California Coast & Ocean

The Aerial Perspective
In California, LightHawk played a unique role in helping to win federal legislation that has protected more wilderness areas and--a matter of special pride for Sutton--in helping to establish the first network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the Central Coast. The MPA proposal was being hotly debated and more public support was needed. So in 2006, at the request of the Ocean Conservancy, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Otter Project, LightHawk staged what Sutton called a “blitzkrieg.” Pilots from around the country gathered in Monterey for the organization’s annual fly-in, an event held at a location where they can be especially useful. A series of two-hour flights was arranged over the 200-mile coastal stretch between Point Conception and Half Moon Bay, within which the network of MPAs was proposed. Aboard were media representatives, government officials, and leaders of organizations engaged in the MPA discussions. The guide was Meg Caldwell, former chair of the Coastal Commission and director of the Environmental Law and Policy Program at Stanford University Law School.

“We looked at how land-use practices affect MPAs,” said Sutton, “land-based sources of ocean pollution, forest practices, suburban sprawl, encroachment of development on agricultural lands. And we saw the beauty of the coast, the kelp forests, rocky reefs, gray whales breaching, all kinds of wildlife. The aerial perspective makes things real for people.” Sutton took up a reporter and photographer from the Associated Press. The resulting story ran in over a hundred newspapers.

From the air it is obvious that ecosystems extend across national boundaries--a fact often ignored on the ground. “Currently, about half the flying missions are in Mesoamerica--Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico,” Sutton said. “We have looked at the enormous destruction of mangroves in favor of shrimp farms, at illegal logging on the border of Guatemala and Belize. We’ve supported the fight to protect monarch butterfly roosting sites in northern Sonora [Mexico] from illegal logging. You can see the monarchs from the air--so many millions they stain the green canopy orange. Without these flights, scientists would not have been able to locate areas where the butterflies concentrate and try to protect them.”

First-Hand Views
When the Mexican government announced protections for monarch habitat late this year, LightHawk did not step up for applause. Neither did it do so when the California Fish and Game Commission established the MPA network in April 2007 (see Ebb & Flow Updates). “LightHawk never takes credit for winning a campaign,” said Sutton. “Most of the effort is ground troops slogging it out, day by day.” This reticence, however, doesn’t help when the organization needs financial support. Much of its funding comes from individual donors. The pilots usually pay fuel costs and other expenses, and donate both time and the use of their aircraft.

Sometimes Sutton is asked: Are these flights really necessary today, when remote sensing systems are bringing back fantastic images for all to see? “Looking at things through glass is not the same as being out with them,” is his response. “It’s the difference between going to an aquarium and scuba diving.”

For Sutton, LightHawk is a good fit with his goals as director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s newest program, the Center for the Future of the Oceans, which aims to inspire action for the ocean on the part of individuals, corporate leaders, and policy makers. LightHawk pilots volunteer because they love to fly, and what they see while in the air distresses them. They have found a unique way to do something personally for the blue planet.