Freshening up Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

Heal the Bay will build new exhibits at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, upgrade deteriorating equipment, and analyze a possible expansion with the help of $650,000 approved by the Conservancy. The City of Santa Monica and Heal the Bay will contribute $150,000.

The new exhibits will focus on coastal conservation, watershed protection, and environmental stewardship, and will encourage hands-on learning experiences. They will emphasize local natural history, the Santa Monica Bay watershed, and marine environmental issues.

All the species on exhibit at the aquarium are found in or near Santa Monica Bay, and almost all the plants and animals have been collected by hand. Visitors can now see displays of animals that live under the pier, a kelp forest, touch tanks with animals of the rocky shoreline, and tanks with sharks, rays, octopuses, and other creatures.

The aquarium, which is below the Santa Monica Pier Carousel, had more than 65,000 visitors last year, including 13,000 students on group tours.

For a Healthier Santa Monica Bay

Efforts to restore Santa Monica Bay got a double boost in April when the Conservancy authorized $1 million to the City of Malibu for improving treatment of stormwater runoff into Malibu Creek and Lagoon, and also approved $350,000 to Santa Monica Baykeeper to continue restoring kelp habitat.

Malibu Creek, the principal source of water for Malibu Lagoon, has been plagued by pollution. The City will install equipment to divert runoff into the creek from storm drains at Cross Creek Road, Malibu Road, and Civic Center Way. The water will be screened for trash at each drain, then pumped to a treatment facility where it will be filtered and disinfected before it is released back into the creek. The City is also looking at ways to reuse the treated water other than returning it to the creek.

Malibu's Surfrider Beach, which adjoins the lagoon, has regularly received "F" grades on Heal the Bay's Beach Report Card, particularly during rainy season when the berm across the lagoon's mouth is breached and the lagoon is open to the ocean. Pollution has made beachgoers wary of going into the water.

The bay's health will also benefit from Santa Monica Baykeeper's kelp restoration along its northern shoreline. The giant kelp beds off the southern California coast have been reduced by more than 70 percent in the last 100 years by the impacts of coastal development, pollution, El Nino events, and an explosion of sea urchin populations.

Both projects are part of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, adopted by the State and the EPA in 1995 to improve water quality and restore habitat in the bay and its watersheds.

Tall Ships Festival

The Conservancy allotted $100,000 from the Environmental License Plate Fund to help the Maritime Museum of San Diego plan Tall Ship Exposition festivals for summer 2008 at California ports, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Historic tall ships and working craft will visit each port for up to five days. Multicultural educational and recreational activities to promote interest in urban waterfronts will be offered on board and on shore.