Save Our Shores' Ocean News August 2009 Monthly Quiz What Happened to the Beaches on the 4th of July Weekend? Take the quiz to see how our Santa Cruz coast was affected by beach-goers. Give a Gift to the Ocean You can reduce the amount of plastic waste showing up on our beaches!  Donate today and your gift will support our efforts to educate and encourage the use of reusable bags, water bottles, utensils and coffee mugs! Donate today & Help Save Our Shores keep our beaches clean! Save Our Shores' Events Save Our Shores Invites You to Our Annual Toast to the Coast! When: Friday, August 28th from 6 -10 pm Where:The Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz Purchase Entry Tickets for $25 Please join Save Our Shores for our Annual Toast to the Coast celebration on the beautiful Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz. The evening will feature live music, a generous spread of delectable food including appetizers by Michael's on Main, a beer and wine bar and fabulous door prizes. $5 Raffle tickets are available for purchase for the grand prizes, and you don't need to be present to win. We hope to see you there! Join Us for the 25th Anniversary of International Coastal Cleanup Day When: Saturday, September 19th, from 9am to noon           Where: At over 50 sites across Santa Cruz County                See our website for the Site List International Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier event on behalf of the marine environment in the world. In 2008, over 70 countries from around the world participated. In California, 70,000 people removed 1,600,000 pounds of garbage and recyclables from our beaches and waterways. Save Our Shores is proud to be the local coordinators for this International event. In 2008, SOS coordinated over 3,000 volunteers at over 45 cleanup sites across Santa Cruz County. Please find general event information, sponsorship levels, and pre-registration on our website Help Save Our Shores recruit cleanup volunteers for this year's event. Use this Volunteer Recruitment document to send out to your list of contacts. Volunteer with Save Our Shores! August 5th 9:30am Yolo Fliers Club 17980 County Rd. 94B, Woodland.  MPA Fish and Game Commission Meeting August 15th 10am-noon Beach Cleanup at Rio Del Mar Beach August 29th 10am-noon Beach Cleanup at Tunitas Beach in Half Moon Bay For more information on events please visit our Calendar. Featured Ocean News The Fight for Marine Protected Areas The North Central Coast Area, which spans from Año Nuevo to Mendicino, is undergoing their fight for Marine Protected Areas.  There have been many Fish and Game Commission meetings to get the proposed MPAs charted out and agreed on.  The Integrated Proposed Agreement is the compromise of all of the organizations and is fair for both sides.  However, some people do not want these MPAs to be established and their latest argument is the state of California does not have the money to pay for enforcement.  Full Story  Article "We Can't Afford Not to Protect Our Oceans" Article on a Florida MPA proving it's worth. Article about recent study on fisheries worldwide featuring MPAs as a solution to overfishing "New Hope for Fisheries" Learn more about Central Coast MPAs by taking our quiz If you would like to make a difference for the oceans and safeguard them for future generations, join Save Our Shores on August 5th at the Fish and Game Commission meeting in Woodland to fight for Marine Protected Areas.  For more information contact Lauren at Lauren@saveourshores.org. Ocean News High School Girl Discovers a Bacteria that can Eat Styrofoam - Derived from mealworm beetles, can we get them to the landfill? Study Says that Fish are Shrinking - They found that fish lost an average 50% body mass over the past 20 to 30 years! San Diego Celebrates a Victory for Seals - Local Harbor Seals are to be left alone on San Diego Beach. Oregon to Remove Four Dams on the Klamath River - They will restore over 300 miles of salmon spawning grounds! New Rules to Limit Use of Ocean Water for Power Plant's Cooling - This may affect Moss Landing Power Plant which is also owned by Dynegy. In This Issue Monthly Quiz Gift to the Ocean Save Our Shores Events Volunteer with SOS The Fight for MPAs Ocean News Video of the Month Tip of the Month Marine Video of the Month Check out our new Marine Protected Areas Public Service Announcement! Thanks to Derek Dockendorf and Mariana Sophia for their great work on the video! Marine Tip of the Month:   Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Do you know what belongs in the recycling bin? Probably a lot more than you think.  Here are the links to recycling programs by region: Santa Cruz Monterey San Mateo (HMB) SOS Partner of the Month: EcoWithin EcoWithin is a local business that offers sustainable solutions for event planning.  They plan green meetings, conferences, parties and even weddings.  For the remainder of 2009, EcoWithin will donate a portion of its event profits to Save Our Shores. For more information on EcoWithin, visit their website. Follow  Save Our Shores! Save Our Shores thanks our many volunteers, sponsors, partners, and contributors for helping Save Our Shores continue our work of caring for the marine environment through Ocean Awareness, Advocacy, and Citizen Action! The ocean and its inhabitants thank you too. Raffle Tickets $5 Get your $5 Raffle Tickets for the Toast to the Coast celebration for your chance to win some awesome prizes! Whoever SELLS the most raffle tickets wins a brand new HP Laptop! TO BUY RAFFLE TICKETS OR PICK THEM UP TO SELL, email Michelle at info@saveourshores.org, or send a check for how many tickets you want to buy at $5/ticket to Save Our Shores, 345 Lake Ave Suite A, Santa Cruz, CA 95062.