2005 - Algalita

Algalita Marine Research Foundation
148 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach, CA 90803
(562) 598-4889 | www.algalita.org
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
About the cover: P i c t u red on the cover is the skeleton
of an albatross found on Kure Atoll, the most remote of
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Cause of death is easy
to determine. How could such a thing happen? Tragically,
it happens all the time. The photo above shows a living
a l b a t ross searching for food on the same beach, one of
many such beaches inundated with plastic trash left there
by the tides. The plastic comes from the ocean, and enters
the ocean through the world’s watershed s. It is AMRF’s
responsibility to inform the public about this pro b l e m ,
so that measures can be taken to improve the situation
before it becomes even worse than it now is.
Photos: Cynthia Vanderlip
Printed by Color Service, Inc., Monterey Park, CA,
www.colorservice.com
Paper stock: Endeavour ® Gloss 15% post-consumer waste (50% recycled),
elemental chlorine free pulps, virgin fiber from sustainable forests, acid free,
ISO 14001 certification. FSC Certified Paper
Advisory Board
Bret Bastain
B.S., Biology; B.A. Environmental Studies
Russell Bellmer, PhD
Fisheries Biologist, National Marine Fisheries Services
Jan Cousteau
Environmentalist
Philippe Cousteau, Jr.
President and Founder of EarthEcho International
Jack Dilday
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
2005 Annual Report
Contents
Letter from AMRF’s President. . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Introduction to AMRF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
2005 Research Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
2005 Education Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Financial Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Board of Directors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
Advisory Board/Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Financial Consultant, the Dilday Group, RBC Dain Rauscher
Robert Donaldson
President of Delta Planning
R. Mac Holbert
Nash Productions
Dale Kiefer
Marine Biology, University of Southern California
Gordon Lehman
Founder and CEO, Coastal Marine Technology
Graham Nash
Musician, Environmental Activist
Zale Perry
Women Divers Hall of Fame
Drew Satariano
Financial Advisor, Wachovia Securities
Patty Shackeroff
Owner, Beachside Travel
Tracy Williams
Education Specialist, Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach
Ann Zellers
S.E.A. Laboratory, Redondo Beach, California
Mission Statement
A l galita Marine Research Foundation is dedicated to the preservation of the marine
environment. With the help of the chartered research vessel, the ORV Alguita, AMRF
is active ly engaged in innova t ive research, education, and restoration of the
marine env i r o n m e n t .
Staff
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Director of Operations
Marieta Francis
Assistant to the Director
Danae Werthmann
Accountant
Terri Buchanan, CPA
Education Specialist
Marcus Eriksen, PhD
Science Advisor
Lorena Rios, PhD
Grantwriter
Patty Warhol
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
148 Marina Drive
Long Beach, California 90803
562-598-4889
FAX 562-598-0712
www.algalita.org
www.plasticdebris.org
www.plasticsareforever.org
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AMRF Board of Directors
President
Nikhil Dav é , Ph.D., is a Senior Tactical Systems Engineer for the US Navy.
He holds multiple degrees from the University of California at San Dieg o ,
with a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics/Fluid Mechanics in 1985. He has an
abiding interest in the environment, part i c u l a r ly in the Native A m e r i c a n
belief of taking only what you need and being thankful for nature’s bounty.
Vice
President
Bill Macdonald is an independent film producer and CEO of Bill Macdonald
Productions. He owns and operates a stock footage archive. He has a B.S. in
Political Science from California State University, Long Beach, and more
than thirty years of f ilming experience including a six-year period as a
member of the Cousteau Society diving and f ilming team. His curr e n t
projects include documenting some of the world’s prime dive destinations.
Secretary
Susan Ritman Macdonald received her BS in Microbiology from Ohio State
Unive r s i t y. She is a wildlife photographer, an avid dive r, and co-producer
for Bill Macdonald Productions.
Treasurer
Gwen Lattin received a BS in Marine Biology and MS in Biology from
C a l i f o rnia State Unive r s i t y, Long Beach. She has wo r ked in biolog i c a l
research for more than twe n t y - f ive years, including f ield studies and
laboratory research in marine biology, inland fisheries, and environmental
fields. She has been Director of the AMRF Laboratory for the last five years.
Director
Bill Brush has been diving for thirty-four years and taking photographs
for twenty-five. He received a B.S. in Oceanography from Humboldt State
U n iversity and an M.S. in Recreation Administration from Californ i a
State Unive r s i t y, Long Beach. Bill’s images have won awards at the
Beneath the Sea S h ow in New York, the SEA International Underwa t e r
P h o t ographic Competition and the Los Angeles International Underwater
Photo Competition. Now retired, he was Development Director for the Long
Beach Boy Scouts and Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
Director
William R. Francis r e c e ived his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the
University of Kansas, and for the past twenty-seven years has been employed
by Nalco, an industrial specialty chemical company. His focus has been on
monitoring and controlling the quality of industrial water treating applications.
