Florida Ocean & Coastal Coalition Big Hit with Governor
Citing escalating problems with coastal pollution, red tide outbreaks, plummeting fish catches and overdeveloped beaches, over 160 coastal and ocean businesses, civic, outdoor, and conservation organizations have now signed on to the report, “Florida’s Coastal and Ocean Future: A Blueprint for Economic and Environmental Leadership,” originally published in September 2006 and reprinted this April, for protecting and preserving Florida’s coastal environment and economy. It is the first time such a large number of diverse groups has joined together in the name of comprehensive ocean conservation for Florida. Surfrider chapters in Florida have been a crucial element in this report.
Raising the importance of our ocean and coastal resources from just one day to a whole week, the Governor and his Cabinet recognized the work of the Coalition and passed a resolution declaring the week of April 16-20 Oceans Week... To celebrate the day (and week) the Coalition held a cocktail reception at the FSU law school for legislators and the public which was sponsored by Twin Fin Wines. Speaker Captain Dan Kipnis, an ardent fisheries conservationist, discussed Global Warming and its effect on Florida's ocean and coastal environments. Using a fishing-focused theme Captain Kipnis incorporates unique underwater video, trophy catch photos and advanced scientific modeling to demonstrate the issues Florida must face in the future. Former Charter Boat Captain and Past-President of the Miami Beach Rod & Reel Club, Kipnis serves on the South Florida Climate Change Task Force.
Below the towering gaze of the State Capitol building, Surfrider members from all over Florida dropped into Tallahassee on April 18th to encourage our elected officials to support the Clean Oceans Bill. The overcast morning began with a slightly bumpy surface: marked by the slightly daunting task ahead and butterflies in our bellies as most of us had no previous experience meeting with Senators and Representatives.
As the clouds and hours rolled on, the day glassed off as we learned the nuances of speaking with officials and their staff. Our message was clear: "Dumping sewage in the ocean is morally wrong!" Our voices spoke what our hearts felt as we distributed information and detailed the importance for every Senator and Representative to support the House version of the Clean Ocean Bill. After a long, draining day of snaking through the Capitol halls, at times feeling cynical as to how our government system works; we managed to take home a sense of empowerment as we recognized that we are an integral part of that system. As the state legislature closes for the year on May 4th, we realize that we must continue to speak up if the Clean Oceans Bill is to be made into law.
They are listening! Via phone, email, fax, or office visit there is still time left to contact your representatives and simply state: "Dumping sewage in the ocean is morally wrong – support the Clean Oceans Bill (HB57)". The waters and coasts that shape our lives depend on it.
With the exception of the small amount that’s been burned, every piece of petroleum-based plastic manufactured since the 1950s—billions of disposable drinking cups, toothbrushes and lighters, packages for toys and snacks—still exists. Less than 5 percent of it has been recycled; much more sits in landfills. And an incalculable amount that washes down storm drains or litters beaches ends up in the sea, forever.
During Surfrider Monterey's monthly beach cleanups, volunteers pick up plastic trash along the county’s coastline. In an effort to reduce the amount that ends up on beaches and in the ocean, the nonprofit’s new “Plankton, Not Plastics” campaign encourages a shift toward biodegradable materials through public outreach, education, and government lobbying. To see the recent newsstory featuring chapter chair Ximena Waissbluth, visit http://www.mcweekly.com/issues/Issue.04-26-2007/news/Article.news_4
New Jersey native and SF member Margo Pellegrino leaves in less than two weeks on her Miami 2 Maine Paddle. This 2000 mile journey up the US East Coast will take her close to three months. She is out to raise awareness of the ocean environmental problems facing the planet, to raise money for groups working to solve them, and to inspire the public to take action. Get the full story here.
Visit the website www.miami2maine.com where you can follow her progress, read her blog as she makes this incredible journey, and learn more about the issues facing our oceans. You can also donate to any East Coast Surfrider Foundation Chapter or Surfrider's national office by visiting this site
Keep checking in on her as this exciting journey unfolds this summer.
