Marble Explores “O” – Laguna Sushi

Sustainability .. Balance and harmony with the sea.  What an apt place to explore ways to commit ‘random acts of ocean kindness’ than with the sushi chefs – and staff – and patrons – at “O” Sushi in Laguna Beach.  What was delightfully surprising was the depth of their relationship and commitment to the sea.  For the chefs and staff, the health of the ocean and the planet supports their livelihood. For the clientele, healthy seas  mean a healthy planet .. and in the case of a sushi bar, a place to gather and eat healthy – clean nonpoisonous foods.  Everyone loved the gift .. and was excited to play it forward.

Yennis Ko

Richard Wu

Min Suk Park & Shinichi Kosano

Ashley Maddocks & Matt Contonelli

Manuel Portillo

Lee

Gina

Burning oil rig sinks into Gulf of Mexico | Grist

Marble sobs .. nowhere to run.  Crazed addiction to fossil fuels kills off marine life, chokes out the oxygen, threatens the very home needed for life.

Burning oil rig sinks into Gulf of Mexico | Grist.

Cynthia’s Marble on the Mesa at San Juanico

Cynthia's Blue Marble

photo : Cynthia Wagstaff

Sunrise serenity …

Marble at sunrise ....

Daylight whispers through translucent clouds, painting a carpet of color across the surface of the sea and wet sand. We walk together in contemplation of oceans and marine life. What can we do to protect the habitat? The species? What skill set can we bring to the table to increase awareness of the human population’s actions?

So many concerned citizens of earth. So many seemingly blind, deaf and dumb to their actions. A greater number more concerned with the bottom line – with immediate profits and corporate success – than with the long term viability of marine life – which ultimately affects all of life on our spinning blue planet.

Water Relations

Water Relations

The clarity of the tide pool was exquisite.  The runoff from recent storms had settled either to the bottom or father out to sea.  The marble rolled exuberantly in a warm sea grass laden pool.

While the day was joyous and the sun shimmered on the sea’s blue surface, I was reminded, that even through the obvious clarity, several days after southern California storms, the local waters are carry toxic levels of bacteria.

Those bacteria are the source of ear and bronchial infections, along with skin invasions through scratches or open wounds.  If it’s not healthy for humans, how can it possibly be healthy for sea life?

We continually dump our shit (excuse me) into the water and expect that the ocean will magically transform garbage into clean habitat.

Wouldn’t it be magical to see the oceans 10,000 years ago?

Imagine the abundance of sea life.

The push/pull issues of corporate profits vs the health of the seas – and ultimately us – confuses me. I find it unfathomable that any person with any kind of conscious cannot see the relationship between actions and consequences.

Dump oil. Kill sea life. Dump chemicals down the drain. Poison shellfish and local species. Toss plastic bags. Strangle pelicans and terns.

The marble wants to know what it will take to wake up ALL the inhabitants of the planet?

Food Chain

Sei Whale

No doubt about it, we are on the top of the food chain – unless we happen to be caught on the African Savannah in the jaws of a hungry lion.

We have commanded this position for such a long time, and in most cases, have been unconscious of the affects of our activities.  Not to go on a tirade about knowing where one’s food comes from, but how many of us would actually bite down into that steak or burger if we had to kill the cow or steer that is it’s source?  Not many.  I think the world would be more vegan if the real connection between what we eat and how it gets to us were more visceral.

When the story broke this morning, linking Typhoon Restaurant in Los Angeles with serving sei whale meat, bits of my heart broke – and I could hear the marble sobbing.  This particular whale is an endangered species, aside from all other issues surrounding the killing of whales, it shocked me that a restaurant so close to home was serving up one of my treasured friends.

How many marine mammals did your plastic bag kill today?

How many marine mammals did your plastic grocery bag kill today?

http://www.care2.com

Did you know that 500 billion plastic bags are consumed on this planet every year? The sobering statistic: “more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die every year from ingestion of or entanglement in plastics” is the subject of a new ad by the Surfrider Foundation.

Marble Meets Trash

The Marble Meets Trash

The marble asks, ” What is this?”

Something not animal or vegetable or mineral tossed up on the sand.  White, not soft. The fragrance is foreign.

Okay, it’s not the first trash that we’ve seen on the beach, but the first bit of garbage that this particular marble, this elegant small blue orb has found itself in such close proximity … and he doesn’t like it.  It saddens him. He senses something so innately wrong – but just what is it?

We sit quietly, watching the waters and pondering the Styrofoam, nemesis of seabirds, turtles, fish and crustaceans.

So many things come to mind.  The trash ‘island’ in the midst of the Pacific, it’s recently discovered match in Atlantic.  The photograph of the pelican’s dead body – filled with human refuse.  Dead at our hands – without any one of us touching him physically.

The beach clean-ups in both my home towns of Laguna Beach (CleanWatersNow) and Loreto, BCS (Loreto Pride – Eco Alianza).  Hands and hearts grunging in the muck.  Collecting and clearing what others can’t seem to consciously deal with.

It’s GARBAGE for heaven’s sake.  Wake up (okay, if you’re reading this post you are already awake) and use the trash can.

I admit to frustration.  My heart breaks when I encounter seals wearing bits of fish line or net, gulls and pelicans with refuse trapped in their beaks or tangled on their legs.  Another photograph – one of an Arctic tern – one of my favorite migratory birds – wearing a plastic bag collar.  The result of a dive for a ‘fish’ that turned out to be floating refuse, now wrapped around it’s neck – a threat to its flight and feeding.

My heart/head know that the only real answer lies in education – an expansion of the consciousness that to protect the seas is to protect and support all life on our tiny blue spinning planet.  That’s part of the marble’s journey … a growing voice of reason.

Drifting …..

Drifting Marble

The marble sits atop a piece of driftwood, in this case, likely carried from the desert canyons to the sea by recent rain storms that pummeled Baja.  Temporarily, it’s been cast by the sea via tidal swings, back on the shore.

The wood reminds me of other refuse, land-locked trash dumped by humans, that makes its way to the sea during storms.  This happens – not just in Baja – but in LA, San Francisco, Ventura, Texas, Alabama, Florida .. globally.  Every country and/or state that has a border with waters that swirl across our planet, has the need to put into place, protections for our common good.  Not just ours, but the creatures that inhabit the oceans and seas of Earth.  This is shared territory, bound between us by currents that pass effluents and pollutants from shore to shore, depths to shallows, north to south, and east to west.

The oceans have long been considered an amazing filter, but we humans – the biggest producer of toxins – have pushed the ocean’s health to the brink of collapse.  It is long past time to make environmental education a core curriculum in school system on the globe.

Mother of Pearl

The shells cradle the Marble, not unlike the way in which each of us needs to cradle the earth.

Care for her, pay attention to her needs. Treat her with respect and honor.

I like the way the blue light reflects off the shimmering surface.

Planet light – Life light. The collective reflection of all or our lives.