, through Middletown and Portsmouth, over the bridge, through Tiverton and on to Little Compton. South Shore Beach is the Town Beach for Little Compton, houses and and fishing cottages clustered near the beach. It’s high tide and the waves break hard on this soft sandy beach. The sky is clear and you can see Westport, Massachusetts in the distance.
The gulls are loud as I pick up trash. These beaches are very quiet in off season but today some families are there, children run in the sun and couples drive by to take a walk on the beach. Beach lovers enjoying Monday morning in October. Life is pretty good when you can start the week with a walk on the beach.
I’m finding the usual plastic, a plastic sandal, a plastic (empty) bottle of Johnny Walker Red. In the end I’ve collected 3 lbs. No garbage cans here – but the port-a-potty does have hand sanitizer (thank you , Little Compton). I throw my bag of trash in the back of my car and drive away.
Devany speaking with Team Marine in front of the Blue Ribbon Task Force 
We filled half the room with blue shirts to show support for Map 3 of the Marine Protected Area proposals. 
All in all, it was a great evening. I was proud of everyone for being bigger than the taunting and angry words thrown our way. I did keep reminding them that these men were scared because their financial security was being threatened and therefor they were not able to see our point of view, and were most likely acting in ways they normally might not. Although after seeing their behavior first hand, and witnessing one 40+ year old man repeatedly call a 17 yr. old young man stupid, out loud several times, the state may want to rethink his license to drive a boat.
Do you have ideas? I would love to hear them. Big problems like this means we need to think of big solutions that we can implement one tiny step at a time.
life guard tower 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
Happy Halloween. Sometimes I find some strange stuff on the beach.
If you are coming to the Blogger Beach Cleanup this sat. a few things you need to know.
It rained last week in Los Angeles. I heard about it when I got home last weekend from Mexico. There is something called first flush here which refers to the contents of the storm drains getting flushed out with the first rain of the rainy season. 
The hearing to decide which map to adopt in southern California that will determine the Marine Protected Areas is tomorrow in Long Beach California. Heal the Bay has two buses leaving from Santa Monica at 11:45 and 4:45. I'll be on the bus with the SAMOHI students that leaves from their High School at 5:00. Come along and show your public support to make sure a good decision is reached. HTB is advocating for Map 3.
Sandy Point Beach (Portsmouth) October 3: 11 lbs. 14 ozs. collected (Rusty Pipe: approximately 7 lbs.)
Dave Prescott of SurfRider Rhode Island suggested that I put Sandy Point Beach on my list, and as I drove down the long winding road to this beach on the Sakonnet River I thought I would have never known about this beach except for Dave. It had been raining all day and the sky started to clear just as I pulled up at the beach.
A solitary gull looked at me carefully and then moved along. I walked on the rocky beach, looking for trash and taking awhile to find some. A very clean beach, I thought, but finally I found some glass, some plastic, a few other items – and a rusty pipe.
A man walking his dog thanked me for cleaning the beach. I have to admit the thank yous are unexpected but feel great. I comment this beach is very clean, and the man says they try to keep it that way.
It starts to rain and I quickly weigh my trash – 4 lbs. 14 oz. and estimate the pipe is about 7 lbs. My scale only goes to 5 lbs.
Second Beach (Middletown) October 4: 3 lbs. 9 oz. collected
I drive to Second Beach early Sunday morning – around 7:30am. I love this beach in early morning; it’s magic. This is a surfer’s beach and at 7:30am it’s already filled with surfers in the water, in the parking lot getting into wet suits, waxing their boards. Motion, activity, all intent on getting in the water.
I’m a stranger; this is a set crowd. I get a few glances but no smiles and no thank yous. That’s alright, I think. I focus on trash. This beach is about the water, not the sand. There is little trash here. Mostly cigarette butts – lots of cigarette butts. A few small plastic toys, plastic bags and cans. I weigh my trash and it’s 3 lbs. 9 oz.
I’ve walked on half the beach – Second Beach is divided by a rock formation and I walk to see the other side. Couples walking dogs, lots of dogs on this beach. I recall this area has a waste water problem. Lots of dogs.
As I drive away the parking lot is full. It’s 8am on Sunday morning. Trucks, vans, surfboards in the back, surfers hopping out. Others come later, but in the morning it’s surfers in charge of Second Beach.
Newport County Beaches – Beach Cleanup Project - October 2-6, 2009
Vacation Beach Clean Up – The Start of an Idea
It’s fun when an idea takes root and grows. For this idea, I read Siel’s (LA Green Girl) blog about Sara and The Daily Ocean, and got in touch with Sara. After she invited me to join her in Santa Monica for beach clean up – and I had to say I was actually in Washington, DC – I realized I could do a beach cleanup project while on vacation in Newport, Rhode Island. So, the idea grew. I looked up some beaches, ran them by SurfRider Rhode Island, and got started as soon as my vacation began. Sara was encouraging and helpful with advice, and shared my plans on her blog. I was ready to start.
