Last week Heal The Bay released their 19th annual Beach Report Card, and the report finds that the City of Angeles holds the unenviable distinction of possessing the most polluted beaches in California. Oh boy! With A-to-F letter grades assigned to 94 beaches, 15 of them received year-round F grades, with six ranking in Heal the Bay’s annual Beach Bummer List of the most polluted sites in the state. The good news—if there is any—is that 70% of sites earned A or B grades, a state-low total for the fourth year in a row and nearly even with last year’s 71% tally. You can thank chronically polluted beaches in Malibu, Santa Monica, Avalon and Long Beach for dragging down the county’s overall grades.

“You go surf around here and sometimes the water just stinks, you can tell something’s not right. It’s gross,” says Theodore Sawyer, an L.A.-area surfer who just moved from the pristine Monterey Bay area to the not-so-pristine Venice Beach. “You’d think a place who’s image is based on the beach would be more into preserving the environment.”

That being said, there are alternatives our there. Proving that Orange County is home to more than just scandalous housewives, O.C. beaches recorded outstanding water quality grades, well above the state average. Some 97% of 103 monitoring locations received an A or B during the summer, as well as 93% for year-round dry weather.

And just north of L.A.—where, in the words of Sam George, a man can be free—Ventura County also seems to be taking care of its coast. Of the 53 beaches monitored, 51 locations received A grades. Moving up the coast, more than 90% of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo beaches earned A or B grades during year-round dry weather. Santa Cruz saw 83% of its beaches record A grades year-round. Further north, San Mateo notched perfect 100% A grades at its 11 sites, while San Francisco earned 93%. Marin, Mendocino and Humboldt counties earned perfect 100% summer grades, while Sonoma recorded A or B grades for more than 85% of its beaches.

Of course, with the good has to come the bad, and as of press time Ventura has ceased ocean testing at all beaches since October in the wake of the state budget crisis, which eliminated all funds to support counties’ regular ocean testing. Orange County officials also may decrease sampling if state funding isn’t made available by July.

“With summer coming, the state has made assurances that it will start restoring funding to beach monitoring programs, but there is no firm date,” said Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay. “Until then, swimmers in many locations in greater Southern California are truly swimming at their own risk.

Most California beaches had very good water quality with 262 of 307 (85%) locations receiving very good to excellent (A and B) grades, while only 32 of the beaches (6%) monitored statewide received D or F grades. High bacteria counts at these sites are linked to such potential illnesses as stomach flu, ear infections and major skin rashes.

The Top 10 Beach Bummers
Twenty-three beaches statewide received an overall “F” grade in year-round dry weather during the 2008-2009 Beach Report Card. The ten worst “Beach Bummers” in California (starting with the worst) are:

1. Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
2. Cabrillo Beach harborside (Los Angeles County)
3. Pismo Beach Pier (San Luis Obispo County)
4. Colorado Lagoon (Los Angeles County)
5. Santa Monica Municipal Pier (Los Angeles County)
6. City of Long Beach at LA River outlet (Los Angeles County)
7. Poche Beach (Orange County)
8. Surfrider Beach at Malibu Creek (Los Angeles County)
9. Campbell Cove State Park Beach (Sonoma County)
10. Doheny Beach at San Juan Creek (Orange County)

For a detailed look at beach results for each county and report methodology, please refer to our complete report. A PDF version is available at www.healthebay.org

Honor Roll Some 79 of the 324 (24%) beaches with year-round dry weather grades this year scored a perfect A+. These beaches had zero exceedances of state bacterial standards for ocean water quality throughout the entire time frame of this report. Heal the Bay proudly places these beaches on our inaugural Beach Report Card Honor Roll. A list of these locations can be found in the full report.

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Musica Surfica – Wins Best Film and Best Soundtrack at International Surf Film Festival de St Jean de Luz

About the Film:

Musica Surfica explores a collision between classical music and experimental surfing.
Violin virtuoso and surfer Richard Tognetti, of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with his friend, surfing provocateur Derek Hynd, asked a diverse group of surfers, including former world champion Tom Carroll and master shaper Tom Wegener, to join them on remote King Island at the edge of the Southern Ocean, to surf… without fins.

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SURFERS WORLDWIDE UNITE TO CELEBRATE THE FIFTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SURFING DAY

Over 100 Events Scheduled To Take Place Globally on June 20

On June 20, 2009, surfers globally will wax their boards, paddle out and catch waves in honor of International Surfing Day presented by Monster Energy.

Founded five years ago by the Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Magazine, International Surfing Day unites surfers from around the world in celebration of the sport of surfing. As is tradition with the annual holiday, surfers will do their part to give back to our oceans, waves and beaches through various organized events such as clean-ups and restoration projects courtesy of the Surfrider Foundation.

“We are really excited to be celebrating International Surfing Day’s five year anniversary,” says Laura Mazzarella, Surfrider Foundation’s Marketing Manager. “The success and growth since the first celebration is phenomenal, and we look forward to continue growing and raising awareness in the years to come.”

In addition to over 100 coastal events taking place worldwide, various International Surfing Day sponsors will be hosting special challenges, that will allow the public to compete for prizes through various activities. In celebration of ISD’s 5th anniversary, there will be five on-site challenges: You Tube Challenge: Best ISD Influence Video, Most Unique Piece of Trash, Best Trash Sculpture, Costume Party: Best Costume While Riding a Wave, and Most Spots Surfed on ISD: Photo and/or Video Contest. ISD challenges and prize sponsorships will be announced shortly.

For more information on International Surfing Day, including challenges, events and participating chapters, please go to www.intlsurfingday.com.

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