Sep 19: Coastal Cleanup Day

I was grateful for the chance to join neighbors to help clean up Lovers Point Park.

A big thank you to Save Our Shores for organizing the effort and giving so many of us a way to pitch in.

Much of what we picked up was ordinary, everyday trash.

Between what I found and what I heard from other volunteers, there were

• cigarette butts,

• food wrappers and takeout packaging,

• food like peanut shells, pistachio shells, and banana peels,

• plastic fragments,

• bottle caps and lids,

• straws and utensils,

• plastic bags and film,

• pieces of glass,

• pieces of foam, paper and cardboard,

• clothing and other discarded items.

Some items from Coastal Cleanup Day at Lovers Point Park.

There were lots of food remains as well, from banana peels to peanut shells.

A cigarette butt on the ground, no more than 15 feet from a collection can.

Protecting Marine Life

The morning also brought a sobering sight: a sea lion on the beach that had suffered from domoic acid poisoning.

Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced by certain species of Pseudo-nitzschia, a naturally occurring marine algae.

Monterey Bay has experienced unusually high levels of domoic acid-producing algae this year, with impacts on marine mammals across the region.

There is still a great deal we do not know about what is driving these events.

The growth of Pseudo-nitzschia and its production of domoic acid are influenced by complex nutrient dynamics and ocean conditions, and different blooms can develop under different circumstances.

Researchers are still working to understand what is behind the elevated levels seen in and around Monterey Bay this summer.

Stewards of a Precious Ecosystem

Seeing that seal was a powerful reminder that we are stewards of a precious, living ecosystem.

I appreciated the chance to spend part of the morning alongside other volunteers caring for it, and I left with an even greater appreciation for how much there still is to understand about the extraordinary marine environment just offshore.