World Aquatic Animal Day: Gray Whales and Ashcans

Happy World Aquatic Animal Day from Point Dume, Malibu!

Shark Allies had the pleasure of teaming up with Carlos from @TheMalibuArtist and Surfrider Foundation’s Los Angeles chapter for a morning celebrating the wildlife in our backyard. We have been lucky to join Carlos on his drone expeditions to see Gray Whales and White Sharks lately but he brought up a concern that resonated with us, cigarette butts littered all over our beautiful, secluded Malibu beaches. This struck us as something we could make a difference for, and we immediately thought of Surfrider Foundation’s Hold Onto Your Butt program, installing Ashcans up and down our coast. Did you know that cigarette butts are not cotton, but plastic, leaching with toxins. Surfrider Foundation collects these butts and sends them to Terra Cycle, creating park benches and so much more. Now, thanks to all of your donations, we were able to sponsor 2 Ashcans at Westward Beach, Point Dume. You can find them behind Towers 1 & 2.

Why are we, Shark Allies, talking about cigarette butts and whales? When on location with Carlos, we observed how close these magnificent animals come to the shore line, within 100 feet! Aside from Gray Whales, we see White Sharks, dolphins, sea lions and so much more coming within the same range. It is important for us to pick up after ourselves and protect these beautiful creates in their homes. Conservation does not stop at protecting sharks from overfishing, there are countless pieces to the puzzle. We can all be Aquatic Animal Allies!