Few realize that their favorite sandy beach is acomplex coastal ecosystem, as well as abeloved playground. Sandy beaches are hometo unique plants and animals, intricate foodwebs and vital ecological functions. People appreciate the restorative power ofbeaches, as do seabirds, sea turtles and marinemammals. Human children love beaches and sodo animal babies. Beaches are nursery areas forseals and sea lion pups, and for shorebird nests.One marine fish, our famous California Grunion,relies on beaches for spectacular midnightspawning runs, burying eggs on sandy shores. Protecting natural resources on the coast ofurban areas is challenging. Beaches are at theinterface between water and land, affected byimpacts from both sides. Structures such ashouses and seawalls prevent natural replenish-ment from the back of beaches, while sea levelrise and erosion from waves narrow beachesfurther. This coastal squeeze reduces theamount of beach available for people and livingnatural resources. In southern California, sandy beaches along70% of our coastline attract millions of visitorsevery year. Surprisingly, even though beachesare the most extensive coastal feature, theirmanagement is not consistent. There is no certi-fication program or set curriculum to preparemanagers and maintenance workers to care forecosystem features and protect naturalresources in sandy beach ecosystems, asthere is, for example, for lifeguard trainingand protection of human recreation. Fortunately, a unique organization has cometogether to improve management practices

for sandy beaches, based on shared experienceand scientific expertise. Formed in 2004 with14 members, the Beach Ecology Coalition nowhas hundreds of participants and global recog-nition. To share information and best practices,the Beach Ecology Coalition holds two meet-ings each year. The Beach Ecology Coalition uses its meetingsto share specific examples of managementactions that support wildlife on our urbanbeaches. These include presentations, demon-strations of equipment or natural features androundtable discussions. In addition, Best Man-agement Practices are developed as templatesfor organizations seeking to benefit from the

experiences of others facing similar situations. The charismatic California grunion played akey role in the formation of the Beach EcologyCoalition. Fifteen years ago, a San Diego citizen sounded an alarm about the potentialharmful effects of beach raking. She observed atractor raking up kelp from a beach. Looking

closer, she saw thatthe tracks behind the vehicle glistened withCalifornia grunioneggs, brought to the

APU

BLICATION FOR FRIENDS OF CABRILLO

MARINE AQUARIUM

(continued on page 2)A facility of the City of LosAngeles Department ofRecreation and Parks withsupport from Friends of CMA

Volume XXXVI • Issue 2

Summer 2016

What’s InsideCreature Feature ........ 3Beach Changes .......... 4Discovery LectureSeries ....................... 5Save the Date ............ 8

Meeting at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Balancing Human Recreation with Wildlife Conservation

BEACH ECOLOGYCOALITION

BEACH ECOLOGYCOALITION

continued from page 1

Shifting SandsPeople come from near and far to enjoy the beaches ofSouthern California. Our culture is characterized bypeople frolicking on the beach. Few people pay muchattention to the sand itself or the many animals and plantsthat call this habitat home. A healthy beach is part of ahealthy ocean. Grunion run on our beach. Sand crabsscurry up with the waves and burrow in. Human actionshave dramatically changed beaches whether it’s dammingrivers that results in reduced beach sand replenishment,

armoring beaches to protect homesand businesses or raking beachesto provide a good spot for peopleto lay down beach towels. Alongwith the shifting sands we need toshift our ideas of what makes for ahealthy beach. You will learn morein this issue about the BeachCoalition and efforts to maintainhealthy sandy beach habitats.

MIKE SCHAADT, CMA Director

From the Directorsurface by the action of the tines. She alerted the media, andthe community passionately supported protecting grunionnests from this disturbance. The City of San Diego called for scientific study of beachgrooming practices and a look at the status of the grunionon city beaches. This led to the formation of the GrunionGreeters, a group of citizen scientists that observes andreports the strength of local grunion runs. One outcome ofthat study was to recommend changes to beach rakingprotocols. San Diego’s City Council accepted therecommendation, and the beach maintenance team adjustedtheir efforts during grunion season. The city’s beach manager at the time, Dennis Simmons,saw both the importance and the simplicity of this protocolto conserve this endemic species of fish. He believed othercoastal managers could benefit from sharing this kind ofinformation. He reached out to beach managers in neigh-boring areas to form a new organization, one that wouldencourage ecologically sensitive beach maintenance basedon sound science and practical experience. The first meet-ing was held at Pepperdine University in Malibu. Over the years participation increased, and the organizationwas incorporated as an educational non-profit in 2007. Cur-rently hundreds of people are involved in the BeachEcology Coalition: beach managers, lifeguards, scientists,equipment operators, coastal engineers, surfers and staffersfrom environmental organizations and resourcemanagement agencies such as Surfrider Foundation, HealThe Bay, the California Coastal Commission, CaliforniaState Parks, California Department of Fish and Wildlife andpublic aquariums. There is no other organization like it inthe world. This is the only opportunity that professionalswith such diverse beach experience can come together fromacross California in a collaborative setting.It turns out that altering beach raking practice by leavingkelp wrack on shore has many additional benefits besidesprotecting vulnerable grunion eggs. Wrack supports a foodweb of invertebrates that are in turn consumed by shore-birds. It traps sand, helping to retain the natural slope of thebeach. Over time, nutrients return to the ocean and recycleinto new kelp plants. Now, some beach managers have al-tered their raking practices to leave the wrack line year-round.In the past, caring for the beach amounted only to picking uptrash and promoting human safety. Now and in the future,caring for the beach involves protecting much-needed habitatfor native plants and animals that have nowhere else to go.The Beach Ecology Coalition works with beach managersand others to conserve our beautiful sandy beaches so thatthey can be enjoyed for their ecological treasures and recre-ational pleasures for generations to come.

