WiLD Blog

Family and friends of Jessie Raymundo celebrated his life on April 26 and 27 in Imperial Beach. On Saturday friends and family of Jessie gathered at the Marina Vista Center to honor one of IB’s longtime favorite surfers, educators, and fishermen. On Sunday after spending the morning with the IB and Coronado groms at the 5th Annual Kids for Clean Water Menehunefest in Coronado, I joined more than 50 people on the pier to observe the paddleout in Jessie’s honor. Jessie’s wife, Sharon, and his children Enrique, Ana and Monica, and lots of friends and family watched from the pier as 21 paddlers gathered in a circle just off the north side to honor a true IB Foamie.  

Some of the surfers in attendance included Steve Brown, Dave and Loukas Lopez, Steve Simonds, Miguel Martinez, Seth Fisher, Dave Parra, Jeff Knox and Joe Knox, Patt McClosky, Max Shineman, Lester Gill, Jon Strebbler, Dan Allen, the Palmatiers (Ken, Barry, Andre, and Natalia), Kyle Knox, and Fred Quisenberry. Fred Karsten had known Jessie, “For about 25-27 years. We did a lot of surf trips to Baja from K-38s to the tip.” Jessie Garcia attended with his children and said, “Jessie was my kindergarten teacher.”  

Kent Gifford who paddled out on Sunday said, “Over the last year I’ve been fishing with Jessie regularly. I’ve been scuba diving/spear-fishing and Jessie has been topside on the boat. As we came up with our game, we could hardly wait to see what Jessie would show us.  He demonstrated a few different ways of cleaning, and we talked in detail about different cooking recipes. A free diver friend of ours appreciates Jessie. The current spit the diver out into the channel and Jessie pulled the anchor, started the engine and went and got him. My family and I are blessed for the knowledge and experience he has passed down. We will never be able to replace this boat Captain.”

Joe Knox sent me this story:  “My earliest recollection of Jesse began when I was about six or seven years old. My father would take me to the foot of Daisy Street each and every early morning. I remember the first time I paddled out into six-foot surf. I was scared out of my mind. Here I was, seven years old in surf that looked 10-12 feet by perspective. I couldn’t move. I was glued to my board, and a good ten yards further out than everyone else. After about two hours of terror I hadn’t caught a single wave. At the encouragement of my father and Jesse, I had to take a wave in.  

Jessie said, ‘Ok Joe boy, when I tell you to turn around and paddle towards shore as hard as you can, you do it okay.’  

“Alright I’ll try,’ I shivered. “Okay here comes a set! Are you ready.’ 

‘Yeah I’m ready,’ I lied. As I looked out I could see the horizon darken. There was a monster set coming in. I knew Jesse was going to tell me to go on the biggest wave possible, and I had to show him I was brave enough to go.

‘Alright, turn around and paddle now,’ yelled Jesse. ‘Paddle harder,’ he called.  I shut my eyes and quickened my pace. I could feel the back of my board start to lift as the set began to scoop me up. I got slammed. Suffice it to say that I was reluctant to surf at all afterwards, But my father and Jesse thought that meant I ought to surf even more.”
         
Jessie Raymundo, a Vietnam Veteran was born on November 18, 1946 in Los Angeles and passed away on April 4, 2009. He is survived by his wife Sharon, and his children Enrique, Ana and Monica, his stepson Erico Gomez, his sister Elisa and brother Victor,  
 
Serge Dedina is the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST and can be reached at info@wildcoast.net.

Lots of good spring combo surf and long sunny, glassy days to make IB surfers very happy. It is ironic that we’ve had more surf in the past couple of months than we had all winter.

I first met Barry Palmatier at MVHS back in 1978. I was a freshman who was occasionally permitted to sit at the Surfer Bench at lunch with the small but talented crew of IB surfers that included Greg Parman, Mark Ganderton, Randy Garvin, Bill Johnson, Lindy Dalmas (RIP), Roger Benham, Tim Decker, Barry Muffley, and Lester Gill among others. Barry P. who was back and forth from Del Rey, would pop in and immediately the conversation would turn to the latest Sloughs session and board design.

So I’ve known and surfed with Barry for about 31 years. Over the past few years I have enjoyed surfing with the three generation Palmatier surfing clan on surf sessions in IB, La Jolla and Coronado in addition to the great times we’ve enjoyed at the Dempsey and Kids for Clean Water Contests.

I had a chance to talk story with the Palmatiers at the Kids for Clean Water event a couple of weeks ago. The family is head up by longtime IB surfer Ken and his lovely wife Midge. Barry has three children, Catalina (9), Andre (10), and Natalia (12). Both Andre and Natalia are integral members of the growing IB super grom squad.

