Heading for the beach

Elephant seal 23N-37597 is heading directly for California. It's amazing that they can navigate so accurately.

This adult male announced his arrival to the others on the beach last week. Welcome back!

Community Supported Fishery

San Luis Obispo County is one of the few communities to have a Community Supported Fishery. Margie Hurd organized it. She started with shareholders who bought only five pounds of fish a week. She now supplies 80 pounds weekly.

Supporting local fishermen is a good way to strengthen the community as well as help the oceans. Local fishermen with a personal connection to their customers are responsible fishermen who recognize the need for a healthy ocean to keep them in business.

A new online resource called LocalCatch.org is for consumers, advocates, and fishermen
interested in or already involved with community supported fisheries (CSFs).

LocalCatch.org is an online network that links community members to CSFs.
The network seeks to increase the visibility of CSFs. It assists individuals and organizations that need support envisioning, designing, and implementing locally-relevant businesses that work towards a triple bottom line -- people, planet, profits.

Many organizations including Sea Grant and the National Agri-Marketing Association have played an important role in the success of CSFs around the country. Without their efforts, the idea for this site wouldn't have come to be. Tell the network where you want to see the next CSF!

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/LocalCatchorg/220685781288344?sk=wall

Seals heading south

An adult male elephant seal who was tagged, #23N-37597, at Ano Nuevo in March has reported in from the Aleutians. He's headed south and is presently crossing the open Pacific Ocean in a relatively straight route from the Aleutians where he spent the past few months back to California. On July 13, he checked in again.

Perhaps he'll come to Piedras Blancas instead of Ano Nuevo and join this male, announcing his arrival in the surf.

Elephants on the beach

The adult males are arriving. The early arrivals are on the beach and most of the youngsters have left. It's a transition time when fewer animals are on the beach. Some visitors complain, as if a couple hundred huge seals are a disappointment.

This big boy looks peaceful. He's not actually sleeping among the flowers -- those are above him on the bluff. I enjoyed watching him snore, his nose shuddering as he snorted out a breath.