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On Sunday, September 28, 2014 a group of Eco-Interns at the William C. Velazquez Institute had the opportunity to collaborate with the Los Angeles Waterkeeper’s citizen science program. Four of us went aboard the LA Waterkeeper boat and learned how to monitor marine protected areas with Michael Quill, MPA Watch Program Manager.

MPA Watch trains people to survey their local “underwater park” to see what kinds of activities are taking place. Marine protected areas are special zones in the coastal ocean designed to protect sea life. They limit fishing while allowing tidepooling, surfing, boating, birdwatching, diving, etc.

In January 2013, a network of marine protected areas was established in Southern California to keep our ocean healthy. Two areas along the Los Angeles coastline were protected because they provide feeding and breeding grounds for fish and other animals, and are easily accessible to the public. They include Point Dume and Point Vicente-Abalone Cove.

It’s important for Angelenos to know about marine protected areas in order to know how to improve the environment around them and have access to safe and healthy fish.  These protected areas are helpful because they preserve kelp forests and rocky reefs that attract certain endangered marine species and keep a healthy marine life. They also teach and inform us about the importance of taking care of the sea. This experience taught us about the effect we could have if we help and do our part.

“The most interesting thing I observed in this trip was the growth of the kelp around the protected areas. I found that to be pretty amazing by the size of the kelp and how useful it is to the marine life.” Pedro Roque – WCVI Eco-Intern

The most fun part of the boat trip was observing the giant kelp and getting to see all the life there was around us. According to LA Waterkeeper: “the giant kelp forest, home to more than 800 species, has been reduced by 75% over the past 100 years as a result of hunting, over fishing and pollution in Los Angeles. This has left the sea urchins with very few predators and uncontrolled populations, creating an ecosystem imbalance. Sea urchins dominate the rocks rather than kelp and hundreds of species are displaced or diminished.”

During the trip we got to experience some of the marine life of the Pacific Ocean including beautiful dolphins and a couple of sea otters. It was pretty amazing because we had never been around or as close to so many dolphins.

The work we did at the Los Angeles River and marine protected areas is deeply connected as both work towards preserving natural resources. The water from the Los Angeles River ends in the ocean and its quality can negatively or positively affect the habit.

The Los Angeles River Eco-Intern Program helped us grow in many ways. We now view the world around us in a different perspective. We learned the importance of taking care of the habitats around us and how fortunate we are to have them. We now make more responsible decisions around our carbon footprint and how we can have a positive effect on wildlife. We also grew as scholars as our minds were opened to different careers that we might want to pursue in the future and the difference we could make.

By Kimberly Cabrera, Senior at Esteban E Torres High School and Pedro Roque, Senior at Cathedral High School

For more information about the William C Velasquez Institute and Eco-Intern Programs you can visit: ww.wcvi.org

For more information about the Marine Protected Areas Watch Program you can visit: www.lawaterkeeper.org/marine-protected-areas/

I missed California. So much so, that at the last minute I had booked a ticket home for the holidays. My parents were elated, “Ay, que bien que vas a estar aqui para Navidad!” Mi mama exclaimed with unbridled enthusiasm, the kind she reserves only for her children’s returns or successes in life.

I would be home nearly two weeks. Barely enough time, it turns out. During my time home though I was able to take a hike with friends on New Year’s Day. Setting out with what we had, our gear varying a bit, I was excited to get back into some green space that would stretch farther than simply a block or two. We were in the Peninsula, setting out on the PG&E trail at the Rancho San Antonio Space Preserve. I had never been there before, but was expecting at least to see the familiar species of trees and plants I was accustomed to.

We set off with snacks in our bags, sandwiches bought before hand and water. As we ascended the trail, a loop, which was 8 miles in total, I relished in the trees which surrounded me. As I hung back with a friend of mine who kept a similar pace, I smiled. I remembered some of the questions I had posed back in London just before I had left. What was it about nature that drew me to it back again? What were my own definitions and boundaries of it and why did I feel so different in a space like this, as opposed to say, a city park?

At this point, I was interrupted in my thoughts. “Glad to be back home?” my friend had asked. “Yeah…” I said languidly, almost as if waiting for someone to interrupt me again. “Yeah. Definitely. I just…I missed this.” I said, looking around at the hanging limbs with foliage, casting spiders of shadows across the trail, allowing sun to peak through every now and again. “The smell…the trees…how massive they are.” I looked ahead and clearly identified Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak) and Quercus lobata (Valley Oak), two trees I hold very dear to my heart.

As I was finishing my thoughts, the trail wound round and opened up to display the views of the canyons below and the ascent yet to come. Also among the view, clear electrical towers. I frowned a bit and thought about how the towers marred the overall beauty of it all. It was then that it clicked a bit for me. I tend to have a sort of romanticized view of nature. Many of us do, but how could I not? Thinking back to my first experiences in nature, it was among stark peaks of stone, gushing waterfalls, regal summers sprinkled with starry nights which veiled the dark pools above. Within that image, there were flashes of roaring flames from campfires, the comfort of the warmth amidst the freezing cold and the bonding that occurred because there was no reception and no smart phones back then to distract us.

Nature and subsequently, green space, for me, is also a reaching back of my own history. It is filled with nostalgia. One of the things I dreamed about doing while on the plane from London to San Francisco, was the chance to see and smell Sequiodendron giganteum (Giant Sequioa). It reminded me of my past, it reminded me of home.

Yet, here it was. Development and technology, interrupting that flow of the mind. One of the most iconic figures, in my mind, of progress. The present, the future. In all honesty, I have always held some trepidations about the future. Growing up in a large family, there was always a sense of some insecurity around the future. Would there be enough? Would we all be ok? Would I get what I wanted? The dynamics with many people involved could change in an instant, for better and for worse.

In the end, I was left to ponder these things a bit further. I was beginning to unravel some of the truths behind my own definitions of green space and why it has played such a monumental role in my life experiences.

As I was urged onwards and upwards toward the top, just like the first day of the New Year, I continued on with deep a breath, determined to continue to find my own truths to these ideas…

Con mucho amor…