Ken and Midge met back at Chula Vista Junior High when they were 13. Ken started surfing in 1956 when he was at Chula Vista High on a Buzzy Bent surfboard. He first surfed the Sloughs in 1957 with Eric Carlson, Jack Breese, and Bill Marshall. “Midge and I got married in 1960 and moved up to Cardiff. But we moved back to IB and decided to stay because of the Sloughs. I missed the power of IB,” said Ken.

Ken on the Sloughs, “During my first session in 1957 I got one wave, ate it and swam in. In ’58 I surfed it but it was huge. Too big and I almost drowned. In ’59 I rode it big. The biggest I rode it was in 1969, but it was big in 1970, 1974-75 and in the 90s we had some big days. I rode the Sloughs with Dempsey for 10 years and surfed with Mike Richardson and Jim Barber. J.B. would sit way outside and wait for the largest wave. He was a power surfer, a real good surfer.”

Barry started surfing in 1964 at the age of four; “My first board was a Mudpie Maker a logo design from an iron-on t-shirt transfer I got from the Rexall at 9th and Palm. The board was a Richard Jolie template. I started surfing the Sloughs in the 6th grade. My dad, the Duck and me surfed middles. I was on a 7’2” Plastic Fantastic. It scared the living hell out of me. It was hollow and acting like IB—throwing out. By the time I was in high school I was charging it. My friends and I would paddle out and I surfed with John Emory, Richard Cacanindin, Mark Meister, Kelly Kraus, and Mike Kelly. In 1978 I rode the biggest surf at the Slough outside way past 3rd notch. I was riding an 8’6” gun made by the Duck. It was too small and I was airdropping the drops.”

The Palmatiers spent lots of time surfing in Baja at what is now 38s (or 38 1/2 as some old-timers call it). Ken said, “We called it Outhouse and then it became 38s. There was a rock in the lineup at 38s so Geoff Logan took a sledgehammer out at low tide and knocked it down. That rock was like a fence post. What is now Gaviotas back then was called 41s. The Gaviota developers ruined the wave when they bulldozed the cliff, totally changed and destroyed the spot.“

“One day my dad pulled me out of school and said, we’re going to Mexico,“ said Barry. “It was so good, offshore, eight foot and makeable. 38s was closed out.”

The Palmatiers are an integral part of the Coronado Avenue Regulars and I look forward to surfing with them for many, many years to come. Thanks for sharing your memories!

IB surfers thanked President Obama for canceling the $70 million Army Corps sand dredge and fill project that would have involved dredging an area near the border sewage outfall pipe that was also used as a WWI gunnery range. According to The San Diego Reader, the city has so far spent $450,000 on sand studies and lobbyists. Congress still might revive the Corps project. Another $166,000 bill is now due for a SANDAG sand project that would in theory be carried out at the same time as the Corps project. Funds spent on sand studies, junkets and lobbying could have been used to build a very nice skatepark for our children or help to resolve our coastal problem—beach closures caused by pollution from Mexico.

And congratulations to IB resident Josie Hamada and Chula Vista resident John Willet for receiving Cox Conservation Hero awards last week. Josie planted a 9-11 Cherry Tree Peace Grove at Beyer Elementary. John, a WWII veteran who turns 88 this year is the grandfather of the wonderful Otay Valley Regional Park. Congratulations to Josie and John for improving our communities for our children.

Serge Dedina is the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST. Contact him at info@wildcoast.net.

Imperial Beach is an ideal place.  The streets are clean; it is a tight-knit down-to-earth community; it is full of interesting characters; the cost of living is reasonable, not to mention the city sits right on the beach.  Everyday when I leave the WiLDCOAST office I head across the street to the IB pier to chat with all the usual suspects who are watching the sun descend over the Pacific, lighting up Surfhenge, the colorful pop-art statues in Pier Plaza.

I have always been fascinated with this place—its dynamic character being a border and a place often off the radar of most San Diegans.   It’s history is one of chaos and turbulence from times when owners of beach houses would see Mexicans freely immigrating everyday, to times of the bike gangs ruling the IB streets, to more modern times of more stability and the formation of a more family-oriented community.

I have also grown interested in the border area after reading books like Tijuana Straits by Kem Nunn.  I developed this image in mind that the extremities of Imperial Beach were just a wasteland.  I had envisioned a barren land, empty and ridden with all of things unwanted and forgotten from society.  

