Results tagged “ocean”

Because rain continued to drop today, the Los Angeles County Department of Health extended an advisory that warned beach goers to stay away from swimming near discharging storm drains, creeks, and rivers. That's because "bacteria, debris, trash, and other public health hazards from city streets and mountain areas are likely to enter ocean waters though these outlets," they said.

Whether you live in the Valley or near the coast, we are all connected. That piece of trash sitting in an Encino curb could easily be swept into the storm drain system or L.A. River, traveling to the beach and into the Pacific Ocean. This Saturday, Heal the Bay and other organizations hope for 15,000 volunteers at more than 70 inland and beach locations for the 25th annual international Coastal Cleanup Day (and the 19th for the event to happen locally).

              

To go along with our wordy look at the 100 years of history of the Santa Monica Pier, our LAist Featured Photos pool just happens to be brimming over with images of the iconic landmark that we couldn't keep to ourselves.

On August 1, 1939, California Attorney General Earl Warren sent 250 local and state officers to raid four gambling ships anchored off the coast of Santa Monica and Long Beach. The Tango and Showboat idled off Long Beach while the Texas and the Rex anchored off Santa Monica. Local and state authorities, riding in Fish and Game boats and 16 rented water taxis, easily boarded the Tango, the Showboat and the Texas. Once aboard, raiding officers eagerly threw roulette wheels, dice tables, black jack tables and slot machines into the Pacific Ocean. Upon approaching the S.S. Rex, officers were greeted with armed gunmen and high-pressure fire hoses. A nine-day standoff ensued, which newspaper men dubbed "The Battle of Santa Monica Bay."

Los Angeles has had one for a little while and now Santa Monica has joined the club. Typically, when it rains the runoff goes into the storm drains directing it to the ocean. What it takes along with it--chemicals, trash, etc--is extremely harmful and wasteful, too. If the little water brought to us in Southern California was spent on keeping it in the groundwater system instead of spending money to move it out, all the better. The Lookout News in Santa Monica was at a demonstration yesterday and explains how the new one on the 100 block of Bicknell Avenue works:

An undersea earthquake rattled a few nerves in San Diego Saturday morning, and the 4.0 shaker was felt in the OC, but it wasn't the aftershocks that had area residents talking later that day. Several giant squid washed ashore on Saturday, surprising beach-goers, most of whom had never seen anything like it before. Even after they were tossed back in the water they'd re-appear on the sand, causing many to wonder if it was because of the earthquake. Check out the video for the story.

For the most part, eco-documentaries follow a pretty narrow pattern; either they’re well funded and a little boring or guerrilla style and probably a bit nauseating, but either way you’re supposed to be so outraged you get out of your seat and punch the richest asshole you can find. That’s the gist. But there’s often a disconnect between the images of the film and the actions of the audience because, ecologically, problems tend to be so big any given person feels powerless.

       

A visit to Channel Islands National Park means an hour or longer boat ride across the Santa Barbara Channel. Your travel takes you over the National Marine Sanctuary where without a doubt--unless the weather is treacherous--you're bound to see some amazing ocean wonders. In two recent trips, we've seen hundreds of dolphins, seals, birds, a whale, a sun fish and last weekend, something very unusual, a feeding frenzy.

The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) this month released its health advisory and safe eating guidelines for fish caught from coastal areas from Ventura Harbor south to the Dana Point area. "The results do not bode well for those that regularly eat locally caught coastal fish," wrote Mark Gold, President of Heal the Bay.

       

The Los Angeles region has many secrets and Channel Islands National Park is one of them. The group of islands off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara are easily seen from the crowded beaches of Malibu, but most of those beach goers have never been on the other side. And while it is one of the closest National Parks to the millions who live here, it is also one of the less accessible ones. Boats don't run as consistent as the ferry's to Catalina Island and the sometimes the costs (around $50 roundtrip and up, depending on which island you visit) stop many.

This morning a boat load of whale watchers discovered a woman's body a a quarter-mile off Redondo Beach. 39-year-old Cindy Denq's death is being investigated as a possible suicide. Once a passenger on a previous boat ride, Denq had jumped off the boat, but was pulled back onto the ship after the skipper stopped and had her pulled back on board. Today, police say it appears that she entered the water from the beach. Earlier this morning, another woman's dead body was found in the ocean, this time in Huntington Beach. Orange County deputies were called to a bar in Sunset Beach where a woman was reportedly bleeding profusely. Upon arrival, police only found a trail of blood leading to the water where she was found floating. "We're not sure what happened," a deputy told the AP. "All we know is something started here at the bar. We're not sure if this is a crime scene or an accident at this point, but we're treating it as a crime scene until we know further."

Sheriff's deputies in Marina del Rey are trying to figure out why the waters are green today, following a sighting reported this morning in the E Basin near the E-3200 dock, according to cbs2.com. Described as "a bright green substance," authorities have been able to determine that it is "a non-toxic dye," but how or why it is in the water remains unknown. Is this the result of an accidental spill, or are there some pranksters who are over a week late in expressing their St. Patrick's Day spirit, Chicago river style?

A small plane was reported as being seen hitting the water yesterday approximately 25 miles off the coast between Oceanside and San Clemente Island, according to abc7.com. The Coast Guard says as of this morning, "rescue boats have yet to find survivors or bodies." Three rescue boats and a helicopter were in use early this morning as part of the search for survivors. "Federal Aviation Administration officials believe the plane took off from San Diego's Montgomery Field," but no confirmation has been made about the aircraft, its origin, destination, or passengers.

An extensive review of the last 8 years worth of toxicity reports filed to the Water Quality Control Board has shown a pattern of oversight and lack of enforcement for violations to wastewater dischargers, according to Heal the Bay.

