Orange County Coastkeeper

Please consider supporting this campaign. The deadline to submit our amicus brief is September 5th. Click the link below to donate today.

🔗 https://coastkeeper.nationbuilder.com/amicus_campaign

Join our team! We're looking for an enthusiastic Staff Attorney who is passionate about water protection and environmental justice to help us hold polluters accountable. Visit occk.tiny.us/attorney or the link in our bio for more information!

We're hosting a FREE water monitoring workshop on Tuesday, August 20! This all-day event will provide an overview of Sanitary Survey methods, Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs), a field assessment at the Delhi Channel, and a guided tour of the OC Health Care Lab. Tribes, community groups, environmental organizations, and individuals are all encouraged to attend!

For more info and to RSVP -- coastkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Sanitary-Survey-Info-rev.pdf

Help us remove trash from our coastline! RSVP links can be found in our Linktree. 🙂

Did you know that one adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day? As filter feeders, they remove excess nutrients and other pollutants impacting marine life and water quality.

Last week, we partnered with to make shell strings for our Living Shorelines restoration projects. Thanks to their hard work, we can continue restoring native Olympia oysters along Southern California's coastline. Visit our website to learn more about our restoration projects and how to support them!

Happy opening day of the 2024 OC Fair! 🥳 We're here using virtual reality to raise awareness and support for a Rigs to Reefs program in California. Find us at the Sand and Sea exhibit every day from 12pm to 6pm! 🤿

Warning! Orange County is about to experience a heat advisory. ☀️ Please stay safe this holiday weekend by using these "heat-ready" tips!

If approved, the Magnolia Tank Farm would violate the California Coastal Commission's sea level rise policy and set a dangerous statewide precedent for coastal development projects. Join us this Sunday at 10am for a rally opposing the project! For more information on the project and our opposition, visit our blog.

We're gearing up for more cleanup action! Our cleanup on July 13th will be sponsored by the Stormwater Program, where they'll provide educational resources on how small actions can positively impact and protect California's waterways. Visit our website to register in advance! 🐚 Caltrans HQ Caltrans Orange County District 12

We're proud to partner with the California State Coastal Conservancy on our Beach and Coast Accessibility Program! This opportunity offers grants to tribes, nonprofits, and public agencies in California to make visiting our state's coast easier and more accessible for all. Visit our website to apply now!
https://www.coastkeeper.org/bcap

Last December, we petitioned the CA Fish and Game Commission to allow new credible science projects within Orange County’s . If approved, this would allow new research, monitoring, restoration, and education opportunities in local rocky intertidal and reef habitats.

The Commission has been reviewing our petition and over 20 others for the past 6 months and is now moving forward with the next steps! All signs are pointing towards our petition being adopted in the near future. 🥳

This photo comes from our Living Shorelines restoration project in Newport Bay, which combines native eelgrass and oysters to create an environmentally friendly buffer from erosion and wave energy. We hope to see Orange County's MPAs benefit from restoration and research projects like this!

After years of advocating for stricter enforcement of dog regulations at the Santa Ana River Mouth, our monitoring team has finally started to see positive changes! For about two weeks, the Newport Beach Police Department displayed a sign reminding beachgoers that the river mouth is not a dog beach. Although the sign has been moved, we remain hopeful it will return soon. During this two-week span, our staff also noticed increased violations issued to dog owners, indicating a step in the right direction.

We're optimistic that Newport Beach authorities will continue to enforce these regulations to encourage lasting behavior change. At the river mouth, frequent off-leash dog activity threatens the Western Snowy Plover and California Least Tern populations that have inhabited the area for centuries. Beachgoers should only bring their dogs to beaches that allow them to protect critical coastal habitats like the Santa Ana River Mouth.

We're excited to finally share our new Coastkeeper Crew program! ✨ What team will you join?

🔗 https://www.coastkeeper.org/crew/

photo dump! 🌊 🫂 🩵

Since 2008, Kids Ocean Day has empowered the next generation to protect our environment and provides every student with barrier-free access to our coast. With six months of preparation behind the scenes, this day is truly extraordinary. Check out 'The Making of Kids Ocean Day' now on our YouTube! https://youtu.be/9VlDRl4pkPg?si=NfJZzGXvLE-AOsi8

Time's almost up! You can vote for us and help direct Target’s giving to benefit our mission. Here's how:

Step 1: Choose “My Target” in the Target app.
Step 2: Tap the "Community support votes" section.
Step 3: Find OC Coastkeeper and cast your votes!