But the other day, I visited the Tijuana Estuary to find the complete opposite.  Looking out across the wetland, you will find a thriving ecosystem especially known as a key stopover point for over 370 species of migratory birds, including 6 endangered species.  Using binoculars, you see this shallow water habitat in the foreground, and in the background you can see the Tijuana Bull Ring, majestic in comparison to the shanties on the hills that look like they could tumble down at any moment.

It is truly a unique area, but a region with serious hurdles to overcome.  Yesterday, I received an email to my inbox to inform me that Borderfield State Park was closed due to an estimated 400,000-gallon sewage spill in Playas De Tijuana.  This is not an unusual message to receive, and therein lies the problem.  

Solving this problem would make Imperial Beach my paradise.

SeaChoice, Canada’s sustainable seafood organization, has categorized this year’s salmon stocks with the symbol of caution, “yellow”, with concern for most of the various stocks’ populations. All commercially fished species in British Columbia are experiencing an ongoing population decline, due in part to optimism, changing ocean conditions, habitat loss, and past mismanagement.1

SeaChoice is quoted as stating “although the overall ranking for BC Pacific salmon is yellow, there is a diversity of fisheries and salmon populations within this category.”2 Only one of the sockeye salmon sources, the Nass River sockeye, is said to have a population that may experience a return on its population, which leaves the conscientious consumer having to determine the source of the salmon. Although this may be determined on the British Columbia coast, once the fish is transported inland and sold to a large retail grocer, it can become very difficult to determine the source.

Two Sockeye salmon stocks and one Coho salmon stock are listed as endangered by a “federal scientific body” however neither are protected under Canada’ Species at Risk Act. Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans has a Wild Salmon Policy, however, as stated on the SeaChoice website “it has not yet been effectively implemented.”3 According to the David Suzuki Foundation, “a recent independent scientific review has identified overharvest of the Skeena River sockeye salmon and steelhead trout in recent years.”4

SeaChoice states “spawning Pacific salmon provide far ranging ecosystem values resulting from the transfer of nutrients to marine and terrestrial plants and animals. Salmon fisheries management has not yet accounted for the broader ecosystem values of salmon. Many freshwater habitats have been degraded or lost
through forestry, agriculture, or development which, when combined with narrow
geographic areas for unique stocks, is cause for concern.”5

The exploitation and vulnerability of these fish are indicative of the state of fisheries everywhere, and should remind Canadians and North Americans of the memorable collapse of the Grand Banks cod stocks in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. We cannot afford to leave the state of our ecosystems to corporations and governments; it is up to grassroots organizations and citizens to provide the driving force for change to sustain and recover the population of one of our most important species and food source.

1) http://www.seachoice.org/files/asset/file/116/2008_Pacific_Salmon_Ratings.pdf
2) http://www.seachoice.org/files/asset/file/116/2008_Pacific_Salmon_Ratings.pdf
3) http://www.seachoice.org/files/asset/file/116/2008_Pacific_Salmon_Ratings.pdf
4) http://www.davidsuzuki.org/latestnews/dsfnews06130802.asp
5) http://www.seachoice.org/files/asset/file/116/2008_Pacific_Salmon_Ratings.pdf

Posted by:
Lin Heidt, WiLDCOAST Volunteer in Canada

        Oysters have long since been a favorite for many people around the country, and due to a plentiful crop indulgence has been promoted.  In fact The Los Angeles Times reports that oysters have, pound-for-pound, outweighed any other aquaculture crop in the world at 4.5 million tons per year. Unfortunately, this plethora of our savory crustacean friend may soon be dwindling dramatically.

        Through ideal gene identification and selective breeding science has enabled farmers to grow bigger more resistant oysters than ever before.  They have even been successfully breading oysters without reproductive organs to maximize meat quantity and quality.  While scientists have been working hard on how to make the adults bigger and stronger they have neglected the vulnerabilities of the young free swimming larvae.

        Bacteria called Vibrio Tubiashii, dwells in the depths of the decaying biomass and with upwelling rises to the surface and switches its source of sustenance to the young oysters and ultimately killing them.  Over the past couple years this bacteria population has exploded in the estuaries of the pacific. Scientists accredit these population explosions to climate change.  Unlike many bacteria Vibrio Tubiashii makes its home in waters with low oxygen levels.  As winds have strengthened and water temperatures have increased this bacteria has found itself a niche feeding on young oysters in many of the inlets in costal regions.

        Though Vibrio Tubiashii is not harmful to humans it has dramatically reduced the oyster abundance over the past couple of years, and within the next few years, when these oysters would typically be harvested, we will find that our oysters are not available.  Shellfish growers up and down the coast have had the same problem, and have had to dismiss as much as ¾ of their usual crop.  LA times reports that this may lead to the economic upheaval of a $110 million-a-year shellfish industry.