Sistemas de protección de costas y recuperación de playas - Nuevo paradigma para la Costa Bonaerense
Seminario: Sistemas de protección de costas y recuperación de playas - Nuevo paradigma para la Costa Bonaerense 25 de Abril de 2007 10:00hs Hotel Hermitage Mar del Plata
La preservación, rehabilitación y restauración de los ecosistemas costeros es el propósito y misión de Surfrider y se encuentra como un tema principal en la agenda académica de las universidades, el gobierno nacional, provincial y local, contando con un reclamo ambiental por parte de los habitantes y usuarios de estos recursos naturales y turísticos de las localidades balnearias , quienes hoy ya padecen los efectos de la problemática costera y las consecuencias sobre los futuros desequilibrios regionales.
En el marco de la realización de acciones continuas por parte de Surfrider, el Municipio con la implementación de su Plan Director de Protección de Costas para el Partido de General Pueyrredón y el Centro de Geología de Costas de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, es que se ha convocado al Doctor KERRY BLACK líder de la investigación sobre playas y rompientes en arrecifes y diseñador del primer arrecife artificial del mundo que materializó protección costera con actividades recreativas, para la realización de un SEMINARIO INTENSIVO SOBRE PROTECCIÓN COSTERA. Participarán también funcionarios, científicos y académicos especialistas en la temática costera:
Declarado de Interés Ambiental por la Secretaría de Política Ambiental de la Pcia. de Buenos Aires y cuenta con el apoyo de la Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Pcia. de Buenos Aires
Este seminario apunta a la divulgación del conocimiento científico y sobre las nuevas tecnologías de protección costera utilizadas en el mundo donde se preserva la calidad estética, recreativa y sanitaria del recurso estratégico de las localidades balnearias: el mar, las playas y las ondulaciones del océano que son marca distintiva en un pequeño porcentaje del extenso litoral Argentino y que se encuentran casi en su totalidad en la Provincia de Buenos Aires.
Las ciudades costeras deben planificar y gestionar de manera integrada este recurso que hoy involucra distintas problemáticas ambientales.
Los Arrecifes Sumergidos Multipropósito (ASM), son un nuevo concepto en manejo de zonas costeras y consisten básicamente en disipar la energía de la ola mar adentro, para que sea utilizada como recurso económico y recreativo y rotarla de tal manera que proteja y lleve arena a la playa. Este conocimiento y el análisis de sus resultados, ventajas y beneficios obtenidos hoy es esencial para las ciudades de la costa bonaerense que enfrentan ante un grave proceso erosivo y hoy deben dar una respuesta técnica a este problema, convirtiendo una amenaza en posibilidades de progreso sostenible mediante la utilización de éstas nuevas tecnologías de control costero probadas con éxito en el mundo.
Dr. Kerry Black BSc - Licenciatura en Ciencias - (Hon.), Universidad de Melbourne MSc - Maestría en Ciencias, Universidad de Hawaii PhD -Doctorado, Universidad de WaikatoBreve Reseña de su Carrera El Dr. Black es, tal vez, el científico más aplicado, fundamental y destacado de Nueva Zelanda. En el ámbito científico, es el líder de la investigación sobre playas y rompientes en arrecifes.
Los méritos y antecedentes del Dr. Black se confirman a través de sus nombramientos como Director del Instituto de Investigación Australiano, como Profesor en la Universidad Waikato, y como científico investigador importante en el prestigioso Instituto Nacional del Agua y la Atmósfera de Nueva Zelanda (National Institute of Water and Atmosphere in New Zealand). Ha contado con el respaldo único del Consejo de Investigación de Australia para la investigación durante una década y luego de la Fundación para la Investigación, la Ciencia y la Tecnología de Nueva Zelanda (NZ Foundation of Research Science and Technology). Ha publicado más de 400 documentos científicos. Editó el primer ejemplar científico en el mundo sobre arrecifes fuera de la costa para la protección y recreación costera y ha sido la figura convocante de la conferencia internacional sobre arrecifes. En realidad, se lo considera el fundador de la disciplina conocida como "arrecifes de protección del litoral fuera de la costa" dentro de la investigación.
Los conocimientos del Dr. Black sobre los procesos físicos en la plataforma submarina poco profunda e interior gozan de renombre, y sus trabajos por el transporte de sedimentos y la dinámica de las playas le han valido su máximo reconocimiento a nivel internacional.