Director
D avid C. M e ye r taught science at Bell Junior High School in Garden Grove,
California from 1968 until this year, when he retired. Over the years he’s been
a science lecturer on various Cal State campuses, but has also found time to
pursue his keen interest in the environment, volunteering his time to Eart h watch
in the Canary Islands, the Channel Island National Park, and Australia’s Great
B a rrier Reef. He is a SCUBA instructor and a talented underwater photographer.
Dear Fr i e n d,
I have been honored and humbled by being the president during
2005 of this f ine public service, research, and educational
o rganization for the environment, your A l galita Marine Research
Foundation. I am glad to be of service to a group of people so
dedicated to the ideas that I have had within me ever since I can
remember: awe, wo n d e r, respect for nature, and a desire for the
evolution of a human life form that at least preserves, if not
enhances, nature's work. Some of the findings we report herein show how far we as
people are from such a goal. On the other hand, all of our work shows how rapidly
evolution and progress can occur when the willing work tog e t h e r. I hope you will ke e p
these thoughts in mind as you read our 2005 annual report .
This past year has seen Algalita Marine Research Foundation complete the three-ye a r
s t u d y, Assessing and Reducing Sources of Plastic and Trash in Urban and Coastal
Wa t e rs , also referred to as Plastic Debris: Rivers to Sea, for the California State Water
Resources Control Board. During this study our staff and contractors monitored afterprecipitation ru n o ff from the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers, as well as recording
the scenes on video, to document and analyze levels and characteristics of plastic
pollution flowing into these freshwater sources, and from thence to the Pa c i fic Ocean.
The final report for this project will be delivered to the State of California in early 2006.
In support of our vision for improving the transition from our research to amelioration
of the environment, we are active ly seeking ways to publicize our work and make it
u n d e r s t a n d a ble, especially to the yo u n g .
It is our plan to active ly and enthusiastically promote our education, outreach, and
research work in the coming ye a r.
Sincerely,
Nikhil Davé, Ph.D.
President, Board of Directors
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Algalita Marine Research Foundation
S u p p o rt & Rev e nu e
Educational
Programs
13%
ORV Charters
6%
Contributions
23%
Sponsored
Research
52%
Investment
Income &
Gains
1%
Expenses
Management
Operational
9%
Fund-raising
2%
Educational
Programs
13%
Research
76%
2005 Donors
America Honda Foundation
Norcross Wildlife Foundation
BP America
Will J. Reid Foundation
California Water Boards
Surf Industry Manufacturers Assoc.
Greater Long Beach Foundation
Sydney Stern Memorial Trust
Heller Charitable & Educational Fund
Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation
Kent & Carol Landsberg Foundation
California Coastal Commission
Marisla Foundation
Xelan Foundation
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On a sailing trip coming back from Hawaii, Captain Charles
Moore decided to go through the North Pa c i fic Gyre; this part
of the ocean has very light wind and sailors usually avoid it if
at all possible. Day after day Captain Moore would go on
deck and see objects floating by—plastic debris. “Plastics of
eve ry kind,” he says, “from plastic bags to toothbrushes to
containers to bottles. . . and I thought, if there’s that much
plastic garbage out here where there’s nothing—as far from
land as you can get any where on earth—then we should try
to quantify how much is there and do something about it.”
In 1994, Captain Moore founded the A l galita Marine
Research Foundation (AMRF), a non-prof it orga n i z a t i o n
dedicated to the preservation of the marine env i r o n m e n t .
With the help of the research vessel Alguita, AMRF has been
conducting research on levels of plastic in the Pacific Ocean,
coastal southern California, and its watersheds for the last ten
years. AMRF’s primary work is to 1) establish a data baseline
of the level of plastic pollution found in the world’s oceans
from inland watersheds to the coastal zone and into the high
seas, and 2) inform the public about the existence of plastic
pollution so that solutions can be found to keep our oceans
from tru ly becoming a “synthetic sea.”
Under the leadership of Captain Moore, AMRF is gove rned
by a board of seven directors. An Advisory Board of ex p e rts
in a variety of fields willingly assists whenever called upon.
A small but remarkably efficient staff runs the organization
from its office in the Alamitos Bay Marina in Long Beach.
Volunteers assist in all capacities, as office assistants, boat
crew, research assistants, event assistants, lab assistants. All
of these people have come to realize the urgency of our work
and of our message to the public and are trying to do
something about it.