        Researchers at Oregon State’s experimental hatchery have requested emergency funding from congress to find a solution to this problem, and have been experimenting with the use of UV light in filtering bacteria from the farming waters.  This technique has dramatically increased the crop for farmers in Oregon and production has become manageable again.  The introductions of natural viral and bacterial predators to Vibrio Tubiashii are also being explored as a possibility in population reduction for shellfish farmers.

       Climate change has once again proven itself to be a challenge in the maintenance of our way of life, and we have yet again conflicted nature. Problems such as this are believed to only increase in number, and I believe that as these problems arise they need to be approached with caution. It has become of increasing importance that as we restore ecosystems we are aware of any negative side effects that our solutions may cause. It is my thought that as responsible stewards of our planet we need to make sure we pay attention to our intervention.

A Report on The Los Angeles Times article: A warning from the sea 
by Ian Hyp

Anadromous fish are those whose habitat includes both the ocean and rivers.  Of these, salmon is perhaps the best known. In the Sacramento River, Chinook salmon are suffering from both excessive river diversions and global warming. The fall 2007 run was just 10% of the high reached a few years ago, and the coming May run is likely to be so low that the $150 million fishery will be canceled by the authorities. While the cause of the decline is not known with certainty, scientists point to two likely causes. 

One of the probable causes is a lack of food in 2005 and 2006 due to unusually warm ocean conditions. Global warming has disrupted the timing of the upwells and cold currents that provide the fish with prey such as rockfish and krill. Climate models now “predict unpredictability” instead of the alternation of cold and warm years that has prevailed until recently. Consequently, food may come to the salmon’s oceanic range too late, too early, or not at all, and the fish can only travel so far to find it. As Elizabeth Kolbert describes in Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change (Bloomsbury, 2006), all species that are around today have already survived catastrophic climate change, namely, the most recent glaciation, often by migrating to a location with a more suitable climate. However, habitat destruction has restricted some species’ mobility, hindering their ability to adapt. A 2004 study attempted to estimate the number of extinctions that global warming would cause. Looking at eleven hundred species of animals and plants from sample regions, and using a moderate projection of temperature rise, the authors concluded that, assuming the species were “highly mobile”, 15 percent would be “committed to extinction” by mid-century.

The other probable cause of the poor Chinook run is the functional equivalent of habitat loss– excessive diversion of water from the river to agricultural and residential users.  In 2005, for example, 55% of the flow was diverted before reaching San Francisco Bay. A network of nonprofits has threatened to sue the state if diversions are not reduced. Given that water use in California is a complex issue, what can be done on the grassroots level to improve the health of rivers such as the Sacramento? By using less water, people can reduce the amount of water that needs to be diverted.

In Washington and Oregon officials have obtained permission from a federal agency to kill up to 85 sea lions- a dubious amendment in the Marine Mammals Protection Act allows this - in order to protect endangered salmon and steelhead, the ocean-going variety of the rainbow trout. The sea lions have cleverly found their way into areas around the Bonneville Dam designed so that the beleaguered fishes can pass unimpeded around the dam, thus making an easy meal of the them. The Humane Society of the US argues, and we agree, that the sea lions have become a scapegoat for deeper problems, such as pollution and overfishing, that are more difficult to tackle than knocking off a few dozen helpless animals. Another problem, the damming of wild rivers, is more controversial, as dams provide many benefits, including cheap and clean power. However, more environmentally friendly energy sources exist. The dam is what provides the sea lions easy access to these endangered species in the first place. 

-Thomas Holder

A New York Times article discusses some challenging implications of climate change for conservationists. How will currently preserved land change in terms of habitat type and target species? The effects of a warming climate are hard to predict. Species may move in or out, and the habitat type may change. In response, conservation groups are developing various potential strategies that attempt to balance the current known conservation needs with the often-unknown future. For example, scientists are researching coral reefs that proved to be resilient against rising ocean temperatures during an El Nino event in the 1990s. Their findings could be used to restore damaged reefs. Another approach involves “corridors” connecting open space areas, which would allow species to migrate in response to a changing climate.

If the land is on the coast, how will it be affected by the two-foot rise in sea level over the course of the century, which is predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change? Some key habitats, such as beaches and coastal wetlands, are clearly vulnerable to this threat. The situation is worsened by the fact that they’re often bordered by development, which makes their expansion inland impossible. A great example of this is The Tijuana Estuary and the narrow beach along Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach. Preserving these places will take a great deal of creativity and cooperation between preservationists, landowners and government.

