Thank You Whales IV was another success and we say thank you to those great people, whales and organizations who made it happen this year!
http://www.ksby.com/story/29791910/thank-you-whales-aims-to-raise-awareness-about-marine-life
Thank you to all who joined us afterward on Old Port Beach for this year's sunset spiritual gathering, led by Fred Collins, Tribal Administrator for the Coastal Band of Chumash!
Learn more here or take immediate action on our new PETITION PAGE...(click 'more')
The Ocean Outfall Group doesn't like plastic in the ocean. But we don't campaign against it. We don't like cigarette butts on the beach, but we leave that battle to someone else. And we absolutely despise plastic bags. Turtles -who naturally eat jellyfish- can eat plastic bags by mistake and get them stuck in their intestinal tract and die. But again, that's not our pet peeve. What the Ocean Outfall Group does, though, is tackle the big, scary issues no one else will touch with a ten foot pole. Issues like SEA WATER DESALINATION, SEISMIC TESTING, NAVY SONAR, POWER PLANT SEA WATER COOLING INTAKES, and even that little handle on your toilet bowl. It sure is easy to flip that lever now, isn't it? Everybody does it. In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, "C'mon, you know you do it. Everybody does it- I just did it, I'm ready to do it again!"
But few ever stop to wonder, what happens to the rather unglamorous contents of that bowl after the lever is flipped. There's a bumper sticker that says, FLUSH HARD, IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE BEACH'. And, unfortunately, that about sums it up.
Not everybody has the time to look into such things and that's where organizations like the Ocean Outfall Group come in. We have a pretty good handle on who dumps what, where, and how much. We also have a good grasp on the level of treatment a municipalities discharge receives before being unceremoniously jettisoned into our precious ocean, mother of our species, provider of all our fish and half the air we breathe. Most folks don't even know we dump our sewage into the ocean, much less that places like San Diego do it using a 'waiver' that allows for extra fecal debris in the discharge! And you might even ask, why do we dump it in the ocean at all? -and you'd have an excellent point! Well, here's to cleaning up our act, not only in California, but nationally and even internationally.
Some of the people who should be taking care of our sea and sea creatures, instead don't act as they should and do bad things. Even people who mean well, can be, well, mean. Listen to this speech below that I made recently to the California Coastal Commission (who we support very strongly!). Sometimes, truth is indeed stranger than fiction...
Below: OOG Director Joey Racano tells California Coastal Commissioners about Otters being surgically implanted with PG&E electronic devices!
But few ever stop to wonder, what happens to the rather unglamorous contents of that bowl after the lever is flipped. There's a bumper sticker that says, FLUSH HARD, IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE BEACH'. And, unfortunately, that about sums it up.
Not everybody has the time to look into such things and that's where organizations like the Ocean Outfall Group come in. We have a pretty good handle on who dumps what, where, and how much. We also have a good grasp on the level of treatment a municipalities discharge receives before being unceremoniously jettisoned into our precious ocean, mother of our species, provider of all our fish and half the air we breathe. Most folks don't even know we dump our sewage into the ocean, much less that places like San Diego do it using a 'waiver' that allows for extra fecal debris in the discharge! And you might even ask, why do we dump it in the ocean at all? -and you'd have an excellent point! Well, here's to cleaning up our act, not only in California, but nationally and even internationally.
Some of the people who should be taking care of our sea and sea creatures, instead don't act as they should and do bad things. Even people who mean well, can be, well, mean. Listen to this speech below that I made recently to the California Coastal Commission (who we support very strongly!). Sometimes, truth is indeed stranger than fiction...
Below: OOG Director Joey Racano tells California Coastal Commissioners about Otters being surgically implanted with PG&E electronic devices!
Below: Coalition of activists celebrate Seismic Victory over PG&E
Thank You Sea Shepherd, Oceana, Santa Barbara Sierra Club, San Luis Bay Surfrider, Chumash peoples, Susan Jordan and League for Coastal Protection, Lyndia Leonard and Whale and Dolphin Watch, Gershon Cohen and Great Whale Conservancy, Ocean Defenders Alliance, Oriana Kalama and Ocean Defender Hawaii, Sara and Larry Wan and Western Alliance for Nature, Marcia Hanscomb and Wetlands Action Network, and special thanks to Phil Kline and GREENPEACE USA!
Also, thanks to the following people and agencies: California Fish and Wildlife Commission, California Coastal Commission, California State Resources Agency, and Resource Secretary John Laird, Mellissa Miller-Henson, Ken Wiseman, Sonke Mastrup, and especially, Cat Kuhlman.
And of course, Thank You Whales! photo below by Dan Bacher:
Petition Delivered: OOG Director Joey Racano hand delivers a Moveon petition asking the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila California to set a release date for two baby Giant Pacific Octopi caught in a prawn trap in Morro Bay:
