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Special Thank You From SDOF Executive Director
 Since 1984, the San Diego Oceans Foundation has been working hard to provide meaningful, hands-on volunteer and educational programs to San Diego. I truly appreciate all of our volunteers, members, and donors that support our efforts.
Cheryl Barnes (Program & Outreach Director), Heidi van Lydegraf (Marketing & Development Director), and Zoe Dagan (Ocean In Motion Coordinator) have been instrumental in helping SDOF expand our reach.
Cheryl has redesigned many of our programs to make them even easier and more fun! Cheryl works tirelessly to ensure all of our programs are of the highest quality and have the most beneficial impact on our waters.
Heidi has been dedicated to building the SDOF brand with new partnerships and exposure. Last week's gala fundraiser was a huge success because of Heidi's hardwork and dedication to raising money for our organization.
Zoe is energetic and charismatic with a contagious love for marine science. She has single handedly sparked a passion within hundreds of San Diego youth and has inspired them to be future ocean green leaders.
Cheryl, Heidi and Zoe are examples of true ocean stewards. Their committment to our oceans is selfless, thoughtful, and truly remarkable.
Thank you all for what you do!
Oceans Benefit Gala - A Tidal Wave of Success!
 On Friday, October 2, 2009, SDOF held its 25th Annual Oceans Benefit Gala at SeaWorld. Attendees danced with penguins and other critters, enjoyed a delicious gourmet meal, sipped on cocktails, and watched an interactive Shamu dinner show!
Howard Hall was selected as the recipient of the Roger Revelle Award for his dedication to our oceans. Proceeds from this annual fundraiser support SDOF programs. Tickets sold fast this year, so be sure to look for next year's gala information in an upcoming e-newsletter.
Pictures from the event can be seen/purchased at Event Master Photography's website using keyword: SDOC1009 - Click here. (20% of proceeds from the sale of pictures goes to SDOF.)
If you were unable to attend, here is your chance to buy a fantastic vacation, tax free, while helping our oceans! Visit - http://www.winspireme.com
A Good Choice For Our Oceans - A Sustainable Seafood Restaurant Social
 The Fishery and Pacific Shellfish Restaurant
5040 Cass St
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 272-9985
Enjoy a scrumptious meal at The Fishery in North Pacific Beach for lunch or
dinner between Monday and Thursday, October 19th through the 22nd. Simply by
ordering the 'Oceans Foundation Special' proceeds will be
donated to SDOF, which helps our white seabass program as well as our pollution
prevention and marine science education programs!
So please, enjoy a
sustainable seafood restaurant that supports us, by enjoying a fantastic
meal that further helps our oceans.
Click here for more information.
91X Halloween Boo's Cruise Benefiting SDOF!
Get onboard for a ghoulishly good time on the first ever 91X Halloween Boo's Cruise featuring The Silent Comedy! There will be a DJ onboard playing Halloween party hits as well as a live performance from recent SDMA award-winners The Silent Comedy on the outer deck. Fun, flirty or frightening, come aboard in your best costume and join in the costume contest with plenty of 91X prizes.
Tickets are $20 with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the San Diego Oceans Foundation. You must be 21+ in order to attend.
Aboard the Hornblower Adventure, the ship that has the beautiful Whale Wall, which SDOF is a part of!
Departing from Grape Street Pier. Boarding begins at 6:45 PM. The cruise is on Saturday, 10/31/2009 and leaves at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you at this fun outing; where else can you go to enjoy a good party, on a beautiful ship enjoying San Diego Bay while helping support our oceans! Happy Halloween!
Purchase tickets here
Marine Protected Areas: Coming to Waters Near You!
 After almost a year of exhaustive laboring and meticulous planning, three groups of ocean users and enthusiasts have finalized a variety of Marine Protected Area (MPA) Proposals for southern California. One of these proposals will soon be chosen by the Fish and Game Commission and made into conservation legislation:
Option 1: Prepared by a cross-section of ocean users, this proposal provides a compromise between Options 2 & 3.
Option 2: Prepared primarily by fishing interests.
Option 3: Prepared by conservation and science-oriented stakeholders.
How to make sure your favorite underwater habitats are incorporated:
Educate yourself about the current MPA proposals by visiting the CA Department of Fish and Game website.
Voice your support for a strong network of MPA’s by emailing MLPAComments@resources.ca.gov. All written comments must be received by Sunday, October 11th in order to be most useful. Help protect fragile marine ecosystems for future generations to enjoy by letting policy makers know exactly why you’d like specific areas to be protected!