AMRF and Captain Moore have been the recipients of
numerous awards, among them the 2005 John Olguin Marine
Environment Award and the 2005 Amigos de los Rios Science
Award; the 2003 Los Angeles Regional Water Quality
Control Board’s Water Quality Award for Water Quality
Research; the 2003 Orange County Coastkeepers Award for
Coastal Protection; and the 2003 BP Env i r o n m e n t a l
Leadership Award. Our signature video, Our Synthetic Sea,
was awarded f irst place in the Oceans, Water Quality &
Watersheds categ o ry in the 2004 Earth Vision International
Film Fe s t iva l .
ORV Alguita
“... if there’s that much plastic
ga r b age out here wh e re
there’s nothing—as far from
land as you can get anywhere
on earth—then we should try
to quantify how much is there
and do something about it.”
Captain Charles Moore
Map of the North Pacific Gyre
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2005 Research Highlights
Pelagic Plastics: Our Synthetic Sea
“Unlike many discard e d
materials, most plastics in
common use do not biodegrade.
Instead they photodeg ra d e, a
process whereby sunlight breaks
them into progressively smaller
pieces, all of wh i ch are still
plastic poly m e rs. And for the
past 50 years or so, plastics that
have made their way into the
Ocean have been frag m e n t i n g
and accumulating as a kind of
s w i rling sewer in the North
Pacific subtropical Gyre.”
Captain Charles Moore, 2003
This is our flagship program: determining the levels of plastic
debris in the world’s oceans and educating the public about it
and about what they can, as individuals, do to help control the
p r o blem while there is still time to make a difference. One of
AMRF’s long-term goals is to establish a Global Information
Systems (GIS) map showing plastic debris densities worldwide.
We have determined levels of debris in several areas of the
North Pa c i fic Central Gyre on our voyages to the Gyre, and are
in the process of planning another, longer voyage aboard the
O RV A l g u i t a that will circumnav i gate parts of the Pa c i f i c
Ocean. We will collect samples in areas where few humans have
sailed, as well as in the offshore waters of Hawaii and Japan. In
eve ry port we visit we will present educational programs and
l e ave educational materials behind to help inform as many
people as possible about the damage we are doing to our oceans
and to our planet by our careless disposal of plastic.
Plastic Debris: Rivers to Sea
In 2005, AMRF completed most of the work invo l ved in the
t h r e e - year project Plastic Debris: Rivers to Sea, funded by the
C a l i f o rnia State Water Resources Control Board. A M R F
researched industrial sites and non-point sources responsibl e
for adding plastic debris to the Los Angeles and San Gabriel
R ivers’ watersheds. We researched and identified the polluters,
gathered and analyzed samples, monitored the industrial sites,
and quantified non-point sources. The project’s final activ i t y
was a well-attended conference held September 7-9, 2005 at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach, California that
focused on land-based sources of marine debris. The first of
its kind to be held any where, Plastic Debris: Rivers to Sea
brought together experts from all over the world who exchanged
ideas and established the first land-based marine debris network.
The project included production of educational materials:
A video documenting the study along with written report s ,
wh i c h will make it possible to reproduce this project in other
areas. A f inal report on Plastic Debris: Rivers to Sea w i l l
be completed in March, 2006.
Fourth Voyage to the Central Pacific Gyre
Captain Charles Moore aboard
the ORV Alguita.
4
The ORV A l g u i t a c a rried AMRF researchers in 2005 on a
fourth trip to the North Central Pacific Gyre to collect wa t e r
samples for plastic analysis. One of the purposes was to assess
the potential increasing danger from ocean plastic fragments
because of their capacity to heav i ly concentrate hydrophobic
(oily) toxic pollutants through absorption and adsorption, and
t r a n s p o rt them throughout the marine environment and into
t h e marine food chain.
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2005 Research Highlights, continued
NOAA Satellite Tracking Devices
In cooperation with the National Oceanic and A t m o s p h e r i c
Administration (NOAA), on our 2005 trip to the Gyre, AMRF
deployed the first wave of satellite tracking devices designed to
monitor the way ghostnets and other large plastic debris move
around in the ocean. The four devices, attached to free-floating
fishing nets and large pieces of plastic, continue to send their
signals to NOAA receive r s .
