The sea runs deep in new biography of John Olguin, longtime director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

John Olguin taught us to love the ocean.

Indeed, it was Olguin’s job to argue the case for protecting the sea as longtime director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro.

The ocean was central to his married life, too. All of their lives, Olguin and his wife, Muriel, slept under the stars -- rain or shine -- on a large bed on the porch of their San Pedro home, and awakened to the barks of sea lions and the calls of gull below.

Olguin, who in 1999 was named Citizen of the Century by the Los Angeles Times, died in January at the age of 89.

His authorized biography, An Ocean of Inspiration: The John Olguin Story, from Rocky Mountain Books of Surrey, B.C., Canada, casts a warm and intimate eye on his remarkable life. It was co-writtenby three close friends and colleagues: Stefan E. Harzen, chairman and chief executive of The Taras
Oceanographic Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to marine mammal conservation; marine mammal researcher Barbara J. Brunnick;and Mike Schaadt, the current director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.

Their research for this chronicle, which was launched a decade before Olguin died, was driven by great admiration and begins when he was born to an impoverished Mexican family in San Pedro.

"We had access to his archives and photographs," Harzen said. "He was an extremely hard worker, and had a wonderful view of the world in the sense that he tried hard to understand the really important things in life -- and reached out to share what he had learned with others."

Olguin worked as a lifeguard in 1937, at 16, and graduated from San Pedro High School in 1941. He won a Silver Star while in the Army from 1942 to 1945, serving in New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan.

He went on to organize the world’s first commercial whale-watching program for children in 1971 and presided over grunion watches in which thousands of onlookers dashed to the beach fronting the aquarium to witness the reproductive mayhem of the silvery, slender fish riding in on the swells to mate on the sand.

He found the love of his life in Muriel. The couple stayed fit by rowing 24 miles from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island in a little boat packed with a thermos of coffee, warm clothes, sleeping bags, their little poodle, Pico, and his guitar. They also carried flares and a battery-powered light to row at night.

Their vibrancy, passion and influence come to life in these pages: “The couple ventured out to sea: pulling the oars -- not hard, just steady -- and leaning back to use their own weight to draw through the water. That’s what got them the mileage. As John used to say, “Five miles to a peanut butter sandwich!”

The book is scheduled for release on Oct. 16, and will be available at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro, and at Williams Bookstore, 443 W. 6th St., San Pedro.

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Photo: John Olguin. Credit: Los Angeles Times

A lucky squirrel survives the La Brea Tar Pits

The California Wildlife Center in Malibu has cleaned up its share of birds rescued from oil spills. But last month, a goo-covered squirrel arrived, freshly plucked from the La Brea Tar Pits, the famous tomb of   prehistoric animals. 

The young female fox squirrel was rescued by staffers at the nearby Los Angeles County Museum of Art who saw her struggling in the pool of tar. She went under, managed to pop back to the surface and then was lifted out with a stick.

Once at the wildlife center, hospital manager Jo Joseph and animal care coordinator Christina Van Oosten attacked the black goop that coated the unrecognizable animal from head to claw tip. Their 90 minutes of scrubbing, first with mineral oil and then with a mixture of Dawn dish detergent and water, was recorded on video.

The center kept the squirrel for two weeks to make sure she didn't grow ill from her dunking and then released her on the tar pit grounds, presumably the wiser. 

Court approves endangered species settlement

Rocky Mountain pikas not nearing extinction, study finds

Endangered arroyo toads cling to existence in the Tehachapi Mountains

--Bettina Boxall

Photo: Replica of a prehistoric animal stuck in the tar pits. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

 

 

California says yes to recycled water

The state Senate today passed a bill allowing so-called graywater systems in homes and commercial buildings.

The bill, AB 849, is aimed at clarifying a patchwork of local regulation that has at times prohibited these "non-potable water reuse systems," which divert drain water for irrigation and other purposes.

If signed by the governor, the new state law would prohibit local jurisdictions from banning graywater systems, which have gained popularity as more municipalities face restrictions on fresh water. It would allow those jurisdictions to enact stricter graywater standards than those of the state only if they provide climatic, geographic and topographic reasons for the tougher regulations.

The state adopted uniform rules for installing graywater systemsin 2009, according to an analysis of the bill, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles).

The Assembly already has approved the bill.

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-- Geoff Mohan

Photo: A graywater system collects and filters laundry water in an East Rancho Dominguez low-income housing development. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times

Endangered arroyo toads cling to existence in the Tehachapi Mountains

When biologist Ruben Ramirez wants to introduce people to his favorite amphibian, he takes them to a little oasis in the southwestern foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains where an isolated colony of endangered arroyo toads clings to existence by their stout little toes.

It is a remote creek on U.S. Forest Service land offering all the creature comforts needed for the toads to avoid extirpation: shallow water, sandy banks and willows and buckwheat buzzing with insects to feed on. It is also free of dams and diversions and seldom visited by hikers and mountain bikers.

During a tour on Friday, it took Ramirez and fellow biologist Robert Haase only a few minutes to find several young arroyo toads bulking up on harvester ants in the area, which also teems with more common species: western toads, Pacific chorus frogs and California chorus frogs.

