Team Marine Comes to the Art Studio Gallery

Meet 2011 - 2012 Team Marine - a super-star eco-action group at Santa Monica High School. These guys put in serious hours for the environment. They focus many of their man hours on all things marine, especially single-use plastics in the aquatic environment, our dependence on fossil fuels, and how this all ties together requiring action. Now. 

They showed up on time and ready to chat about the prints hanging in the gallery, and The Daily Ocean in general. 

This was a particular favorite, and is one of mine too. I loved spending some time with them on Wed.. Time with Team Marine instills hope in me that the coming generations may very well be up to their eyeballs in environmental consequences, but their watch is going to put it straight.

On a side note - I am kicking myself that I was afraid of a little thunder and so stayed away from the beach tonight because the sunset was insane with hardly a drop! Let's not tell my east coast relatives a shudder of a thunderstorm kept me inside, shall we?

This weekend I am getting SCUBA certified at Eco-Divers in Culver city. All day Sat. and Sunday again for two weekends in a row. Who left their online course work for the day before? Yeah, that would be me. Off to study.

Day 221 - Sept. 26, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

3 pounds collected

827.8 pounds total

Last night I found just the tip of a condom. It had been washed up to the high-tide line. I thought, I'd better try to keep my mouth closed when I go in the water tomorrow morning. Happy to report that no condoms were swallowed during our body surfing session this a.m.. That's the thing with all the crap I found out here. I either have been that day, or will be in the water with it in the not to distant future.

Can't stress the importance of watching this film enough 

THE END OF THE LINE 

- about global overfishing. 

Interested in the latest in plastic bag legislation? Curious about how folks are working together to 

BAN THE BAG?

 - here's a great website to get you up to date information on the movement

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER - A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BODY SURFING

BY KEITH MALLOY

"It's not so much about riding the perfect wave, but about being in the ocean and enjoying it."

Day 220 - Sept. 24, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

3 pounds

824.8 pounds total

Care to petition the White House to ban the sale and trade of Shark Fins? 

PLEASE SIGN

A sacred music festival centering around the ocean is coming to the LA area. I personally want to go see the Hawaiian Hula Dancers at the Autry. Here's the link for more info. 

This week flew by. I waited for the clouds to lift around sunset, and they didn't. Fall is here. Some days I'm excited to go out to the beach for a 20 min. cleanup. Some days it really feels like a chore. That's the nature of a commitment I guess. Even a commitment that you believe in, and want to do. 

I'm slightly obsessed with body surfing these days. I don't think I'll ever have the guts or chops that this guy has, but I urge you to watch the short film below. One man's connection to the ocean that is really beautiful and inspired. 

Day 219 - Sept. 18, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park Santa Monica, CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

1 pound

821.8 pounds total 

Susan, her son Simon and me

Community Count Day - 168

trash collected for 20 minutes

4.45 pounds (including one garden shovel with wooden handle and metal trough!)

842.55 pounds total

DAILY OCEAN COMBINED TOTAL - 1,664.35 pounds in - 387 cleanups

Susan and her family joined me for a beach cleanup Sunday night. I really like it when people are interested in coming out to the beach with me. It was their family's second beach cleanup of the weekend since COASTAL CLEANUP DAY was the day before. Here's an impressive stat. -

11,000 PEOPLE COVERED 86 MILES AND REMOVED 22 TONS OF TRASH SAT. SEPT. 17

The next morning after I took this shot, I was out in the water behind this very beach and found more balloons. I swam past the sets to the two green deflated balloons, grabbed them, swam back, popped them, and tucked them into my rash guard for later disposal. Balloons are not a party for the ocean. Animals mistake them for food, eat them, and get sick or die.

A question that Coastal Cleanup participants at Venice Pier asked me more than once as I was weighing in their findings for Surfrider was, "Where do we mark down Styrofoam? (on the CCD data card that Ocean Conservancy wants handed out to volunteers)"

answer - they don't have a place to mark Styrofoam. 

I find this odd. 

We instructed that they mark Styrofoam under plastics, but really O.C.? 

