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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/18/six-times-the-size-of-yosemite-the-new-marine-sanctuary-for-the-super-rich-la-coast>
"The Chumash people viewed the Pacific Ocean as their first home. Their
territory once spanned 7,000 sq miles, from the rolling hills of Paso Robles to
the white sand beaches of Malibu. Now, the region is one of the most expensive
in the US, home to resort hotels, vineyards and multimillion-dollar mansions.
The average house price in Avila Beach, California, where Violet Sage Walker
grew up hunting for grunion in the midnight hours, is $1.9m (£1.5m).
“My father would walk across the creek on the backs of steelhead and salmon,”
says Walker, the Chumash tribal chair. “They were that abundant. Now the
water’s contaminated, from sewage, runoff and overpopulation. In one generation
we’ve lost the ability to feed ourselves off the land.”
As stewards of that land, however, the Chumash remain an active presence.
Today, Walker, her long black skirt rippling in the breeze, is conducting a
ceremony for a local surf club that helps veterans connect with the ocean.
Along with three other Chumash elders, she blesses a circle of veterans – all
standing on their surfboards – with ceremonial sage, and sings an ancestral
song used to call to whales.
Blue whales, along with southern sea otters, black abalone, snowy plovers and
leatherback sea turtles, are just some of the species at risk here. The
California coast is experiencing climate breakdown at twice the rate of other
parts of the ocean, and acidification, caused by pollution, is the main threat
to marine life.
Indeed, new development has plagued the area with pollution: pipeline spills
dumping thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean; leaks from old petrol
tanks seeping into groundwater; urban stormwater and agricultural runoffs
polluting the streams. The threat of offshore oil drilling looms in the near
future.
That’s why Walker’s father, Fred Collins, the chief of the Northern Chumash
Tribal Council, spent decades advocating to turn 156 miles of coastline here in
central California into a national marine sanctuary, which would grant it
federal protection. Not only would marine life, from sea otters to kelp
forests, be preserved, but the proposed sanctuary would safeguard Chumash
traditions.
Two days before he died unexpectedly in 2021, he passed to his daughter the
legacy of realising his dream."
Via Doug Senko, who wrote "This would be super cool (and [eminently]
sensible)."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
