The lagoon outlet had filled up with sand, so the lagoon water level was high. The veteran trash pickers among us thought the trash levels were lower than usual. Whether this signifies some sort of trend is unknown, but I – for one – doubt it.

A behatted Jean, avant le déluge (L.Johnson 9/10)

Ellen Vahan and Jean Garrett again organized and managed the Malibu Lagoon operation admirably. We had a record turnout of 275 people who collectively collected 127 bags of trash totaling  297 lbs. in under 3 hours. Three busloads of students showed up, including 60 students and their teachers from Centennial High School in Compton. As usual, little pieces of styrofoam food & drink containers and colored shards of plastic were the most numerous forms of trash.I hope no one is under the illusion that this stuff is even remotely biodegradable. The pieces just get smaller and smaller. Are we supposed to believe that they’ll eventually “disappear into infinity” as did The Incredible Shrinking Man?

Recyclable bottles were down considerably, probably the effect of the 10-cent deposit combined with the economic downturn. Our significant “recyclable by nature” item was a dead and very flat coyote, discovered out in the pickleweed (which truly does tastes like a pickle – the plant, not the coyote).

Not merely resting, but an ex-Coyote (L.Johnson 9/10)

Heal The Bay – the local organizer for this international cleanup effort – reports:
* 14,131 volunteers (a new record) at 65 sites in Los Angeles County
* 101 miles of coastline, river bank, etc. covered
* 137,422 pounds of debris
* Since 1990, 1.57 million pounds have been picked up
* Cigarette butts, plastic bottle caps and Styrofoam pieces are the most frequently found
* In California, 80,312 volunteers covered 1,702 miles and collected 1.100.122 pounds of trash
* The next Coastal Cleanup Day will be September 17, 2011. Join us!

More pictures of the cleanup can be found here.

Afterwards, the lagoon looked pristine. The birds, especially this group of Wilson’s Phalaropes, were grateful. [Chuck Almdale]

"Hey! Look! You can see the bottom!" (J.Kenney 8/10)