Aquarium NotesA Place to Grow - CMA is hosting seven marine researchinternships for local high school and college students. Forover 20 years, young scientists have been launching theircareers from our Young Scientists Program. Summer is alsothe season to grow young fish for research, sharing andeducation. Garibaldi, grunion, giant sea bass and more willspend their summer indoors in the safe haven of our AquaticNursery. It’s a matter of Safety - Library staff are busysetting up hard copies as well as digital access to Safety DataSheets for all CMAemployees. The sheets outlineproper storage and handling ofall chemicals at CMA as wellas first aid in the event of anyaccidents. Only sushi gradewill do for these discerningpalettes - Only the finest forCMA’s animals who dine ondelicacies such as squid,mackerel, clams, smelt, silverfish, shrimp and krill. Mealsare lovingly prepared anddelivered by Aquatic staff andvolunteers.

Alix Lomas, Aquarium Educator Larry Fukuhara, Programs DirectorMARGO KENNEDY, Management Analyst karen martin, PhD, Professor of Biology Pepperdine UniversityCo-Founder, the Beach Ecology Coalition • Executive Director Grunion Greeters

Spiny Sand CrabBlepharipoda occidentalisEveryone loves a sand crab. You know the kind you feelwriggling in the sand under your feet and when you pickthem up, they tickle your palm…Spiny sand crabs, Blepharipoda occidentalis, are just likethese only they reach three times the size, have sharp spinesjutting out along the sides of their carapace and two sizablespiny claws in front…not to mention they may eat theirsmaller sand crab cousins for dinner!At a whopping 3” long and 1.75” wide, the spiny sand crabscan be found burrowing off the wave swept beaches ofCalifornia and Baja. While you may expect to find thembetween the tides with the others, they prefer to live in thefine grained sand of the deeper sub-tidal zone. They can evenbe found 98 feetdown. It iscommon forthem to burrowso deep that onlytheir eyes andantennae extendpast the sand. Inthis position theycan easily hide atthe first sign oftrouble.Juveniles keep these feathery antennae fanned out to filterfood passing by. It is not until adulthood that they expandtheir palate of plankton and detritus to include the remains ofsmaller dead sand crabs. This feeding strategy is whyscientists look to sand crabs as an indicator species. The moreplankton they consume, the more domoic acid canaccumulate in their bodies. While this is not good for the sandcrabs, it does provide us with important information on thelevel of natural toxins in the water. Even worse for the spiny sand crabs, their heavily armoredbodies are no match for fish like the queen croaker and thebarred surf perch. Luckily, for the fish at least, most of thespiny sand crabs they eat also come with a side of clams. Itturns out Mysella pedroana, a commensal mollusk, can befound living inside the bronchial chamber of 2/3rds of thepopulation. Some individuals have been found with 22mollusks inside!It is not too common to find a live spiny sand crab (and theirtiny clams) on the beach but you may be lucky enough to finda molt. If you do, pick it up, take a good look, but alwaysremember to watch out for the spines.

SUMMER 20162 SUMMER 2016 3

ProfileDiane Alps“Let notdistance, nortime, stand inone’s way forwhales.” That isa mantra that Ihave penned forDiane Alps whois a self-proclaimed,“whale nerd.” Ever since shewas a youngster and, even though she grew up in Indio, shehas had that inner passion for whales and dolphins. Back in 1998 she had an opportunity to scratch that “whaleitch” by joining that Cabrillo Whalewatch Program bybecoming a Whalewatch Naturalist. Wow, talk aboutdedication, for three months Diane would drive from Indio tothe Aquarium and back each Tuesday, a 240 mile commutebefore she moved closer to the sea in beautiful San Pedro. In2000 she became a part-time staff member in the programsdepartment assisting with the various programs. Then in 2005she became a full-time staff member in the programsdepartment as a clerk typist to assist me. Through the yearsDiane took that clerk typist position and expanded the breadthand scope of its duties to the next level. Instead of justassisting and taking a supporting role she has taken the lead inorganizing and implementing major CMA programs, such asthe Whale Fiesta and Autumn Sea Fair. During her time hereshe also became quite active in the American CetaceanSociety, one of the oldest whale conservation organizations,which she eventually became the president of the localchapter. She is now the current national president of theAmerican Cetacean Society. Recently, Diane became interested in a particular parasiticcopepod, called Pennella, which live on certain whales. Lastyear at the Marine Mammal Conference she co-presented aposter on the Pennella, which drew quite a bit of interest fromthe whale community. Her desire to be out on the waterlooking for whales has also lead her to be invited to theInternational Whaling Conference to sit on the whale watchsubcommittee. Back in February Diane decided to step back from herposition here to pursue, full time, her degree in Fishery andWildlife Biology. Yes, we miss her daily “good mornings,”her hardy laugh and her participation in the many programsthat she was engaged in. However, in the long run, we knowthat her degree will open more opportunities for her to helpthe whales she is so passionate about.

beach ecology coalition

Diane Alps

Creature Feature