Let's acknowledge one of the most pervasive and polluting kinds of trash out their in the marine eco-system. 

Styrofoam - if balloons look like jelly fish, don't you think that broken down bits of Styrofoam double nicely for fish eggs? 

And fish eggs are food for just about everyone out there....birds, other fish...it's a long list. 

Why do we make efforts like Coastal Cleanup Day? See the photo above.

Th Daily Ocean Photography Exhibit at The Art Studio Gallery

me and my friend Siel who writes the amazing green LA girl blog 

Thank you to all of the people who came out to my opening on Sat. It was a lot of fun and we had a great turnout. I know that last weekend was packed so not to worry if you thought you could make it, but got sidetracked. The show will be up until Sept. 30. I will be gallery sitting a couple of times and will  let you know when on FB and Twitter. Also, we hung the show so that if you want to walk on by, you can see most of it from the street. 

The Art Studio Gallery - 1612 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica 90405

Thank you to my husband Garen who tended bar. 

The trash that I collected from 4 - 20 minute cleanups the week leading up to the opening. 

My friend Kirsten James from Heal the Bay came by after a monster-long-day of Coastal Cleanup activities and then went to a Lucinda Williams show! Thanks for stopping by Kirsten! 

Another Heal the Bay champ - Natalie Burdick - showed up too! Thank you Natalie! Heal the Bay hosted Coastal Cleanup Bay in our area & were kind enough to post about the opening on their webpage

A kelp photograph hangs in the window of the gallery that can be seen from the sidewalk. 

I wrote text to go underneath some of the photographs. My friend Mary Michel (who put this show together with her husband Toby - HUGE THANKS!!) suggested that since I combine writing and photography, I do the same for the show. It felt right to see the two elements up together. 

Mary and Toby own and operate the Angeles Printing Studio on Ocean Park Blvd. Mary is a fantastic photographer and artist. Thanks to Mary for printing out all of the photographs for the show. 

This print is at least 2 feet by 3 feet. I love seeing it blown up to this scale. 

One of the most commented prints of the night. All of my photographs are exactly what I saw when I took them. I don't: 

- crop

-alter the color or lighting

- move anything before I take the shot

- what you see is what I saw

Sometimes the best shots are out there, ready and waiting for you to walk up and find them.

If you have any questions about the show or the prints in them: email me - thedailyocean@yahoo.com

Day 218 - Sept. 15, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

1.8 pounds

820.8 pounds total

Globs of natural tar seeping up through the sandy bay bottom are washing up onto the beach in handfuls. I almost didn't see this petroleum based black plastic lid tucked in amongst the tar balls. 

Come out tomorrow and help Heal The Bay pick it all up for COASTAL CLEANUP DAY. 

Then join me in the afternoon for the opening of a 

Daily Ocean Photography Exhibit at the Art Studio Gallery

- 1612 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica

refreshments from 4:30 - 7

bring a friend, grab a drink, talk to folks who care about the ocean just like you

Grrrrr...

Last night I collected less than 2 pounds. It felt more like a walk than a beach cleanup. I enjoyed the welcome change. Here's to picking up less and less and less...

Day 217 - Sept. 14, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

1.9 pounds

819 pounds total

This Sat. is COASTAL CLEANUP DAY - a day when millions of people come out along every coast and up most rivers, collecting millions of tons of trash. Last year was the biggest yet! 

Join HEAL THE BAY SAT. MORNING 

&

JOIN ME FOR A DAILY OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT OPENING IN THE P.M.

The Art Studio Gallery

1612 Ocean Park Blvd. 

Santa Monica, CA

4:30 - 7:00 for refreshments

CHICOBAG settled their David VS. Goliath law suit. 

Turns out it's a huge waste of time for large plastics manufacturers to sue a company with a bully suit. 

Especially one that brings 25,000 signatures to the table telling them to knock it off the very first time they meet! 

Care2 Petition is the modern day slingshot.

ONE BEACH is a film produced by BAREFOOT WINE that will air on FB in Sept. 

They sent out a phenomenal press kit including a vial of sand collected by Judith Lang at Kehoe beach where her and her husband Richard have been collecting plastics that wash up there, and re-purposing them into art. 