Su profundo conocimiento sobre las playas le permitió identificar los mecanismos de formación de bancos de arena (a los que actualmente se conoce como "Bancos de Difusión"), la dinámica de los sedimentos a micro-escala, el primer modelo de sedimentos preciso en el mundo a escalas de tiempo dentro de la ola, y los mecanismos para la clasificación de sedimentos en la plataforma submarina. Pero además, ha sido un pionero en la investigación de las corrientes de arranque y la transformación de las olas en la década de los ’70 y en la creación de un modelo de sedimentos a principios de la década de los ‘80. Su productividad y sus publicaciones se han mantenido durante más de 30 años desde mediados de los '80, en ocasiones con más de 40 documentos e informes técnicos sustanciales en un año.
En el campo de las ciencias aplicadas, es el inventor de los diseños de la pileta de surf interior (inner surfing pool). Inventó el método de "Rotación de Olas" para la protección costera. Es el creador y el autor integral de modelos numéricos en 3DD del proceso físico costero. Es el co-inventor de instrumentos científicos entre los que se incluyen el tomador de muestras de agua sumergible HydroCamel. Ha sido el co-inventor del primer arrecife controlado por computadora para grandes piletas de surf en el mundo, el cual se utilizará tanto para la recreación como para la investigación científica sobre las olas.
Este proyecto fue posible gracias a una donacion de Quiksilver e Imperial a Surfrider Argentina
CUPOS LIMITADOS INSCRIPCIÓN HASTA DÍA 23 DE ABRIL INCLUSIVE: info@surfrider.org.ar El 26 de abril se realizará una visita de campo y taller para especialistas.
Cupos limitados para inscribirse: info@surfrider.org.ar - Se entregarán diplomas a los participantes del Seminario
Cordialmente Gustavo Huici Director Ejecutivo SFA
Rawson 1319 B7600FEC Mar del Plata Te 0223 492 4354
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 U.S. EPA honors singer Johnson Advertiser Staff SAN FRANCISCO — The Kokua Hawai'i Foundation and its founder, Jack Johnson, were honored yesterday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their efforts to protect and preserve the Hawai'i environment.
Johnson, a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter, founded the nonprofit organization to support environmental education programs. All proceeds from the annual Kokua Festival event are used to support and expand school recycling on O'ahu, sponsor field trips and environmental curriculum, and develop a farm-to-school program.
This year's Kokua Festival is Saturday and Sunday at the Waikiki Shell. Artists will include Johnson, Eddie Vedder, Ernie Cruz Jr., Matt Costa and the Girlas.
The festival showcases locally grown organic food and beverages, earth-friendly products and services, alternative-energy demonstrations, interactive games and crafts for kids, and information about Hawai'i environmental groups.
The event also practices what it preaches, using biodiesel in festival vehicles and generators, recycling, using biodegradable concession ware, and offering eco-friendly merchandise such as reusable totes, bottles and organic cotton clothing.
Tickets are $125 and $40 for reserved seats, $40 for lawn general admission and $20 for children ages 3-12 lawn seating.
The EPA awards were announced at yesterday's Region 9 Environmental Awards Ceremony in San Francisco. Honors were given to 39 groups and individuals selected from more than 160 nominees that included businesses, media, local, state and federal government officials, tribes, environmental organizations and citizen activists in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawai'i, other Pacific islands and tribal lands.
Surfrider Foundation partnered with the television show Baywatch in 1995 (16 October 1995-Season 6, Episode 4). If you look closely you can see our current Director of Chapters Ed Mazzarella and former Executive Director Pierce Flynn in the background. There's a good shot right at the 2:00 minute mark (or 4:00 if it's counting down).
This second part has the Beach Boys concert "benefiting the Surfrider Foundation" with our banner behind the band!!
aahh, the old days....bad hair, bad clothes, bad acting, but what fun!!
San Mateo Creek (which empties into and forms Trestles) is listed as the second most threatened waterway in America by the national environmental group American Rivers in their 2007 Most Endangered Rivers report released today. You can see the report and the specifics on the rivers at their site.
L.A. Times wins Pulitzer Prize for 'Altered Oceans' project By James Rainey, Times Staff Writer 12:10 PM PDT, April 16, 2007
A Los Angeles Times series describing the profound degradation of the world's oceans won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting today, the 38th time the newspaper has been awarded journalism's top honor.
