Since 2010, the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort has been fighting the California Coastal Commission in court over their decision to decline this mega-resort a permit to build. 

The stated mission of the Coastal Commission is to:

"Protect, conserve, restore, and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the California coast and ocean for environmentally sustainable and prudent use by current and future generations."

This issue is before the Commission once again and the public has an opportunity to support the California Coastal Commission in upholding the spirit of the Coastal Act and living up to their stated mission.

Bodega Head, Bodega Bay, CA

Please join me in writing an email urging the California Coastal Commission to vote to DECLINE the Coastal Development Permit for the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort. You are welcome to use my letter as a template. I contacted the Commission and was told all communication regarding this issue should be sent via email to: montereybayshoresresort@coastal.ca.gov

(I previously posted an email address with 'shore', it should be as now posted above. I apologize for posting the incorrect address.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to write!


April 8, 2014

Mr. Steve Kinsey Supervisor & Chair & Commissioners
California Coastal Commission
Central Coast District Office
725 Front Street, Suite 300
Santa Cruz, CA 95060-4508

EMAIL: montereybayshoreresort@coastal.ca.gov

RE: DECLINE Coastal Development Permit to the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort

Dear Chairman Kinsey and Commissioners:

I'm writing as a concerned citizen, a coastal dweller and a beach advocate. I walk the beach everyday and pick up trash left behind. The worst months are the summer/fall tourist season when beaches are littered with plastic bottles, plastic bags and cheap plastic beach toys. Building a resort along any coastal shoreline is an Eco-disaster waiting to happen. Our oceans are overburdened and suffocating with garbage washed out to sea. Adding more is unthinkable.

This project will add to the burden of park services to clean up the trash on the beaches. From my years of experience, much of the beach trash will end up in the ocean and in the stomachs of birds and ocean dwellers and the humans who eat fish. It will harm and even destroy sensitive nesting habitat of the endangered snowy plover. Construction of this mass resort will erode sensitive dunes and disrupt life of nesting birds and other marine wildlife

At a time in history when our oceans are barely surviving because of the impact of humans, the Monterey Bay Shores Resort project is irresponsible . . . there is nothing at all ecological about this project. Building any resort along our coastline is irresponsible. This is "green-washing" at it's worst.

I fully supported your 2010 decision to deny the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort a permit to build. I continue to support your original ruling and urge you to decline the Monterey Bay Shores Resort a Coastal Development Permit for this project.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.

With appreciation,


Darris B. Nelson

cc: Jana Zimmer, Vice-Chair ~ zimmerccc@gmail.com
      Carole Groom, Supervisor ~ cgroom@smcgov.org
      Gregory Cox, Supervisor ~ Gregcoastal@sdcounty.ca.gov
      Martha McClure, Supervisor ~ mmcclureccc@co.del-norte.ca.us

Beach trash (including cooler) found on where the Estero Americano meets the Pacific Ocean

Marine Mammal Center release June 2012 at Scotty's Beach

Great Blue Heron

Thank you to Surfrider for bringing this issue to our attention. For more information and to join in their email campaign go to the site: http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9620
    

Marine Mammal Center Releases 4 Harbor Seal Pups . . .

On Friday, August 12, 2011, I received an early morning call from Marine Mammal Center volunteer Phil Warren inviting me to witness the release of four harbor seal pups. I wasn't able to attend the release but Phil generously sent the following narrative of the day's event. 

All of the photographs were taken by Tami Pearson, a Marine Mammal Center volunteer.

The 4 harbor seal pups released were:

Antonio (m), admitted 4/30/11, rescued at the mouth of Estero San Antonio near Dillon Beach

Yorkshina Pudding (f), admitted 5/1/11, rescued at Pudding Creek Beach in Mendocino County

Sulis (f), admitted 6/7/11, rescued at Carmel River State Beach in Monterey County   and

Zoeroo (m), admitted 6/20/11, rescued in Point Lobos State Reserve in Monterey County

All the pups had been separated from their mom and were anywhere from a few days old to a few weeks old when rescued. Moms abandon pups for a variety of reasons. Sometimes first time moms give birth away from a rookery and don’t quite know what to do with the pup. In other cases, pups may be parked on the beach while mom feeds and people and/or dogs may deter mom from picking up the pup.  Antonio and Yorkshina Pudding spent longer than usual at The Marine Mammal Center because they didn’t seem to get the hang of eating fish as quickly as others. Prior to release, each pup has to pass ‘fish school’, demonstrating that it has the ability to catch and eat live fish.