“The base of the fo o d
chain is being displaced
by a non-dige s t i bl e, non-
Sorption Studies
nutritive component which
We know that hard plastic in seawater attracts and absorbs
various oily toxins present in the wa t e r. Plastic polymers have
the potential to act like a sponge and absorb incidental chemicals
in the water (absorption), and also to concentrate chemicals on
their surface (adsorption). Because of their size and color, these
small pieces of polymer (less than 5 mm in size) can be mistaken
by sea creatures and seabirds for living prey, and are frequently
ingested indiscriminately by filter feeding organisms, adding
t oxins to the oceanic food web. AMRF is conducting studies at
the University of the Pa c i fic in Stockton, California under the
direction of Dr. Lorena Rios to develop a technique to ex t r a c t ,
identify and quantify endocrine compounds in blood. A second
phase of the project will be studying fish fed with plastic pellets
containing endocrine disrupting compounds.
is actually outwe i g h i n g
and outnu mberi ng the
natural food. That is our
c o re issue.”
Captain Charles Moore, 2004
NOAA satelite tracking device attached to floating marine debris.
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5
2005 Education Highlights
“When I showed Dr. Sylvia
Earle some of the re p o r t s
f rom the Env i ro n m e n t a l
C h ar t e r H i g h S ch o o l
students, she read them
Our Synthetic Sea
Plastics Are Forever
AMRF’s signature video, Our Synthetic Sea, describes in a
compelling and understandable way the problems now facing
life in the ocean and, ultimately, life on land, if humans do not
halt the ongoing practice of disposing of plastic debris in the
sea. Fr e q u e n t ly updated with the latest information, O u r
Synthetic Sea has been distributed to schools, community
groups, the US Navy and several branches of govern m e n t
across the U.S.
An ongoing, collaborative program between AMRF and the
E nvironmental Charter High School (ECHS) in Law n dale,
California, Plastics Are Forever is teaching underp r iv i l eg e d
high school students environmental science and about the
connection between their own actions and what goes into our
ocean. This remarkable education program includes trips for
students aboard the ORV Alguita, and hands-on opportunities
to do actual research and analysis on the presence of plastic
in beach sand samples they have collected. Results of this
concentrated study have been outstanding. Students are
offered opportunities and experiences they would otherwise
never have; the goal of Plastics Are Forever is to change lives.
As a part of their continuing research, students have created
their own website to track the results of their activities. It can
be found at www. p l a s t i c s a r e f o r ever. o rg .
and said, ‘This is the wa y
Portals to the Sea
the wo rld ch a n ge s ! ’ ”
Portals to the Sea is a unique collaborative project focusing
on water quality that provides live digital video transmission
between a diver underwater and classes of school children at
the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, California. This
project makes possible live laboratory study of marine life in
natural environmental settings, and the live introduction of
underwater marine life for students.
Captain Charles Moore
in a Memo to the Board,
June 2005
2005 Education Highlights, continued
Two-way communications allow students to direct divers to
a specif ic location or object underwater and answer their
questions on the spot. In the future this approach will provide
spot or ongoing monitoring of marine life, reducing cost, time
and accessibility to the life being studied. Eve n t u a l ly, using a
satellite, this live televised communication will be expanded
to multiple classroom receivers any where in the country.
Diver-to-shore communications can also be digitally recorded
for documentation or for a later viewing.
D r. Marcus Eriksen describing
debris and organisms to ECHS
principal and students.
“I ’ m n o t aga i n s t
Education on the Web
plastics; I’m aga i n s t
A M R F ’s website, www. a l ga l i t a . o rg, features an education
component where materials, including the Watershed Wo n d e rs
curriculum, suitable for classes 6-12, can be downloaded and
printed out by teachers for distribution to students. The website
includes a glossary of terms, copies of AMRF publ i c a t i o n s ,
and a list of scientific publications, articles, pamphlets and
booklets ava i l a ble from A M R F.
what we do with them
when we are finished
u s in g t h em.”
Marcus Eriksen, PhD
Watershed Wonders Series
Dr. Eriksen describing the tangle of
fishing nets that were collected
during one of the AMRF Pacific
Ocean research voyages.
6
Wa t e rshed Wo n d e rs is the creation of AMRF Education
Specialist Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Board Member Bill
Macdonald. It’s an educational package consisting of a 27minute DVD and accompanying 80-page curriculum booklet
for Junior and Senior High School students, explaining about
watersheds in coastal Southern California, their importance to
our oceans and our lives, and how each of us can help to ke e p
our water cleaner. To date the program has been distributed
free of charge to nearly 1,000 schools in California and
O r egon, with enthusiastic feedback from both teachers and
students. Selected schools received personal visits from Dr.
Marcus Eriksen. Two more versions, WW: Mississippi River
and WW: St. Lawrence River, are awaiting funding.
Dr. Marcus Eriksen and students demonstrate the strength of rope constructed from plastic bags.
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