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Red mass of pelagic crabs spotted offshore, will they wash up again?
By Heather McRea | This week in Coast Lines: Last time the cute little crabs covered local beaches like a stinking red carpet.
Plus, for the Marine Mammal Care Center the patient to rehabilitate this time was its own financial future after taking a pandemic hit, and there is hope a simple string of shells could help with Alamitos Bay’s revival.
Here’s what’s happening along the Southern California coast. |  | Swarms of tiny red crabs spotted on sonar
The last time these little guys landed in Orange County, they left a stinking mess from San Clemente to Huntington Beach.
For now the pelagic crabs are swarming offshore on the floor of the sea.
“We’re not seeing them on the surface and swimming around like in years past,” Dana Wharf Sporting and Whale Watching boat captain Brain Wooley said.
But “there’s always a chance” they could come ashore like they did several years ago en masse creating a bright red carpet of decaying bodies that crews had to clean from the sand.
Read the story. | Marine animal hospital recovering from financial distress
San Pedro's Marine Mammal Care Center specializes in rescuing sea lions and successfully rehabilitating them for a second chance at life in the ocean.
In the last year, the nonprofit hospital also successfully rehabilitated its finances, pulling itself from the brink after the pandemic wiped out much of its donation revenue.
“We’re out of that world where we were going to have to close at any minute,” Amber Becerra, a volunteer who helped lead the intense fundraising effort, said. “The wonderful news is the center is no longer facing closure and we now have an eye toward reaching financial sustainability.”
Read the story.
|  | Strings of shells could help oyster population
Environmentalists and boaters are hoping the free housing offered to Alamitos Bay's young oyster population will spawn a recovery of its wetlands and clean the water.
They were out Saturday dropping strings of shells hoping the hard-working Olympia oyster larvae would be enticed by the new accommodations.
“Restored native Olympia oyster beds provide valuable habitat for estuarine organisms, as well as contribute to improving water quality in Alamitos Bay," the project's organizers said. "Oysters are ecosystem engineers – if they thrive, other species will too.”
Read the story. | What else?
Up-and-coming surfers shred competition in first SoCal contest since pandemic wiped out events.
Read the story.
South Laguna Beach residents want a once-discussed gate installed at Table Rock Beach to restrict access when the sands are supposed to be closed at night.
Read the story.
A bird, likely a masked booby, that should be living in the tropics of the southern hemisphere has been hanging out on the local coast.
Read the story.
|  | Remember when?
In 1949, the trend of taking the movie-watching experience outdoors under the stars arrived in San Pedro, where along with the open skies patrons also had cool ocean breezes. The San Pedro Drive-In advertising claimed a screen and snack bar that were "the largest in the world." It would remain a local landmark for 37 years.
Read the story. |
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