Site Captains are needed for this year's Annual Coastal Cleanup Day, which falls on September 20th.  Last year more than 3,000 volunteers helped remove 10,000 pounds of debris from Santa Cruz County's beaches and waterways.

The local impact of Coastal Cleanup Day depends on the leadership of the Site Captains who direct Santa Cruz County's volunteer potential on the day of the event. Being a Site Captain is a rewarding way to be a leader in our community with only a minimal commitment. Site Captains attend a brief information training session on Thursday September 4th from 6-7:30pm. Then Site Captains arrive early on Coastal Cleanup Day to set-up the site, sign-in volunteers and hand out cleanup materials.

For more information on becoming a Site Captain or to learn about which sites need Captains, please contact Emily Glanville at (831) 46-5660 ext. 5 or acc@saveourshores.org.

Nearly 500 people turned out to celebrate 30 years of dedicated work for our marine environment. Volunteers, sponsors, guests and staff had a great evening discussing SOS's history and triumphs. The evening included  complimentary wine from Hallcrest Vienyards, acoustic and amplified music by Sambada, silent and live auctions, the awarding of the Packard-Panetta Ocean Protection award, and a short program presented by the Board of Directors and community members. The staff here at Save Our Shores is deeply grateful to all those who supported us by attending, and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Save Our Shores was featured in the August 6th edition of the Santa Cruz Metro with a cover story highlighting SOS's major accomplishments in Central California.  The article came out just as SOS is celebrating it's 30th anniversary and unveiling a new logo and look for the next 30 years of ocean conservation.  Other topics in the article include SOS' resurgence over the last two years, our current and new programs, and the launch of our Bring Your Own Campaign.

Save Our Shores participated in the July 4th Aptos Parade to help prevent marine pollution on our beaches due to the July 4th celebrations.

• Over 1500 bags were handed out on July 4th during the parade and down on the more popular Santa Cruz beaches.
  
• Our pollution prevention efforts paid off, we saw a significant decrease in the amount of debris left behind on the beaches this year,
  
• Save Our Shores employees and volunteers won Best in Parade for our sea creature costumes and yellow submarine float!

Come join us this weekend and help get the word out about recycling used oil and preventing oil spills in the Monterey Bay! 

After a brief training session, volunteers will tour the harbor with a Save Our Shores representative handing out free oil spill prevention kits to boaters.  Volunteers will be invited to go on a boat trip on the Derek Baylis for all their hard work!  See pictures of past events and boat trips here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/SaveOurShores08

Please contact Lauren at lauren@saveourshores.org if you are interested in volunteering.  See you there!

On July 14th President George W. Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling. Save Our Shores is following this issue closely and will be mobilizing its constituents to contact state and federal elected officials to protect our shores from offshores oil drilling.

If you are in the California 17th District please call U.S. Representative Sam Farr and tell him that you do not want to have the Congressional Moratorium on Offshore Oil Drilling lifted and that the Federal Government should promote better energy alternatives for two reasons: to reduce demand for imported oil, and to reduce carbon-emissions.

Surprisingly Representative Sam Farr has been recieving calls of support for Offshore Oil drilling!

SOS urges all its constituents to CALL REPRESENTATIVE SAM FARR TODAY and have your VOICE HEARD!

The Save Our Shores July 4th “Pollution Prevention is Patriotic” efforts dramatically decreased the amount of trash left behind on Santa Cruz County beaches after the fun and often rowdy July 4th celebrations. 

SOS staff and volunteers launched a widespread awareness and pollution prevention campaign leading up to this year’s Independence Day holiday that helped celebrators at the beach ensure that their party didn’t leave a big mess.  Last year on July 5th 40,000 pounds of trash were hauled off of seven Santa Cruz Beaches, but this year the total amount of trash generated on the July 4th was only 15,000 pounds! 

SOS has been involved in July 5th beach cleanups in Santa Cruz County for over 10 years and is excited to see this year’s pollution prevention efforts make a real impact.

The North Pacific Gyre, an area in the Pacific Ocean that has recently been referred to as a plastic soup twice the size of Texas, is a haunting metaphor for a very real environmental catastrophe. Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region.

The North Pacific Gyre is a vast expanse of debris that is held in place by underwater currents. It extends from about 500 nautical miles off the California coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii, and nearly to Japan.