Harbor seals gather in rookery areas, like the rookery at the end of the Russian River. When not in the rookery area, they tend to be more solitary. When pups are released, some of them seem to hang out with each other for a while and others just swim away without looking back. I don’t think the release bonding lasts very long and evidence from satellite tagged pups indicate that they quickly go their separate ways.

The colored plastic “caps” are for visual identification only.  They also have numbered orange tags on their rear flippers. Occasionally we put satellite transmitters on the pups, but they cost several thousand dollars and are not recoverable.  The “caps” and satellite transmitters fall off when the seals molt, the flipper tags are permanent. 

When the general public encounters a marine mammal, the proper course of action is to observe from afar. If it appears that the animal is sick or injured, gather as much information as possible about the animal and its location and call the Marine Mammal Center (415-289-SEAL). We have trained volunteers all along 600 miles of California coastline prepared to respond to evaluate and, if necessary, rescue the animal. AND…bring your family and friends to visit the Center in the Marin Headlands (Sausalito), open 7 days a week, 10AM-5PM. 

A tremendous heartfelt thank you to Phil and Jean Warren for their devoted rescue efforts of our sick and injured Sonoma Coast marine mammals, and for keeping me up to date about the critters and the goings-on over at The Marine Mammal Center.

A huge thank you to Tami Peterson for giving me permission to post her poignant photographs. They tell a beautiful story beyond what words can express.

And to all of the volunteers at The Marine Mammal Center ~ thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do!

Click here for more information about The Marine Mammal Center

This post is dedicated to the memory of King Neptune.

RIP big guy . . .

Let's Talk About Unmentionables . . .

'Sunny', office help . . .

 
Cat litter.  

If you have a cat and it's indoors for any period of time it's likely you're purchasing cat litter. Cat litter has always been a bugaboo for me because of the negative impact it creates in our environment.

'Gray Guy'. . . RIP my little buddy . . .

I hear you ask, "what does this have to do with the beach?" And I reply, "a lot".  Cat litter is flushed down toilets, and tossed into garbage cans. The end result is that a large portion of litter eventually makes it's way into our sewer systems and storm drains which lead to the ocean. 

Online magazine, Green Living says that we send about two million tons of cat litter every year to the landfill. Not only is silica-based and clay cat litter bad for our environment, according Green Living these cat litters are dangerous to you and your cat.  CLICK HERE to read more.

'Grimmie'

Yahoo! Green writes, scientists from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine found that 62% of dead sea otters found between 1997 and 2001 were infected with Toxoplasma. The suspected source was land-based runoff of the parasite. Landscape irrigation washes infected cat droppings from lawns into gutters, which drain into streams that feed into the ocean. Municipal sewage systems can't always kill the Toxoplasma eggs because they have a very hard, durable coating. So when the treated sewage is released into the sea it can hurt sea life as well. Let's not add to marine pollution with our kitty litter. A cleaner solution for those of us in coastal states is to keep the poop in the garbage.

I love solutions. My veterinarian told me about a product I really appreciate because of the low environmental impact, Yesterday's News made by Purina. The following is a post from Purina's website:

Environmentally-Friendly Cat Litters

Purina Recycles Newspapers into Yesterday’s News

One very “green” thing we can do for the environment is to take trash and turn it into a useful product. Used newspapers and phone directories are big and bulky and take up a lot of space in landfills. Yesterday’s News diverts tons of this “trash” from landfills and turns it into a healthy cat litter product.

“Every ton of paper we use to make our cat litter saves 3.3 cubic yards of space in the landfill,” says Elizabeth Aull, Recycling Coordinator for Yesterday’s News. “In 2008, over 14,000 tons of paper was recycled into Yesterday’s News, thus freeing up about 46,000 cubic yards of landfill space.”

Yesterday’s News® brand Pet Litter has benefits beyond the environment. It’s also 300% more absorbent than clay litter, is dust-free and doesn’t track. So cats and cat owners like it. Veterinarians like it too. Eight out of 10 veterinarians recommend Yesterday’s News for cats who’ve had surgery because the dust-free pellets don’t contaminate the surgical site.

Yesterday’s News also works with the local community in southwest Missouri where the recycling takes place. The Project PetLitter is a program for the Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland, Inc, the council nearest the Springfield, Missouri plant. Girl Scout troops compete to collect the most used phone books each year from area businesses. In each of the past two years, the local Girl Scouts have collected 66,000 phone books. They earn service badges from Purina and AT&T, as well as other rewards.

Of course, the Girl Scouts don’t do all the collecting! Purina provides recycling bins throughout the region to collect a variety of paper, from junk mail to pasteboard, from people in the community. This paper is also recycled into Yesterday’s News and secondnature® brand dog litter.

“We also provide free shredding,” Aull says proudly. “Shredding services can be costly, but we provide it free to our community.” Click here to read the entire post.

