The Naked Truth
Pirates Cove in Malibu is small and isolated—a crescent of white sand surrounded by forbiddingly steep cliffs. It faces the open ocean. This storied stretch of coast is said to have been named not for the “avast ye me...
Your Local Seaweed Guide
There are nearly 800 species of seaweed on the West Coast, and many of them grow right here, on the local coast. We often tend to ignore seaweed, unless we find ourselves tangled in it while swimming, but anyone...
Harbor Seal Rescue
The seal was beached on the sand, just inside the surf line, feet from walkers out for a sunset stroll at Westward Beach in Malibu. It wasn’t moving, but it was breathing. An adult harbor seal on a busy...
Oil in the Water: The Huntington Beach Oil Spill
An oil spill at Huntington Beach has clogged the Orange County coastline with as much as 132,000 gallons of toxic crude oil. The United States Coast Guard, which is overseeing the cleanup, described the spill as “a major marine...
Los Angeles County Lifeguard Beach Safety Tips
Beach weather is here, and the Los Angeles County Lifeguards have some safety tips for swimmers and surfers. Rip currents are a major safety issue along much of the local coast. Rip currents form when water from breaking waves...
Angels and Aliens: Encounters with Zooplankton
I was bending down to pick up what I thought was a scrap of clear plastic, the kind that cigarette boxes are wrapped in, when I realized that what I had taken for a bit of litter was looking...
For Local Gulls Life Really Is a Beach
I met a gull I hadn’t seen before when I was out shooting photos for the article on winter beach walks in this issue of the Topanga New Times. It was a small gull, with a petite bill, soft...
Recent Comments