It also included a print of one of her collages, a t-shirt to BAN THE BAG, a bracelet the Judith made &  

TAKE 3 STICKER (their motto - what if everyone took 3 pieces of trash off the beach when they left?) 

Featuring people like Surfrider's Jim Moriarty - ONE BEACH is about creativity, optimism and keeping the world's beaches clean. I'm definitely going to be watching! 

My friend Kit makes earrings out of these small clam shells. If you live in Santa Monica, go to 

TEN WOMEN GALLERY and check them out. 

I had a strange feeling we weren't alone when we went into the water this morning. By alone, I mean animals other than ones on surfboards, or wearing short fins to catch the waves. A small patch of dark gray water moved closer to me, looked like it sniffed my fin and then took off without surfacing. I called to a friend that I thought a sea lion had checked me out and then took off. I brushed the feeling off until I saw Peter Walerstein drive up in his truck to rescue a severely emaciated Sea Lion pup that had washed up onto the beach near where we'd been surfing. He is the real deal. 

He runs MARINE ANIMAL RESCUE - A PROJECT OF FRIENDS OF ANIMALS. 

If you see a marine mammal, or bird in trouble he's your guy. 24 hours a day all 365 of them. 

Day 216 - Sept. 11, 2011

I had to start with this photograph because before I even left the parking lot, before I even got out of my car, this plastic bag blew past me. I hopped out, stamped down on it and took a picture. Would this be an omen for my Sunday night collection? Read on to find out.

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

4.6 pounds collected

817.1 pounds total

Santa Monica has adopted some pretty impressive environmental initiatives over the last few years. One of which, banning single-use plastic bags, just came into effect Sept. 1. But we need to put some lids on these cans! Do you think lids would help keep the gulls scavenger beaks from spreading trash across the sand? Leave me a comment if you have an opinion. I'd like to contact the Santa Monica Office for the Environment and Sustainability soon to ask them to replace these old bins for ones with a top. 

Your comments will help. 

I have a photography exhibit opening this Sat. the 17th. I am saving my collections from the week to display along with my photographs. This trash collection now includes 2 diapers. 2! If I was worried about how the gallery was going to smell with some salty cigarette butts, now I'm really concerned...

COASTAL CLEANUP DAY - SAT. SEPT. 17TH - SIGN UP WITH HEAL THE BAY

Full moon fever over Santa Monica last night. 

PLEASE COME TO MY OPENING ON SAT. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR DETAILS.

Day 215 - Sept. 10, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

2.8 pounds

812.5 pounds total

NEXT SAT. THE 17TH, I AM HAVING AN OPENING FOR A DAILY OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT. PLEASE COME FOR REFRESHMENTS AFTER CLEANING THE BEACH EARLIER IN THE DAY. THE 17TH IS ALSO COASTAL CLEANUP DAY. SUPPORT HEAL THE BAY, GO TO A CLEANUP SIGHT AND THEN COME BY LATER ON TO MEET MORE LIKE-MINDED OCEAN LOVERS AND SEE WHAT I'VE FOUND ON THE BEACH...THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE "TRASHY"

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR MORE DETAILS 

AND PLEASE

SPREAD THE WORD!

I came home from our research expedition last May with two issues weighing heavily on my mind: climate change, and over fishing. Here's an article that shows these two issues are the basis for the mass extinction of marine life:

"(Reuters) - Life in the oceans is at imminent risk of the worst spate of extinctions in millions of years due to threats such as climate change and over-fishing..."

Today was about catching up with my online communications. Most of which I enjoyed doing. It felt good to uncover emails that had gotten shoved to the bottom of my inbox, but it also meant reading many articles that I had saved for later. 

And these articles, like the one mentioned above, were about marine eco-systems in trouble. With all of this information, what are we to do? Well...for a small start you can go to PEW Charitable Trusts website, hook into activism right from your computer. You may want to read an article, take an action, alternating so that you leave your desk, or the coffee shop with some small sense of hope. 

PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SECRET LIFE OF HAWAIIAN GREEN SEA TURTLES: STUNNING