Newport County Beaches
Atlantic Beach (Middletown)/Easton’s Beach (Newport) October 2: 8 lbs. 13 ozs. collected
My first beach for clean up. Atlantic and Easton’s Beaches are side by side in a long crescent. Cliff Walk and Newport mansions rise up on one side and smaller houses dot the hill on the other. It’s sunny, and there are lots of birds and clamshells and small crabs everywhere I look. It’s low tide. No trash at first, but then I see some plastic which I pick up. I relax, and then laugh at myself. How bad is it to be glad to see trash at a beach?
Gooseberry Beach (Newport) October 2: 4 lbs.collected
I walk and pick up pieces of glass, golf balls – and more and more plastic. Twenty minutes go by and I’m not even to Atlantic Beach yet. So, I pick up trash for 40 minutes while the gulls look on as they poke at the shells. They’re having lunch. Their cries sound human.
I weigh my trash. It’s the first time using the scale and after a few tries I get 8 pounds, 13 ounces. That’s more than Sara usually gets, I think. I have to make sure to say I collected trash for 40 minutes, not 20.
Gooseberry Beach (Newport) October 2: 4 lbs.collected
I added Gooseberry Beach to my list as an afterthought. Gooseberry Beach is on Ocean Drive near the mansions on Bellevue Avenue. As I park I meet a surfer who’s just leaving the beach. He tells me in off season I can ignore the towing signs, and thanks me when I tell him about the beach cleanup project.
Gooseberry Beach is a tiny jewel of a beach. In just 10 minutes I’ve been up and down the entire beach and collected 4 lbs. of trash – a child’s dress, bottles and more pieces of plastic. It’s a beautiful view looking out. The water, rocks and some stunning houses in the distance. I’m glad I can share this view amongst some of the priciest real estate around.
I am on a yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico which is on the "Mayan Riviera."
I will be away from 10/9 - 10/17 check back here this week for entries of Beverly's Beach Cleanup Vacation to Rhode Island. I am so excited to share her experience here with you. Her efforts are very much appreciated!
lifeguard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
Beverly, a reader of Siel's blog and mine, went on vacation to Rhode Island recently. She was inspired by The Daily Ocean to clean some beaches while she was away since she lives in Washington D.C. and doesn't usually have access to some.
Sylvia Earle - Oceanographer, Marine Scientist/Biologist, Environmental and Ocean Conservationist/Activist, Deep Sea Explorer, Author, Lecturer who began her work in the 50's was awarded the TED prize this year. Please scroll down in my blog to the next post and watch her talk. 
life guard tower 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
Here are a bunch of Snowy Plover's and a Sea Gull. Snowy Plovers come around and we know winter is coming. They are so cute. If you like them, check out this site and click here. It has beautiful pictures of Snowy Plovers and their hatchlings.
I think this picture looks staged. But really I found these two toys just like this, in this proximity to each other. In fact, I try to take pictures of all the trash I find without disturbing it, and before I pick it up. There is one recent exception to this. Scroll down to see and you'll understand why I made the exception. 
Is this a balloon, or a deflated organ? Sorry for the graphic interpretation. Maybe it's the end of the balloon that makes me think of arteries.
Ahhh, the exception mentioned above. Would it not suck to step on this beauty? Jeez, the beach is synonymous with barefoot, maybe not anymore.
Tonight was my 65th day out there and I am really excited to break the 300 barrier. Less than 300 days seems do-able. Could be kidding myself, clearly. At this point it doesn't matter, I wouldn't be able to give up on this project if I had double the amount of days left. 
My friend Judy sent me a link to this blog. The author set it up as a teaching tool for kids on such heavy topics as the Midway Atoll and Albatross Birds that are dying there by the thousands. They die from eating plastics, plastic tops just like this. Check out his blog, SOAR.
If this balloon had gotten into the water it would have been anything but a happy event. Marine animals mistake balloons as food that they then eat causing terminal blockages in their digestive system. This is a major cause of death in animals like sea turtles. There is a wonderful book that I may have mentioned called Voyage of the Turtle by Dr. Carl Safina. Click here for more details.
Wayne Sentman of the Naturefinder Blog has a very good entry on Albatross and living near the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch on the Midway Atoll near Hawaii. Please read it by clicking here.
click on the box to find out more! designed by Net2LA
You've got to see what the Green Bag Lady is doing! She made me these bags especially for collecting trash on the beach, but she has made over 6500 of them and mailed them to people around the world for free if they promise to use them instead of paper or plastic. Check it out! Teresa's generosity is astounding, thank you and keep it up!
I was completely blown away when I received her package stuffed full with these two custom made bags for me, one for my neighbor who has been giving me plastic bags to use (which has been a great way to recycle them for her, thank you Diana), and many for gifts for THE BLOGGER BEACH CLEANUP OCT. 24TH. If you come, you may get one of her bags!
Rorschach or balloon? Or balloon as Rorschach test, you know the ink blot flash cards where you
Motor oil bottle, fabulous. 
At the rate I am going I collect once every three days. This is a little too slow in my opinion. What has brought my average down is a week like last when I was just too sick to come to the beach, or when we went on our honeymoon. These events are understandable, and why I set the rule for myself that I will collect on 365 non-consecutive days, but I feel the need to try and step it up a bit. What a slacker I am, huh? I know, perspective is a tricky thing. Think a happy medium of stepping up and letting myself have a little slack is where I need to be. This elusive middle ground - balance. 
It was so wonderful to be back on the beach tonight. 