If you don't see us as an option to vote for, try switching your preferred store to another location in Orange County! DM us with any questions. 😊

Become a member of our crew, launching next week! ⛵

Happy World Oceans Day! Join us at the Orange County Green expo in downtown Anaheim.We will be here until 2pm

Summer is nearly here! Dive into the season by joining us in one of our beach cleanups! On June 8th, the Stormwater Program will be supporting our cleanup by providing additional educational resources on how small actions can positively impact California's waterways. Register in advance on our website and help us protect our coast! Sea you there. 🌊 Caltrans HQ Caltrans Orange County District 12

We're excited to announce our new Beach and Coast Accessibility Program with ! Starting today, tribes, nonprofits, and public agencies across California can apply for grants to purchase and maintain accessibility equipment like beach wheelchairs, walkers, mats, and more. Our goal is to improve access to California's iconic coastline for individuals with disabilities or reduced mobility! Visit our website for more details.

Western Snowy Plovers spotted at Santa Ana River mouth! 😍 Last week, our staff captured photos of about 5 of them at the shoreline. Unfortunately, a nearby off-leash dog and their owner forced the Plovers to flee shortly after these pictures were taken. Illegal dog activity endangers these threatened shorebirds, especially now during nesting season. Please only take your pups to beaches that allow dogs for the sake of our wildlife!

This past Tuesday, we hosted a beach cleanup with Behr Paint Company at Huntington State Beach. In the span of 1.5 hours, 26 Behr volunteers picked up a little over 27 pounds of trash! Thank you BehrPaint for your continuous and generous support of our education programs. 🌊
LifeatBehr

Together, we can make waves of change! 🌊 Every month, hundreds of volunteers join in removing trash from Orange County's beaches and waterways. This year, volunteers have already prevented over 3,500 pounds of trash from polluting the Pacific Ocean. When we work together, small acts of service can create a huge impact!

This Earth Day (April 22), Orange County Coastkeeper is partnering with in Irvine, where 5% of all sales will benefit Coastkeeper's mission. Stop by for a bite and support a local organization protecting the region's waters and coastline.

The world is our oyster! Or, in this case... empty oyster shells on a string!

We partner with the Long Beach Yacht Club and its members for an oyster restoration project benefitting Alamitos Bay! Last month, volunteer dock owners received strings of clean Pacific oyster shells to suspend off their docks throughout the summer. When placed in the water correctly, it allows Olympia oyster larvae to grow!

After a few months, the shell strings are returned back to our team. The shells with young Olympia oysters are then placed into a community oyster restoration site in the Jack Dunster Marine Reserve. Olympia oysters positively impact water quality, erosion control, and habitat stability.

To our oyster shells, we'll sea you guys in a few months! 🦪

We’re participating in the Target Circle program! You can vote for us and help direct Target’s giving to benefit our mission. For full program details and restrictions, visit Target Circle by clicking the link below.

If you don't see OC Coastkeeper as an option to vote for, try switching your preferred store to another location in Orange County! DM us with any questions. 😊

target.com/circle

WHALES, Coastkeeper's largest education program, empowers the next generation of watershed heroes through immersive in-class and field activities. Visit the link to learn about the program and listen to our Education Director, Michaela Coats, highlight the importance of connecting students to their watershed! https://youtu.be/S9PE_glKfP0?si=tVVytisi0meOl1Bx

This is what the Santa Ana-Delhi channel in Costa Mesa looked like yesterday morning. Join us on Saturday, April 20, to clear out the debris in the channel before it pollutes Upper Newport Bay! Tap the link below to RSVP today.

This month's channel cleanup is one of five made possible by the Cox Charities Community Grant!

🔗 https://forms.gle/7dKQG8uPtCM42Zm36

We need your help to continue surveying the Santa Ana River Mouth in Newport Beach! At the river mouth, frequent off-leash dog activity threatens the Western Snowy Plover and California Least Tern populations that have inhabited the area for centuries. Our goal is to document the problem so that the river mouth's governing agencies can better address the issue through education and law enforcement. Contact us via the email in the final slide to get involved!

Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 26, when our much-anticipated annual gala, Toast the Coast, will return with a splash! Stay tuned for more details coming soon. 😄🌊

Here's the latest information on the oiled birds reported last week. Unfortunately, the source of the previous oil sheen off Huntington Beach's coast is still unclear. Visit our blog for a more in-depth update.

Last month, the California Fish & Game Commission voted to advance our petition to allow new credible science projects in Orange County ! If approved, this would allow new research, monitoring, restoration, and education opportunities in Orange County’s rocky intertidal and reef habitats.

The next step in this process is for the Marine Resources Committee to hear public comments on petitions they received. Our submission was one of 20 regulation change petitions from various organizations within the ocean conservation community.

The Marine Resources Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 19 in San Clemente. We encourage you to get involved in the decadal review process and speak up on behalf of our coast! Read this blog for more information. https://www.coastkeeper.org/mpa-10-year-review/