And, hello? who knew about dog litter?!  Click here for interactive site about 'Second Nature' dog litter and house training techniques.

The office 'help' is assisting with the computer . . .

I'm not a big fan of Purina or any commercial pet food corporation for that matter, but when a corporation is producing a responsible product, they deserve recognition. 

We recently switched from a corn based litter to 'Yesterday's News' because of mention on My Plastic Free Life blog, and a recommendation from our vet at Animal Hospital of Sebastopol. We eased the cats into the new litter by adding a quarter each time over several days. The transition was fairly uneventful.

I LOVE this truly 'green' product! Let me count the ways:

1.  It comes in a paper bag! All litters I've previously purchased     except the plain clay litters, come in either a plastic jug or heavy plastic bag which end up in our landfill and our OCEANS!

2. Yesterday's News is100% recycled! Need I say more about this?

3. It's 100% biodegradable! I suppose if you consider the inks used on the original paper the percentage would drop. But hey, the paper was going into the landfill anyway!

4.  Yesterday's News really works, I don't notice any offensive odor which is remarkable to me.

5.  It's neat, do dust, little to no tracking.

6.  I LOVE the clever name.

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Sad news . . .  

Phil, the seal guy, sent an email informing us that 'Sweet Rock' died suddenly on Monday morning, April 11th. The necropsy revealed nothing unusual, leading the staff to conclude that her system just wasn't able to recover from her malnourished state. 

We are grateful for everything the Marine Mammal Center did to try and rehabilitate 'Sweet Rock'.

'Sweet Rock' Update & Windy Spring . . .

Spring means wind at the coast. I was lulled into blissful sunshine and summer-like weather throughout much of the winter and nearly forgot about the windy Spring. 

My husband reminds me of the fresh ocean air that moves through with the wind. Nice thought honey . . . On my beach walks my hair whips in my face and sand pelts my camera. Even my cats dislike the wind and sulk around as if there were something I could do to make their life better. They howl and complain much like the coastal winds.

I'm much more tolerant of the wind since I've lived on the coast. Actually, I'm more resilient in many ways since moving here. We were very protected from wind at our wooded Freestone property. Cloistered in the surrounding trees and hills, we had no idea what went on out here in the Spring. Spring in Freestone was gentle and quiet, Spring on the coast is gusty and outspoken . . . not unlike me I suppose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I received an email (below) from the seal guy, Phil and his wife, Jean updating me on 'Sweet Rock'.

Darris;

Thanks for your continuing support of The Marine Mammal Center. I've attached a copy of our most recent Annual Report to give you an overview of our most recent activities.

Jean & I have made two trips to the Center already this week (Elephant seal weaner from Dillon Beach and a harbor seal pup from Lawson's Landing). While we were there we looked in on 'Sweet Rock'. She seems to be fattening up nicely (boy, that's a statement that would never seem flattering about a human), and is spending her days sprawled out in her pen enjoying the sun.

Phil & Jean Warren

Many thanks to Phil and Jean Warren for their tireless efforts on behalf of the seals on our Sonoma and Marin Coasts. I wish they rescued pigs as well . . .

Livin' at the Beach . . .

tee shirt day . . .

Update on the stranded elephant seal pup . . . 'Sweet Rock'

'Sweet Rock'

Phil, the seal guy, generously sent me an email to let me know that the baby elephant seal we saw resting on the beach last week hauled out again and was taken to the Marine Mammal Center by another volunteer that lives in Bodega Bay, on March 26th. Phil and Jean were out of town when 'Sweet Rock' was spotted on Doran Beach appearing malnourished. 

Go to the Marine Mammal Center web site and click on 'Current Patients' to follow the progress of 'Sweet Rock' and other patients undergoing rehabilitation.


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beach trash

more beach trash . . . so much Styrofoam . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another movie about plastic is coming out in April, 

'Bag It'.

I'm excited to see creative, passionate film makers tackling this subject and getting the message across that we have a serious issue with plastic waste.

A pioneer blogger on the subject of plastic trash is Beth Terry.  On her blog, 'My Plastic Free Life', Beth wrote about the film 'Bag It' .

"What I LOVE about this film, as compared to films like Addicted to Plastic, which I reviewed in 2009, is its emphasis on consumer empowerment and cutting consumption. The film sums itself up with the following take-aways:
1) Reduce single-use
2) Don’t drink bottled water
3) Choose less packaging
4) Buy it used
5) Bring your own
6) Buy less stuff
7) Reduce, Reuse, then Recycle
8) Clean it up
9) Avoid #3, #6, #7PC
10) Simplify your life"


If you want to know when the film is playing in your area go to the Do Something Reel website and enter your zip code to see a list of theaters and show times in your area. 

I plan to take my son when the movie is playing in town. More than likely it will be a surprise . . .

Water is Life . . .

SURFRIDER FOUNDATION  delivers this information about World Water Day ~ March 22nd on their website:

March 22nd is World Water Day. Founded in 1993 by the United Nations, this global observance highlights the need for the care and management of the world’s water resources. This year’s theme, “Urban Water Usage” highlights the ongoing challenges we face as urban populations continue to grow. 

With an estimated one out of two people on the planet now living in cities, the pressure to meet our freshwater needs is at a breaking point. From supply, to sanitation, to usage, our infrastructure and resource management practices have pushed many areas past peak water capability. Not only does this affect public health and welfare, the effects from urban runoff, sewage spills and ocean intakes cause significant damage to our marine environments. 

Consider…

Every eight months, 10.9 million gallons of oil runs off streets and driveways and into our nations waters – equivalent to the amount lost in the Exxon Valdez spill.

Each year, approximately 18,000 beaches are closed or posted as unhealthy due to bacterial contamination and/or sewage spills.

Every day, 37 ocean outfalls in California discharge over 1.5 billion gallons of sewage containing about 120 million tons of mass solids.

The good news is that each and every one of us can reduce our water footprint by making small changes in our day-to-day routines. These actions will not only help keep our oceans, waves and beaches clean, they could potentially help you save hundreds of dollars each year!

Beach Mama note:

I'd love to see your lawn-free landscapes using native, water conservative plants. Share them with me and I'll share them on this blog!

After the Storm . . .

 3 month old (approx.) elephant seal

Phil Warren (aka, 'the seal guy') was on the beach today placing stakes in the sand cautioning beach goers to give a wide berth to the stranded elephant seal pup. He said this guy looked to be in good condition so far but he'd keep an eye on him. 

Elephant seal pups weigh about 60 to 80 pounds when they're born. They nurse for 24 to 28 days quadrupling their birth weight. The pups, called 'weaners' are weaned when their mothers abruptly head back out to sea. For about 8 to 10 weeks the 'weaners' stay behind at the rookery teaching themselves to swim. During this time of 'fasting' they will loose about a third of their body weight. It's their hunger that drives them to set out to sea and hunt for food.

Phil and his wife, Jean, are key volunteers for the Marine Mammal Center. The couple moved to Bodega Bay after retiring from Silicon Valley five years ago. After meeting a Marine Mammal Center docent on a boat trip, Phil and Jean took a drive down to Sausalito to check out the MMC facility. They both wanted to volunteer but driving down to Marin every week didn't work well with 'retirement' life. Becoming 'stranded seal' volunteers seemed to be a good fit. It's certainly a perfect fit for all of the seals they've assisted these past five years. 

During 2009 there was a surge of seal births from the estimated 20,000, to 60,000 seals born that year. There was not enough food to sustain them all and many starved to death. My husband and I made several calls about dead, starving, emaciated seals that year, mostly along Salmon Creek South. Phil said there were days when he and Jean were bringing in stranded seals several times in one day. Doesn't sound like retirement to me . . . 

taking a breather . . .

The warm calmness of the beach was a nice break from the gale force winds and stormy seas last night. We were surprised how many people ventured out to the coast given the gloomy weather reports.

My husband met Susannah and Ben while picking up trash. We're often thanked by beach goers who appreciate our efforts at keeping the beach clean. My husband (he's a sweetie!) offered a bag  and gloves to Susannah and Ben which they eagerly accepted and headed down the beach to collect trash. My guess is we'll be seeing more of them out at the beach with bag in hand . . .

nice haul!

Susannah was concerned about all of the glass on the beach

many thanks you two, it was very fun (and inspiring) meeting you!

our morning haul

lots of water bottles and Styrofoam

tangled piles washed up along the beach

my hero . . .

the white plastic piece is about 2' by 3' and is trash I found on the beach ~
 my genius husband rigged up a 'leash' for me to pull this puppy along  . . .

afternoon haul . . .

a closer look . . . lots of bottle tops

several plastic tips from cigars . . . lots of empty shotgun cartridges too

I've read that most of the beach trash comes from storm drains that eventually empty into streams then oceans . . .  and then as we all know, end up in the stomachs of wild life . . . 

migrating white pelican ~ Thomas Reynolds, photographer

dead pelican ~ Doran Beach, Sonoma Coast

baby albatross, Midway Atoll Island ~ Chris Jordan, photographer

baby albatross, Midway Island ~ Chris Jordan, photographer

 

Please watch this video . . . Captain Charles Moore tells us that we're in a crisis . . . we must act NOW . . .