Gulf Oil Spill – Wildlife at Risk

From the NYT (click link for larger version of graphic):

The Story of Bottled Water

Blue is the new Green and other ocean news

Blue is the new Green

Oil drilling: still risky

And again, the ocean is not our dumping ground.

RAP: Tim Minchin’s “Canvas Bags”

Just another reminder to do good by the oceans. Thanks to Mike D!

Sperm whale off Humboldt coast

San Jose and Santa Cruz Supes implement bag bans

County moves forward with shopping bag ban By Kurtis Alexander Posted: 04/14/2010 01:30:21 AM PDT in Santa Cruz Sentinel The county Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to move ahead with an ordinance that would ban the use of plastic bags at retail shops and impose a surcharge on paper bags. The intent is to promote greater use of reusable bags, such as canvas bags, and stem the litter generated by plastic as well as rein in the amount of energy used to make both plastic and paper. The ordinance, though, remains a ways off as supervisors decided to first perform an environmental review of the measure. The review, which is expected to cost $100,000 and take nearly a year to complete, was agreed to by board members to anticipate potential problems with the new law and ward off a possible lawsuit.

Ocean news: bags, butts and whaling

L.A. Times says California Assemblymember Julia Brownley’s bill to ban single-use plastic bags goes too far. Thoughts?

Will Governer Schwarzeneggar sign a bill, just passed in the Senate, to ban cigarette smoking at California beaches?

Whale slaughter has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years. Is the latest debate a chance at ending the killing of whales or “a whaler’s dream”?

Humboldt Bay Symposium

The 2010 Humboldt Bay Symposium will be Thursday, April 22 through Saturday, April 24.

This year’s biennial event will host speakers on April 22-23 and a poster session at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 23 at the Wharfinger building in Eureka.

The Thursday, April 22 keynote speakers are Rollin C. Richmond, President of Humboldt State University and Skyli McAfee, Executive Director of the Ocean Science Trust.

Saturday, April 24th will be a Day by the Bay which will include free and family friendly activities throughout Arcata and Eureka.

Mad River Beach Clean-up report

Thanks, Debbie!

April 10 cleanup at Mad River Beach with Warren from HSU and his crew plus Surfrider locals. If nails were gold, we’d be rollin in it!  Picture of Jody, Adrien and entire crew. I think we took out six buckets of nails plus other stuff.

Yuck: BPA found in water and sand

BPA widespread in ocean water and sand

Scientists have detected the chemical along the shorelines of 20 countries

Pollution in Asian waters. BPA’s presence in sea water comes in part from the breakdown of plastic trash dumped into the sea. MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images

Japanese scientists testing ocean water and sea sand have found widespread contamination with high levels bisphenol A, a chemical used to make plastic that’s able to mimic the female hormone estrogen in living things.

Its presence in sea water comes from the breakdown of the plastic trash being dumped into the sea and from the use of the compound in anti-rusting paints applied to the hulls of ships. BPA is man-made and does not occur naturally in the environment.