President's Message for 2008

Harold Dorr, SDOF President

Happy New Year! I am excited to begin a new year with the San Diego Oceans Foundation as the 2008 President. It would be a daunting task, except that Courtney and Noelle do an incredible job of coordinating nearly everything. Vice President Randy Dick always volunteers to do many of the extra tasks, Treasurer Erin Pattersen makes sure that we are on track financially, and our competent Board Members give us continued guidance and expertise.

SDOF seeks to DOUBLE membership in 2008!

SDOF derives its strength and abilities through the dedicated efforts of our members and volunteers. One of our goals for 2008 is to double our paid membership. As you may know, the administrative costs of the SDOF are largely provided through grants and corporate donations, so the tremendous majority of your membership dues go directly to the costs of our programs. If you are presently not a member, will you consider joining us to help our programs grow? If you enjoy the knowledge that you are actively contributing to the stewardship of our ocean by your activities with the White Seabass Program, Canyon Watch, Ocean in Motion, Ships 2 Reefs, or Storm Drain Stenciling and you have a like-minded friend, will you encourage them join us as a member and a volunteer?

Board of Directors seats available

Several Board of Director seats will open this year. We are actively seeking individuals with expertise in the areas of environmentally friendly and aware business and industry, conservation minded recreational anglers, and an individual with a proven track record in the area of public relations. If this sounds like you, or you know someone who fits this description and feels a desire to do improve the health of our ocean, please contact the SDOF office.

I'm looking forward to working with all of you as we strive to be stewards to the ocean and leave it better in January 2009 than we found it in January of 2008. Thanks to each one of you for helping!

- Harold Dorr

SDOF's impact in 2007!

2007 was a fantastic year for the programs of the San Diego Oceans Foundations! Over 500 poeple volunteered for SDOF in 2007, most of them several times and for multiple projects. Take look at what we did together to make our ocean a better place!

Reef Monitoring Project
* 7 free Fish and Invertebrate Identification classes
* 335 REEF Surveys completed to gain an understanding of fish and invertebrate populations in Southern California.

Canyon Watch
* Volunteers dedicated 700 hours over 239 canyon hikes to monitor sewer lines and manholes to prevent sewer spills.
* One sewer spill in Tecolote Canyon was detected and reported, preventing thousands of gallons of sewage from spilling into local waterways.

Ocean In Motion
* This summer, 174 volunteer hours were spent teaching 205 inner-city and underserved children about marine life on our summer snorkeling trips.
* The classroom component of this program served an additional 820 students county-wide by bringing live animal laboratories into the classrooms.

White Seabass Restocking Project
* Volunteers dedicated 600 hours to feed, care for and release over 16,000 white seabass, as well as time spent by divers cleaning the pens.
* In December the Mission Bay facility was completely rebuilt and new solar panels and equipment installed at the San Diego Bay location!

Storm Drain Stenciling
* Almost 300 storm drains were stenciled this year to promote awareness of storm drain pollution.

Clean Up Events
* This year SDOF hosted an underwater clean up site for California Coastal Cleanup Day and the Trash Bash, two major clean up efforts which took 800 pounds of trash and debris off of our beaches and bays.

Education
* A new monthly SDOF event, we hosted nine SeaSeries events, a lecture series on marine topics, free to the public.

With an ever growing volunteer and membership base, 2008 is already shaping up to be a record breaking year, with more people "doing good." We hope that YOU will "be the change you want to see in the world" this year!

Sea Series

Continuing Education for Ocean Lovers

On the fourth Wednesday of each month SDOF hosts a FREE continuing education event called "Sea Series" for volunteers, members and anyone interested in learning about the marine environment.

Will Vaquita, the Gulf of California porpoise, soon become extinct?
Dr. Barbara Taylor, NOAA Protected Resources Division
Wed, January 23rd | 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Sumner Auditorium, Scripps Institute of Oceanography *New location for 2008*
RSVP to volunteer@sdoceans.org

In November, 2006 a comprehensive survey for the baiji, the Chinese river dolphin, failed to find even a single individual. This likely loss of a 20-million year-old species is the first extinction of a whale or dolphin caused by humans. Dr. Barbara Taylor participated in that survey and will tell about that fateful survey and the many parallels to what now becomes the most critically endangered marine mammal, the vaquita or Gulf of California porpoise. This species lives close to San Diego and faces extinction because of entanglement in fishing nets that are used to supply fish and shrimp to the US. You won't want to miss this informative presentation!

Program + Event Updates

Trash Bash Art Exhibit
SDOF supporters and passers-by enjoyed some appetizers while viewing artwork created at the Trash Bash. It was a fun event and a great chance to chat with Nick and Samara High Tech High students internnig at SDOF, who planned the Trash Bash- great job! Special thanks go out to Wyland Galleries for hosting the event and the group "Mondays Alibi" for performing during the evening.

White Seabass Delivered to Mission Bay
The first week of January the Mission Bay facility received 6,584 fingerlings (baby White Seabass about 3 inches long). They look healthy and strong, and in about 3 months they should be ready to be released into the ocean! For more information on volunteering for the White Seabass Restocking project, visit our website, or sign up to attend an orientation!

Volunteer Opportunities

For more details and descriptions of all these events, visit our volunteer calendar: January Calendar

White Seabass Orientations- Mission Bay
Saturday, January 12th | 11:00 - Noon
Monday, January 14th | 4:30 - 5:30 pm
Monday, January 28th | 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Want to be outside on the bay and help restock the ocean at the same time? Then volunteer for the White Seabass Restocking Project... it's fun, and flexible according to your schedule. Learn more about the project on our website, then sign up for a one hour orientation to get you started!

Reef Monitoring Project
Join the San Diego Oceans Foundation's Fish Identification class (it's free)! Whether you're a fish ID expert or a "newbie diver", this class will leave you full of knowledge about our underwater world, which you can then put to good use. Instead of saying "What was THAT fish," you'll be able to give it a name, and even know a little bit of biology!

2008 Training Schedule
All classes take place at Ocean Enterprises (7710 Balboa Ave, SD 92121)
Tuesday, Jan 22 | 6:30-9:00 pm | Fish Identification
Monday, Feb 25 | 6:30-9:00 pm | Invertebrate Identification
Monday, April 28 | 6:30-9:00 pm | Fish Identification
Saturday, May 17 | 11:00 - 1:30 pm | Invertebrate Identification
Saturday, July 19 | 11:00 - 1:30 pm | Fish Identification
Thursday, August 14 | 6:30-9:00 pm | Invertebrate Identification
Thursday, Oct 30 | 6:30-9:00 pm | Fish Identification
Tuesday, Nov 11 | 6:30-9:00 pm | Invertebrate Identification

To RSVP for any of these activities, please email us at volunteer@sdoceans.org