Ramirez requested that the exact location not be disclosed. “The less disturbance here the better,” he said as a youngster hopped past the tips of his hiking boots.

“This is one of the few sweet spots left in Southern California for this species,” Ramirez said. “So it’s an ideal place to bring groups of people who want to know more about this incredible amphibian I have been researching for 15 years. The goal of these 'toad walks’ is to provide people with the kind of information you can only get firsthand in the field.”

Most people learn about arroyo toads in news reports about legal skirmishes among environmental groups, developers and federal land managers over their fate.

“Unfortunately, people love this toador hate it,” Haase said. “For those subject to the economic impacts of dealing with an endangered amphibian, it’s an enemy. For those who want to keep remaining ecosystems intact, it’s a treasure.”

Meanwhile, the 3-inch-long toad’s fate remains uncertain. When Bufo californicus -- a small, buff-colored amphibian with dark spots and warts -- was listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1994, it had lost more than 75% of its historic habitat to development, mining, agriculture and predation by non-native species.

Today, the arroyo toad persists in 23 small, isolated populations including this one, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles.

The Endangered Species Act requires the federal government to designate critical habitat for endangered and threatened species, creating an additional level of review for building and land-use permits.

But even within critical habitat, the arroyo toad faces threats that include fungal infections and predation by raccoons and non-native bullfrogs, and continues to figure in development battles across Southern California.
 
Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized designation of 98,366 acres of critical habitat for the arroyo toad from Monterey County to San Diego County, concluding a decade-long legal battle between the agency and the Center for Biological Diversity.

In June, a U.S. District Court judge ordered three federal agencies to "take all necessary measures" to better protect 40 endangered species -- including the arroyo toad -- in four national forests in Southern California.

In July, however, avdvocates for the toad lost a court fight to spare a small population in Orange County’s Silverado Canyon from threats posed by a proposal to develop a large horse ranch in the area.

Dropping to his knees for a better view of a dime-size arroyo toad hunting insects in the shade of a willow tree, Ramirez said, “The fight to save these creatures is far from over. But at the end of the day, the best decisions will be based on the best available science collected in places like this.”

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Agency seeks to end sea otter relocations, to allow them off SoCal

-- Louis Sahagun

Photo: An arroyo toad in the Tehachapi Mountains. Credit: Louis Sahagun/Los Angeles Times

Marine sanctuaries delayed in Southern California

 
Hundreds of square miles of marine sanctuaries that were scheduled to take effect Oct. 1 in Southern California will be delayed for at least several months for administrative reasons, state wildlife officials said Thursday.

The California Department of Fish and Game said the state Office of Administrative Law has had questions about the complicated package of regulations and informed the agency it would not be able to implement them by the planned start date.

In December the California Fish and Game Commission adopted protections for about 15% of state waters from Point Conception to the U.S.-Mexico border. Under the California Marine Life Protection Act, fishing will be banned or restricted in 49 marine protected areas to protect sea life and replenish depleted fish populations.

Though it's unclear how long the delay will be, "we're looking at months rather than years, or even a year," said Jordan Traverso, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

The delay is unrelated to lawsuits fishing groups have filed against the regulations, Traverso said. The commission will discuss a new start date at a meeting next month in Redding.

Southern California's marine reserves are the latest segment in a chain of sanctuaries Fish and Game officials are charged with establishing up and down the coast. They came about after years of contentious negotiations between conservation groups seeking sweeping protections for marine habitat and commercial and recreational fishing groups trying to hold onto access to key fishing areas.

Newly protected waters will include a kelp forest off Point Dume in Malibu, Naples Reef in Santa Barbara County, a stretch of the Laguna Beach coastline and waters off south La Jolla.

The region sees the most fishing activity in the state because of its dense population and many harbors.

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Photo: A lengthy stretch of the Laguna Beach coastline will be one of the state's new marine sanctuaries. Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times

Public artwork at downtown Los Angeles' Downey Pool facility gets a name

When artist Sylvia Tidwell began painting a work to liven up the entrance of one of the oldest public swimming pool facilities in downtown Los Angeles, she aimed to celebrate the beauty and refreshment that recreation in water offers to city children.

The artwork, which is 20 feet wide by three feet tall, was installed three weeks ago high on a wall in the foyer of the Downey Pool on the 1700 block of North Spring Street.

The panel of rainbow colors and dreamlike reflections was an immediate hit at the pool, which reopened a year ago after extensive renovations.

Looking up at the panel on a recent weekday, pool manager David Fornelli smiled and said, “It’s cool. I really like it. It looks like water.”

“That’s exactly what I was aiming for,” responded Tidwell.

But the piece was not finished until Friday afternoon, when Tidwell finally gave it a name.

“I’d been mulling over a name for months,” said Tidwell, who created the work under the auspices of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.

“Like your child, you want your painting to have a good name,” she said. “A proper title becomes part of a work, and adds meaning to it.”

The artwork was christened Pool Painting (Shimmer).

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A river runs through Los Angeles. Seriously.