-Thomas Holder

When it comes to the interests of the Mexican people, the government of Felipe Calderón of PAN is dangerously out of touch with reality. The administration’s blunders have gone beyond the environmental authorities’ turning a blind eye to rampant unsustainable development on Quintana Roo’s coast (link to blog post). Recently approaching an abandonment of some key reforms espoused by the government in the wake of the 1910 revolution.

The administration’s proposal to overhaul Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, is an example. It would allow the monopoly to hire companies to assist it with finding and developing new deposits. This could boost flagging oil production, sales of which account for more than a third of the government’s income. However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, oil companies would likely demand a large fee in order to compensate for the lack of any ownership of deposits that are found, which is prohibited by the Mexican Constitution. The bill would also legalize private ownership of oil refineries. Thus Calderon runs the risk of sparking yet another epidemic of foreign exploitation, a problem that has long plagued Mexico.

Alarmingly, a January 2008 report in Proceso suggests that the administration is not wary of this danger; quite the opposite, in fact. In addition to its push to privatize government-owned industries such as Pemex, the administration has endorsed the growing presence of foreign multinationals, largely American- and Spanish-owned, in many sectors of the economy, often at the expense of Mexican-owned firms. For example, the Spanish multinational Gas Natural is the main distributor of natural gas. The Spanish banks Bancomer and Santander are the first and third largest in the country, respectively. The list goes on and on. The government has awarded major concessions to foreign multinationals: Pemex, for example, relies on Schlumberger Ltd. for many services, and the Spanish firm Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles provided most of the trains in the Mexico City Metro and recently won the contract to build a Suburban Railway between Buenavista and Cuautitlán. This welcome mat comes even as foreign multinationals are expanding their influence in Mexico in a “rapacious” way, according to the nonprofit Observatorio de las Trasnacionales en America Latina.

In addition to being blind to the centuries-old threat of foreign exploitation, the Calderón administration appears to be indifferent about one of the major challenges of the 21st century, global warming. Let’s suppose that Calderón is lucky; that the Pemex bill passes, that oil production reverses its decline, and that the country is able to avoid getting a raw deal from the oil companies. Is oil a resource that Mexico should be investing in and producing more of in the first place, given the potential catastrophic effects of global climate change? The country is no doubt strapped for cash, but there are certainly alternative sources of revenue and more responsible, creative economic solutions available. Why not gradually redefine Pemex’s mission as the development of green energy? Invest in ecotourism? Promote organic agriculture, both for domestic consumption and for export?

-Thomas Holder

Hotel development continues to devastate ecosystems in Quintana Roo, reports the Mexican weekly Proceso. Authorities are enforcing environmental laws very weakly, granting permits for massive “megatourism” projects left and right with little consideration of the subsequent environmental impact. When they do force builders to comply, it is usually the result of pressure by nonprofits such as the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CMDA). For example, at least 50 percent of the projects that the group has leveled complaints of nonconformity against have been canceled or modified.

However, developers sometimes proceed without the necessary permits, as the profits expected from the project outweigh the fine for breaking the law. One of the most flagrant illegal acts came in 1997, when the Spain-based Riu consortium, with the support of the mayor of Cancún, built a hotel there without first submitting an Environmental Impact Statement, as required by law. The Attorney General for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) fined the consortium 3.5 million dollars for the violation.

Developers and politicians have also done an end-run around the urban development plans for Cancún, which originally included a four-storey height limit for buildings and a maximum of 16,000 hotel rooms. Today there are 30,000 rooms and buildings exceeding eleven stories.

In addition to the lack of enforcement of existing laws, there is currently an alarming proposal in the Senate to weaken them so as to permit hotel zone construction in mangrove areas. Sixty-five percent of this rich habitat has already been destroyed in Mexico. According to La Jornada, President Felipe Calderón directed legislators to get the proposal passed “by any means”.

The concept of sustainable tourism is not yet widespread in Mexico, says Marisol Venegas, who represented the country at the first Encuentro Internacional de Turismo Justo in Málaga, Spain in 2006. The vulnerability of the tourism industry, a crucial sector of the national economy, is often used as a pretext to justify all tourism development, no matter how ill-conceived and destructive.

A majority of the hotel firms in Quintana Roo are Spanish, and already have a history of environmental destruction in their own country. Patricio Martin of CMDA likens them to lobsters, moving on to fresh territory once their reckless development has despoiled the place they are currently doing business in. Some firms expect to see a profit from their investments in as little as five years thanks to cost-cutting measures such as not paying workers bonuses or utilities. (The industry norm is ten years.) At the prompting of one of the few developers who has been shut down by PROFEPA, the Spanish ambassador has even met with officials from the agency to try and persuade them to permit the blocked project.   

-Thomas Holder