Heal the Bay is a U.S. environmental advocacy group of activists based in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

. The focus is protecting coastal waters and watersheds of southern California, and is focused on

Santa Monica Bay Santa Monica Bay is a bight of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume, in ...

. Heal the Bay is a 501(c)(3)

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

with full-time paid staff members and

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

History

Heal the Bay was founded in 1985 by a group of citizens led by environmental activist Dorothy Green.Elaine Woo
"Environmentalist began Heal the Bay"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', October 14, 2008. Mark Gold became the president of the organization in 2006 and held the position until 2012.Tony Barboza
"Mark Gold to step down as president of Heal the Bay"
''

'', January 10, 2012. The current president and CEO is Shelley Luce, who took the post in April 2017. The organization has become a prominent advocate for the environment in California, and is particularly known for its annual report card ratings of the water quality at beaches along the Pacific coast. It was also active in advocating for restrictions on plastic bags in California.

Work

Heal the Bay supports public health and education outreach programs as well as sponsoring beach cleanup programs such a
Coastal Cleanup Day
Adopt-a-Beach an
Suits on the Sand
in Los Angeles County, California. It operates Heal the Bay Aquarium, which was previously named the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and formerly known as the Ocean Discovery Center and was operated by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

until 2003. In 2003, then-California Assemblywoman Fran Pavley authored legislation that required the state to develop an environment-based curriculum to be offered to all California public schools. The bill (AB 1548 of 2003) was sponsored by Heal the Bay and was signed into law by then-Governor Gray Davis. The program it set in motion came to be known as th
Education and the Environment Initiative
(EEI). Heal the Bay publishes an annual Beach Report Card, whic

at popular beaches up and down the West Coast of the United States. It also produces weekly and daily beach water quality grades online a
beachreportcard.org
and river quality grades at th
River Report Card
Recent accomplishments include leading grassroots movements to pass plastic reduction policies lik
Straws-On-Request
and California Proposition 67. Heal the Bay also launched an advocacy campaign to pas
Measure W
and fund the Safe, Clean Water Program. In August 2020, news outlets reported single-use PPE items (gloves, surgical masks, etc.) in the Santa Monica Bay shoreline and parking lots. Heal the Bay members are not able to gather in large groups due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

.{{Cite web, last=Dixson, first=Brennon, date=2020-08-14, title=Ocean pollution persists despite pandemic, url=https://www.smdp.com/ocean-pollution-persists-despite-pandemic/195463, access-date=2020-08-25, website=Santa Monica Daily Press, language=en-US

References

External links

Official websiteHeal the Bay Aquarium
Environmental organizations based in California Environment of Los Angeles Water resource policy Non-profit organizations based in California Organizations based in Santa Monica, California 501(c)(3) organizations Environmental organizations established in 1985 1985 establishments in California Environmental organizations based in Los Angeles

History

Work

See also

References

External links