Three men were swept into the ocean this afternoon below the cliffs of Point Fermin in San Pedro. Two of them were able to escape to shore with relatively little injury, but one had to be rescued by a Los Angeles Fire Department boat. He's listed in critical condition. Rescues around Point Fermin are pretty common as the area seems much safer than it actually is.

Here's one of those great photo juxtaposition Los Angeles moments. A voter marks her ballot this morning as a surfer heads for the water at a polling place at Venice Beach lifeguard headquarters.

A deteriorated metal clamp at a Laguna Beach pump station caused thousands of gallons of sewage to spill out onto city streets and into the beach for eight hours today, beginning around 2:00 a.m. this morning. The mess has caused four miles of coast to be closed meaning beaches are to be closed for an estimated two days. The OC Register lists past beach spills in previous years, but Long Beach holds the title for most sewage spills with 31 of them as of August.

UPDATE, 1:02 P.M.: The fire has grown, but is 50% contained. Updated information can be found here.

KFI is reporting that there are two fires down south, one that is near Newport Beach: "Four helicopters are dropping water on a fire in the Bonita Canyon area of Newport Beach, where 75 firefighters on the ground are battling a brush fire that has spread to about 100 acres and is reportedly close to structures. Meanwhile, authorities say a 100-acre fire at Camp Pendleton has forced the evacuation of a military housing area and several neighborhoods near the Marine base." UPDATE, 5:42 P.M.: The Newport Beach fire has reportedly been contained with a few spot fires still lit. Evacuations have been halted.

Fire Chief, Michael Freeman reportedly told City News Service that there "is a real possibility" the fire could make a run down toward the Pacific Coast with the wind conditions, which are expected to pick up again tonight. At a 4:30 p.m. press conference, LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said that the fire "can go from [the Valley] to the ocean in a matter of two to three hours... now is the time to get prepared and be alert." Communities threatened by the current movement of the fire could be Hidden Hills, Bell Canyon, Calabasas and Agoura Hills.

It's not only Echo Park who is getting major kudos from the American Planning Association, the 3.5 mile long Santa Monica Beach was named as one of the Great Public Spaces in America today. "The designation stems from the beach's commitment to accessibility, environmental stewardship and historic preservation, and maintaining its distinctive character," their report says which introduces the space as "the birthplace of 'beach culture,' a place where human theater unfolds daily against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. For nearly 120 years, Santa Monica Beach in Santa Monica, California, has been the dynamic link between the natural and man-made worlds, providing equal access to all who wish to congregate near this part of the coast."

Pelicans in Huntington Beach have apparently been targeted by someone who is deliberately breaking their wings, leading ultimately to the birds' deaths. 11 brown pelicans have died in a three-day span, which has alerted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who are investigating the deaths and looking for the responsible party. According to MyFox Los Angeles, "The Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, which is caring for the lone surviving pelican, has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible."

This Saturday morning, some 11,000 volunteers at more than 70 beaches and inland sites throughout the LA area will be participating in Heal the Bay's Coastal Cleanup. They estimate that this year's cleanup will mark their one millionth pound of picked-up trash since the event began in 1990.

                            

The games are a mix of "world-class players, top college stars and disguised AVP pros" in costumes as if it were Halloween. There's nothing like it and after we visited last year, we had to make sure we shared what was seen this year, thanks to three Flickr users (Nataline/metaphora, Mark Hoffmann and David J. Sullivan).

Earlier this month, a mysterious fireball flew over the Los Angeles region. And now today, an e-mail tipster sends this to our inbox: "There was some sonic boom noise in Santa Monica, and all my neighbors reported hearing it, but nobody could figure out what this was. Have you heard of it? My coworker swears she saw a 'low flying shooting star that exploded over the ocean.'" Santa Monica Police report no calls about anything as such. Anyone else hear or see anything? Comment below.

            

The official count for Glow in Santa Monica this weekend is now at 200,000 people with 75,000 there at the same time, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. For the most part, comments left on an LAist post (and other sites) about the event were very strong and negative. However, from there, the biannual event can only come back in 2010 as a slamming success, drawing the same large crowd and pleasing even more people. And not everyone had a bad time. LAist Special Projects Editor Elise Thompson shared the magic she experienced and some wicked photos yesterday (and so did our LAist Featured Photos contributors on Flickr, whose photos are below)

An estimated 44,000 people visited the first Glow Festival tonight in Santa Monica (Update: the estimates are now to 200,000 people total with the highest peak at one time at 75,000 people, according to police) . The 10 Freeway was jammed late into the night and the oceanside city was packed from the promenade to the beach. Tons of people were having a good time, but many were overheard saying, "where's the art?" How was the festival for you? Chime in on the comments below and let it be known...

The shark attack near Catalina Island this past weekend is the 148 confirmed shark attacks along the Pacific Coast since 1900, according to the OC Register's Beach Blog. They say most have been investigation attacks and not predatory. “The shark was not interested at all in eating her, otherwise it would have stayed in the area and eaten her," explained Shark expert Ralph Collier. Over the weekend, a woman kayaking off Catalina was flung into the air when a shark bumped into her vessel. She landed on top of the shark, but swam to shore safely.

A woman kayaking off the coast of Catalina Island had a close encounter with a shark this weekend. "I couldn't believe it and all of a sudden when I seen the fin I realized this is not a whale -- this is a shark," she told KCAL9. "By the time I thought that ... the shark was already cruising under me and lifting the kayak up with its body, and I landed out of the kayak right onto the shark's body." The shark reportedly swam away as the woman began to safely swim towards shore.