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Photo: Pool Painting (Shimmer) oil painting by Sylvia Tidwell. Credit: Couresy of Wild Don Lewis Photography.

A river runs through Los Angeles. Seriously.

Three years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers had plans that would have exempted parts of the Los Angeles River from clean-water regulations. A biologist with the corps tipped people to the plan, then took a protest paddle down the river, which was illegal. She got in hot water with the corps, and eventually left.

How things have changed. Monday, the colonel in charge of the river took to a kayak with elected officials, inaugurating a pilot program to allow the public to paddle at least a short section of the much-maligned river. Soon, you'll be able to do it too. If you're willing to pay, and wait.

"I'm actually out on the water and not worried about getting arrested for it," quipped City Councilman Tony Cardenas, one of the dignitaries paddling a stretch in the Sepulveda Basin on Monday.

More details on Paddling the Los Angeles River.

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A journey of discovery on the LA River

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Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Mark Toy, commander of the Los Angeles district, is among the first people to legally explore the Los Angeles River in decades. Credit: Arkasha Stevenson/Los Angeles Times

Green energy: California poll finds overwhelming support

A new statewide survey of environment issues conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California found more residents favor climate change policy, want to cut greenhouse gas emissions and believe they are already experiencing the effects of global warming.

“This is a clear mandate that people want to move beyond dirty energy,” said David Graham-Caso, Los Angeles Sierra Club spokesman.

The survey, the 11th since 2000, sampled more than 2,500 people and found Californians are strongly supportive of policies that encourage fuel efficiency and renewable energy, according to Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of PPIC.

Most survey takers (67%) support the state’s law reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Across the board, state residents agree that automakers should be required to improve fuel efficiency standards (90% Democrats, 81% independents, and 76% Republicans).

They also overwhelmingly favor (79%) government regulation of the release of greenhouse gases from sources such as power plants, cars and factories to reduce global warming. While 79% favor greenhouse gas regulations, they are split between a cap and trade system (54% in favor) and a carbon tax (60% in favor).  

“People see it as a tax to discourage fossil fuel use and to improve state infrastructure,” said Jim Metropulos, senior advocate of the Sierra Club in Sacramento.  “The Sierra Club believes something like a carbon tax would make it easier to achieve outcomes that we want quickly.”

Urban power like rooftop solar dominates Brown's energy confab

It may not be quite the renewable energy powerhouse that Germany and China are, but California will be well on its way once it speeds up installations of smaller, urban projects, Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday.

At a UCLA conference called to help figure how to achieve Brown’s goal of 12 gigawatts of localized clean power production, he and executives from SolarCity, Google and NRG talked about the state’s energy future.

“At the same time we try to balance our budgets, we have to keep investing,” he said. “We have to keep California up among the innovative places of the world.”

Which isn’t to say that Brown doesn’t also cheerlead for large, utility-scale projects. He referenced a massive 1-gigawatt solar installation in Blythe, where he had attended a groundbreaking ceremony a month earlier.

But after signing a mandate this spring requiring California to draw 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, Brown is on the lookout for cheaper and easier ways to generate clean power.

Enter distributed generation, which involves rooftop solar panels, small wind turbines, fuel cells and other technologies placed around homes and businesses.

Brown is among a large group of politicians and environmentalists -- including his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Los Angeles Business Council -- to push for urban energy production as a complement to the larger and occasionally problematic mountain and desert installations.

“We’re in a very real sector here,” Brown said. For more on the conference, check out the Times’ Money & Co. blog.

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Photo: Homeowner Michelle Gerdes on top of her Long Beach roof. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

EPA Chief Lisa Jackson speaks at NAACP convention in Los Angeles

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson spoke to the NAACP National Convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday about the impact of pollution on minority communities, an issue that will be also be explored during a Monday afternoon panel: "The air we breathe: taking action against toxic exposures in African American communities" from 2 to 4 p.m.

Before her speech, Jackson spoke with The Times about her approach to environmental justice.

Q: What does environmental justice mean to you?

A: It is one of my priorities and I define it fairly broadly. The simplest way to describe it is it’s really the unfinished business of the EPA; there are still communities in this country where there’s a disproportionate collection of smokestacks and tailpipes. Those sources of pollution mean that the communities that live around them have more exposure to pollution than other communities. Since air blows and water flows you can't really clean up this nation’s air and water without addressing those communities as well. We know about them and have really strong efforts underway in those communities, but I would like to see progress and the progress continue.

Q: What is being done to address pollution in minority communities?

A: You have to do it on a number of levels. Probably the one that is most germane here is air pollution. L.A. knows as well as anyone that air pollution is not just a problem for the environment, it’s a public health threat. Dirty air means premature death. Dirty air means respiratory illnesses, most notable asthma, but a number of respiratory ailments that are made worse on bad air days, and we’ve had a lot of that this summer, although not here in lovely L.A.

We have a study, a peer reviewed study, that said $2 trillion in healthcare costs saved from implementation of the Clean Air Act from 1990 to 2020. Usually that number stops people in their tracks. So implementing the Clean Air Act is not only because it’s the right thing to do, it’s to save lives, to make our children healthier and address issues for the elderly and people with health impairments.