By the way, sorry for the lack of updates, been swamped shipping tons of new Maku pieces all across the country. To those that have purchased a new piece for their outdoor space a big high 5 and thanks!
I found this little gem - "Fish for Thought" on the LeucadiaProject.com. Ed and David are a couple of locals guys that surf the same spots as I do. Ed's zest for surf culture is second to none and David is an incredible photographer.
So check it out, Local North County artist Rodney McCoubrey takes trash found in and around our local beaches and re-purposes it to some pretty cool artwork. Combined with an Eco-Educational aspect with some of the local kids in Del Mar and you have a pretty rad little project going!
The event was yesterday and hopefully the dreary weather did not put a damper on things. (Yes you read right, I said "Dreary" weather.... This time of year we get a little May Gray and June Gloom...)
FISH for THOUGHT
MILE of ART on the beach in Del Mar
TEACHES KIDS, COMMUNITY, ABOUT RECYCLING
Featuring Rodney McCoubrey
Elementary students' artwork display from recycled materials (trash to treasure)
with local artist Rodney 'Rodrigo' McCoubrey this Saturday, May 30th. on the beach in Del Mar
A mile of marine-themed artwork—colorful concoctions of scrap wood, old toothbrushes, aluminum soda tabs, popped balloons and the like, mounted on recycled sticks--winding "Christo style" along the scenic Del Mar coastline. Trash to treasure - a message of HOPE and RECYCLING.
Mini-masterpieces, the kids call Fish Sticks, will be proudly created and displayed to tell the tale ending ocean pollution.
This simple recycling/art project by 400 Del Mar Elementary School children has taken on a life of its own in their hearts and minds, while heightening ocean pollution awareness. Fish For Thought will culminate this Saturday, May 30th, from Power House Park North to Dog Beach in Del Mar in an all-community beach cleanup and coastline art installation along Del Mar beach.
Local recycled-trash artist Rodrigo (aka Rodney McCoubrey) will help them create their own one-of-a-kind recycled wooden fish, embellished with recycled trash collected from the beach and home. www.FishForThought.org
Filmmakers will be onhand to document this grass roots effort and are fundraising to complete an educational documentary. Del Mar hopes to highlight this pilot program as an example of what a community can do to reverse the negative impact trash makes on our beaches and ocean - a small community with a big message.
Local Chief Lifeguard Pat Vergne says, “Our community is using art to raise awareness about trash and the negative effect it has on the health of our marine life and our coastal community. We are thrilled to be supporting the Fish Sticks exhibition and the 5th annual Keep Del Mar Clean community beach clean up as we kick off our city’s new recycling program.”
Additional partners in the project include the City of Del Mar and environmental group “Keep Del Mar Clean.”
Beach clean up will take place from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. at Power House Park in Del Mar.
Fish Sticks will be on display 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. , Power House Park north to Dog Beach in Del Mar, this Saturday May 30th.
Some would think that being a surfer and spending as much time in the water as I do, why would I ever talk about sharks...?
Well, truth be told, the Whale Shark and the Basking Shark of 2 of my all time favorite underwater creatures. The huge majestic beauty and millions of years of evolutionary progress make these 2 sharks very intriguing.
I found this cool article on cnn.com about some recent studies on the Basking Shark and their migratory habits.
(CNN) -- The migration patterns of basking sharks have long mystified marine biologists, but new research has finally revealed where the world's second-biggest fish hide out for half of every year.
Despite growing to over 10 meters in length, basking sharks have often eluded close scientific study.
"While commonly sighted in surface waters during summer and autumn months, the disappearance of basking sharks during winter has been a great source of debate ever since an article in 1954 suggested that they hibernate on the ocean floor during this time," said Gregory Skomal of Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, one of the authors of a report recently published in "Current Biology".
"Some 50 years later, we have helped to solve the mystery while completely re-defining the known distribution of this species."
Using new satellite-tagging and a new geo-location technique, the researchers found that basking sharks make long migrations through tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean during the winter, traveling at depths of 200 to 1,000 meters.
The researcher's data show that the sharks sometimes stay at those depths for weeks or even months at a time.
"In doing so, they have completely avoided detection by humans for millennia," Skomal said in the report. Basking sharks are the world's second-largest fish and can grow to more than 10 meters -- more than 30 feet -- and weigh more than seven tons.
Skomal said they were "absolutely surprised" when they first received a signal from the tagged sharks coming from the tropical waters of the western Atlantic, in the vicinity of the Caribbean and Bahamas. Before the study basking sharks were believed to be cool-water sharks, restricted to temperate regions.