The five-part "Altered Oceans" project, headed by environmental reporter Kenneth R. Weiss, revealed how man has choked the oceans with trash and basic nutrients--killing advanced sea life, making people sick and effectively reversing the course of evolution back toward "the primeval seas of hundreds of millions of years ago."
Reporter Usha Lee McFarling and photographer Rick Loomis teamed with Weiss to create the stories, photo galleries, animated graphics and videos ( posted at latimes.com/oceans ) that evoked a broad and emotional response from citizens and political leaders.
John Vande Wege of latimes.com created the videos that enriched the series, which was overseen by Assistant Metro Editor Frank Clifford and Assistant Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin.
"We cling to this notion that the oceans are too big to change. But it turns out they are not. The oceans are suffering from an accumulation of assaults," said Weiss, a long-time surfer and scuba diver. "We need to be much more careful what we are pulling out of the ocean and what we are dumping into the ocean."
The Surfrider Foundation's Delaware Chapter is working in conjunction with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to expand sampling to the off season. The Chapter received numerous calls from local surfers who were experiencing some illness, mostly extreme sinus infections, after surfing. Most of these reports of illness originated from surfing near a stormwater outfall after some winter storms had passed through the area leaving behind good surfing conditions.
The Chapter organized a meeting in January, 2007 with the State DNREC and the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies to discuss their concerns with the water quality at their local surfing beaches and the lack of information and testing throughout the year. Both the State and the University were very receptive and agreed to start bi-weekly testing of seven ocean beaches during the "off-season". The first samples were collected in February. Chapter volunteers collect the water samples, and the analyses are performed at one of the College of Marine Studies water quality laboratories. The most recent water quality data are posted on the DNREC's website at http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/dnreceis/Div_Water/Apps/RecWater/Asp/RecWaterPublic.asp
Beyond the obvious benefit of providing water quality information to surfers and other beach-goers who swim and surf in the ocean outside of the normal tourist season, the Chapter has also eastablished a good dialogue with the manager of the State's beach monitoring program, and they will be working cooperatively to investigate water quality issues that affect the ocean beaches. Congratulations to the Delaware Chapter for this important ocean victory.
Check out the local media coverage at http://www.capegazette.com/storiescurrent/200702/surferstest020207.html
The Cape Fear Chapter has the attention of the local press with their Save Beach Access 33 campaign. Now they are hoping to broker a deal with the adjacent land owners to re-open this access to Wrightsville Beach that the public has been using for over 40 years.
“Save Beach Access 33” - campaign gaining ground by Crystal Walton Thursday, March 22, 2007
More than 900 signatures collected for online petition (http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/beachaccess_33)
The Cape Fear chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is gaining ground on a campaign they have dubbed “Save Beach Access 33”.
Beach Access No. 33 was closed in October, after it was determined to be private property, owned by the Murchison family. The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen then voted 3-2 to abandon any of the town's easement rights or future claim to the real estate last November.
Since then, a grassroots effort by Surfriders has been undertaken and a Web site, www.access33.org, has been launched. The Web site includes an online petition, which has garnered more than 900 signatures. “We plan on keeping the site up until Beach Access 33 is reopened,” said Sean Ahlum, co-chair of the chapter. “We have signatures from all over the world.”
Access No. 33 is between the Blockade Runner Beach Resort on the north and the historic Gornto/Murchison cottage to the south. Ahlum said the group is attempting to work with both owners of the Blockade Runner and the Murchison family to ensure access on that part of the beach. “There are some options out there,” he said, citing tax benefits for land donation.
The Murchisons have maintained that they gave the town adequate notice of the change, after they learned of it during a property conveyance. The Murchison family will now be paying taxes on the property. Town manager Bob Simpson said the town is out of the issue at this point.
The closest beach accesses are three-tenths of a mile in both directions, at Taylor Street, near the Carolina Yacht Club, to the south, and at Arrindale Street to the north. The town voted earlier this year to add a new lifeguard stand in front of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, even though public beach access has been diminished for three-tenths of a mile with the closing of Beach Access No. 33.