3. Attend the LAST Blue Ribbon Task Force Meeting (with public comment opportunities) on Wednesday, October 21st at the Hilton Hotel in Long Beach and share the proposal you believe in with others. Public opinion is crucial throughout the entire process and this is your last chance to demonstrate your support! This is a crucial hearing where the MLPA leadership will choose an option as the official preference moving forward.
Blue Ribbon Task Force Meeting
October 20th: 1:30PM - 5:30PM
October 21st: 8:30AM - 5:30PM *Public Comment at 1:30PM and 7:00PM
October 22nd: 8:30AM - 3:00PM
Hilton Long Beach & Executive Meeting Center
701 West Ocean Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90831
Please, don’t let this epic opportunity to participate pass you by! This is the most important piece of ocean protection policy we will see in our lifetimes.
For talking points or additional information, please contact cheryl@sdoceans.org today!
25th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day - A Success!
The San Diego Oceans Foundation teamed up yet again with I Love A Clean San Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper for California Coastal Cleanup Day (which takes place the 3rd Saturday of every September). This year, SDOF had a record-breaking 141 divers, snorkelers and surface support volunteers working together to eliminate harmful debris from five different piers along the Embarcadero! Despite the not-so-great visibility that San Diego Bay’s fine sediment often produces, volunteers effectively pulled out 571 lbs of discarded trash and recyclables! Among the most common items were plastic bags, beverage bottles/lids, cigarette butts, straws, food wrappers and tiny bits of non-biodegradable styrofoam. We even pulled out a shopping cart, card table and baby stroller from the water! Across the state, more than 70,000 volunteers joined forces to remove over 1,000,000 lbs of ocean-bound debris, with cigarettes being the most prevalent (winning that title for the fifth year in a row). Because of such dedicated volunteers, both locally and state-wide, these objects (foreign to the marine environment), will no longer threaten the lives of such precious animals we all know and love! Thank you to all those who joined us - for caring for our oceans and taking action to protect it!!!
A special thank you goes out to Hornblower Cruises & Events, the San Diego Mooring Company, Anthony’s Fish Grotto, Maritime Museum of San Diego, USS Midway Museum, Event Master Photography, SeaWorld San Diego and Einstein Brothers Bagels for making this monumental event possible. Jimmy Yuan, Steve Mair, Peter Lauterbach, Tony So and Dave Garcia: Thank you for keeping everyone safe and sound throughout the cleanup! We would also like to recognize Ashley Hedger, Noemi Giraud, Jackie Tran, Betty Lopez-Richardson, Eric Hernandez and Melissa Mamayek for their help with cleanup preparations, and for serving as ‘Team Leaders’ during the event. Everyone else, we hope to see you next year, when we plan on setting a new record and doing even more good! Until then, let’s make every day ‘Coastal Cleanup Day’!
To see photos of the event, click here.
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Would you like your child(ren) to learn about all of the amazing things our waters have to offer? SDOF’s mobile marine science program brings interactive lectures, hands-on activities and live animal labs to San Diego County schools and afterschool programs all year long! If you know of a classroom (or group of students) that could benefit from a little science and conservation, let us know! We’ve got three topics to choose from, serve all grades (K-12), and would love to have our experienced educators come in and help inspire your students! 
Join us for a FREE identification class and check out the marine diversity that the tourists travel from miles around to see! Our knowledgeable instructor will cover the most commonly seen creatures on our coast and share with some of his experiences with these intriguing animals. Once you’ve completed this course, you’ll be ready to get out, complete underwater surveys and provide valuable information to be use by fisheries management agencies, non-profit groups and the public in general. Who knows - the data you submit may even be used in the future management of Marine Protected Areas!
As we kick off our school program again this year, we’ll be looking for even more ways to get local students excited about marine science! If you happen to have any sort of specimens (e.g. shark skin & egg casings, crustacean molts, preserved fish/invertebrates, baleen, bones), we’d love to incorporate them into our program
Earn money for SDOF when you use your Ralphs Rewards Card. It's simple to setup and each swipe helps to support our programs!
If you set your default search browser to GoodSearch.com and select the San Diego Oceans Foundation as your charity of choice, we will receive a penny for every click! Some nonprofits make over $5,000 a year. It is simple to use and helps support our programs.
You can sell anything you would like on eBay and a portion of your choice will be donated to support the San Diego Oceans Foundation! 