Several factors made basking sharks a challenge to study. Added to their annual disappearing act, they feed exclusively on plankton, which means they can't readily be captured with traditional rod-and-reel methods.
Even when the sharks are found closer to the ocean surface, they spend their time in the cool-temperature, plankton-rich waters that limit underwater visibility and make diving difficult.
The researchers believe their findings could have important implications for the conservation of basking sharks, which have shown some signs of dramatic decline in the last half century and are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
"Coupled with recent genetic data, our finding indicates that the Atlantic population -- and perhaps the world population -- are connected and may constitute a single population," Skomal said.
"Hence, the global population of basking sharks may be even smaller than previously thought."
We have the first solid south swell of the spring and summer season filling into the local southern California beaches yesterday and today. So we loaded up the boards and headed to Trestles this early this morning. No pictures to post as we were all too busy surfing. A nice long session of almost 4 hours in 6-10 ft surf with a few Double Overhead sets felt great!
I took out my trusty 6'4" shaped by Cole Simler and had a blast! Too tired to work the rest of the day so I think we'll just start the weekend early with a nice cold one from our favorite local brewery and Maku Furniture supporter.
Have a great weekend! We'll be at the beach making the most of this swell!
Designed and developed by fellow surfers David “Kawika” Watt, Kealii Mamala, and Dale Geldum, whom all saw an unfortunate abundance of "trash being left behind on island beaches and in hotels each year. These include recreational items such as “boogie boards,” straw and inflatable plastic mats, and literally any other floating device found on the sand and in the water by day’s end."
So they approached the hotels about helping them take care of this problem and here you have it - Kini Beach Tote Bags.
A pretty rad idea and everybody here at Maku are going to pick up a few of these totes on our next trip to the islands!
Mahalo to the crew of Kini Beach nice job keeping the beaches clean!
Happy Earth Day 2009 to All. We're taking the day off to go surf and then clean up the beaches as well as cruise around to the local earth day celebrations.
In honor of Earth Day, here are 5 things you can do to lessen your impact on Mother Earth (courtesy of our friends at the Surfrider Foundation)
If you happen to be in the North San Diego County area this weekend check out Jake Shimabukuro on Saturday night at the Grace Theater in O'side. All proceeds from the concert go to the California Surf Museum.
So Check it out, as you know I am an avid (perhaps addicted is better) surfer and my life and everyday activities are tied very very close to the ocean. There is just something very special about spending time in the water almost daily. Some call it a greater spirit connection, Ijust love being outdoors...
But I am also a realist and understand the needs of the "greater good" in an effort to maintain commerce and all things that go with living in this greatest country in the world. As such I always try to look at the most viewpoints possible and asses alternatives. In short there are always 2 ways to the same answer...
So when the offshore drilling ban was lifted, I became very concerned (and still am) that we will see the beautiful coastline covered in offshore oil rigs. Not only detracting from the natural beauty of the ocean and those terrific So.Cal sunsets but more importantly adversely affecting the eco system from fish kill to pollution to sea bed damage the list goes on.
Sure Fossil Fuels are the easy answer and the technology to drill for them is readily available. I hope we can all agree that fossil fuels are also not the answer to a longer term problem.
Our kids are off from School this week and we have been chilling at the beach, perfect weather, the water is starting to warm up and we have a nice little swell scheduled to fill in on Tuesday...!
I'll have some green wisdom later in the week. Until then make sure you live everyday to the fullest!
Here's a shot from our local beach earlier this afternoon. Sorry for poor quality, shot it with my Iphone.
Continuing on with the Ocean related "theme" of recent posts I thought I would try and bring some attention to what posses to be the newest and potentially greatest threat to our Oceans.
Acidification of our oceans has risen 30% since 1900! Yikes, that's a lot of acid in our most precious of natural resources and the cycle that drives life on our little piece of the galaxy.
A Sea Change debuted to tremendous acolades at the Environmental Film Festival 2 weeks ago in Washington D.C.
I wonder if President Obama attended the film festival or perhaps he was too busy putting his brackets together for March Madness or setting his schedule for his appearance on The Tonight Show... (Sorry, couldn't resist a little dig on our 44th president but to me it seems he should be focusing on the economic and environment problems at hand versus trying to be a media star or dare I say media whore...)
....Now back to our regularly scheduled programing - So check out the trailer below for what looks to be a great documentary on the plight of our oceans. And remember change starts with one person at a time!
I've been meaning to talk about this Super Grom named Cobi Emery from nearby Del Mar. 2 years ago when Cobi was 10 he started Pick up 3 as a way to bring increased attention to pollution on the local San Diego beaches.
