6/4/2004:
GOVERNOR CALLS FOR ACTION ON COASTAL AND OCEAN PROTECTION
In an April 2004 update entitled "Articles of Faith," I wrote about people who do the right thing regardless of whether anyone takes notice or whether they can ever finish the task. I described how we are sometimes faced with large amounts of trash on the water and how we do our best to scoop it up--especially the balloons, shopping bags and garbage bags that can be ingested by marine life, leading to death in many cases.
We know of so many people whose beach walks are spent picking up trash, who ardently conserve water and who give serious thought to the ramifications of how we live now on the world tomorrow. They are automatic members in this select club that has no rules except one: Keep doing what they're doing.
Here is a response to that update:
5/19/2004: Hi Heidi ~
I just got back from an Earthwatch Trip to Matura Beach in Trinidad where I worked with Nature Seekers to pit and flipper tag Leatherback sea turtles. I was really sorry to see all the trash that littered the land, beaches and waters of Trinidad. It would probably be more accurate to say I was DEPRESSED to see all the trash!
Anyway, after being away for a month I returned home to lots of emails, not the least of which were your wonderful newsletters. I just read the one about the plastic bags floating on the surface of the bay. You probably already know that Leatherback sea turtles feed almost exclusively on jelly fish. To a hungry Leatherback sea turtle, a plastic bag floating in the water can look just like a jelly fish. Too many times they consume plastic this way and die a horrible death.
I find it very hard to believe that people don't understand this when they thoughtlessly throw their trash away inappropriately. I would like to apply for your Drop in the Bucket Brigade. While in Trinidad, each night as I patrolled Matura beach, I would collect as much trash as I could carry in the hopes that the turtles would not encounter it in their nightly landings on the beach to lay their eggs. It takes very little trash to return a Mom Leatherback to the sea rather than to stay and deposit her eggs in a nest.
The Nature Seekers are doing a WONDERFUL job of trying to protect their beaches from poachers and others just on the beach to harass the Leatherbacks. Even after their annual beach cleanup before the nesting season starts leaves the beach completely clean, the nightly tides litter the nesting areas again.
Sadly to say, the oceans around the world share in this same problem. As a "visitor" to Trinidad, I didn't feel I could approach anyone I saw throwing trash by the side of the road. Even a car on it's way to the beach to "visit" the turtles was observed throwing trash out their car window. They were spoken to by the security force but because I was just a visitor to their island, I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to say anything to the woman I saw at a bus stop throw her empty beer bottle over her shoulder into an empty field.
As a concerned citizen of this world I will always feel compelled to do what I can to not litter and pick up after those who do. I don't have any other answers except to tell the elementary school children I talk to about my "turtle experiences" that if they do NOTHING else to help the cause, they can at least recycle and dispose of their trash appropriately.
Sorry for going on and on like this but your newsletter hit a nerve! Keep up the good work with your fight for the environment.
Best wishes, Diane Barber
[We do know what leatherbacks feed on and we see them here in the summer, which is one more reason to keep plastic out of the water. I think talking with litterers is an important step, though. Whose world is it, anyway? Diane is a shoo-in for "The Drop in the Bucket Brigade." How about you?
7/8/2003: The Management Plan Revision for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Nears Completion
In meetings that spanned two very full days, the Sanctuary Advisory Council was given excellent presentations by Sanctuary staff on everything from personal watercraft to Davidson seamount to invasive species to the effects of cruise ships in our waters. You can read all about the issues and the upcoming final meetings in Santa Cruz by going to the Sanctuary's web site:
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Management Plan Review
11/27/2002: We just won one in the fight to stop Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFA) deployment in the world's oceans because it can be lethal to whales and dolphins. Now we find there is a plan afoot to deploy sonar on the coast of Central California, targeting the California gray whales on their southbound migration. If you think this is lunacy, we agree. Want to help fight for the whales? READ MORE then Write NOW to the California Coastal Commission and tell them your thoughts. The address is below.
Executive Director of the California Coast Commission, Peter M. Douglas
45 Fremont, Suite 2000
San Francisco. CA 94105-2219
11/2/2002: We've won some BIG ones! This week, The Navy was stopped in its attempt to comb the world's oceans with high-powered Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFA) because it could cause irreparable harm to whales and other sea life.
Also, the National Science Foundation was ordered by a Federal Judge to stop sounding underwater blasts in the Sea of Cortez because it's harmful to whales.
See What You Can Do below for more on the campaigns we (and many of you) joined to stop these projects.