Now at 12 years old and a couple of years into his project he has made such a tremendous difference. Just think what can be done if we all took the same passion, verve, and stoke that young Cobi has...
A big High 5 Cobi and I'd be happy to share a wave with you any day! Keep up the great work!
I found this cool little video from my friends at Boardistan via the LA Times. This vid truly gets to the roots of why we as surfers travel to every imaginable corner of the earth in Search of the next rush or the next great wave.
By the way, another double surf session for me today. Surfing with my buddies this morning and then my son this afternoon. What a great way to spend a Saturday!
The waves today were 2 ft, crumbly, and an on shore wind but I had the best session of my life and didn't even catch a wave.
Today my 9 yr old son Mason paddled outside and in to the lineup and caught his own waves! He has been surfing for 2 years but until today stayed in the safety of the shore break where he could "hop" onto the whitewash after the wave broke. Well my boy can finally say he is a surfer since he paddled out with me and caught his own waves. I'm one proud dad for sure!!
Here is a pic of him with his new "used" board that we picked up from the crew @ K5 a few months ago. (sorry for the poor quality I took it with my cell phone...)
Best Wishes from Maku Furniture for a wonderful Earth Day 2008! Check out these to easy ways to help Mother Earth. Courtesy of our friends @ Surfrider Foundation.
10 Things You Can Do Now to Soften Your Impact on Mother Earth:
1. Reduce, Reuse then Recycle as much as possible, including paper (newspaper, office paper, corrugated boxes), glass, plastic, aluminum and steel (and water!!). Use the back of every piece of paper.
2. Be conscious of your water usage and try not to let too much go down the drain and don't let any go down the street because of over watering.
3. Conserve energy, use energy efficient lighting and ask your utility company to use renewable energy. Turn lights/TV off when not in use.
4. Find an alternative to chemical pesticides for your lawn and buy organic produce when possible to reduce pesticide use in farming.
5. Eat locally grown organic foods. Limit or eliminate meat from your diet and purchase only those brands of tuna marked "dolphin safe."
6. Join a Surfrider beach cleanup or organize a cleanup of your own!
7. Use public transportation whenever possible and, when driving, try to carpool. Bike or walk for short trips…and gain a health benefit too.
8. Get your toes in the sand! Visit and support our parks. Help teach young people to appreciate the beauties of the natural world.
9. Educate yourself on important environmental concerns and know how your elected officials stand on the issues.
10. Spend time teaching a child about the importance of a healthy environment.
Being tied closely to the ocean, I see macro and micro changes in our eco system all the time. Both good and bad.
Fortunately here in North County San Diego the kelp beds have made a comeback! They were all but gone a few years ago and then an agressive kelp reforestation program brought it back. Not only does the kelp offer a home to many species of oceanic life but it also creates some nice glassy surfing conditions inside the kelp when the wind is blowing on the outside.
What does kelp in North County San Diego and Salmon have to do with each other. Well, much like the kelp forests a few years ago the west coast salmon have now all but disappeared. As recently as 2002, 750,000 adult salmon were counted in the run up the Sacramento river. It is estimated that less than 90,000 Chinook ran last fall and that number is projected to plummet to as little as 58,000 this fall. Less than 10% of the salmon that ran in 2002 an over 90% decrease!!
While certainly I feel that some of this can be attributed to climate change and perhaps cyclical nature, there is no doubt in my mind that most of the decline in the west coast salmon run is attributed to man. More runoff / pollution / sediment build up in the Sacramento river basin from increased building, farming, and pretty much people not caring about our impact on our eco system.
There are solutions to these problems, I always talk about the easy ones such as recycling. It's not that hard to put your plastics, papers, bottles and cans in a separate container for the garbage man to pick up. Remember the North pacific gyre and the blob of plastic the size of Texas floating in the ocean...?
Eating organic foods that don't use synthetic pesticides which runoff into the river and oceans creating algae / plankton blooms and sucking the oxygen out of the water.
Conserving energy and turning off lights or electronics when you are not in the room.
When are we as an entire society going to start seeing the impacts firsthand and change the way we live to help mother earth heal from all this damage? It appears that we are willing to pay $4 for a gallon of gas and looks like we will be paying $30+ for a pound of wild Salmon in the near future. At some point society has to take a stands and say enough is enough look at what we are doing to our environment. I think that time is nearing.
Act locally and think globally. I know that's kind of a played out saying but it's true and we can each make a difference together if we take a stand and do what is right.
