If fish could talk

Terrance Phillips

Is it a sign I’m getting old just because I remember when it was

safe to swim in our ocean and in our harbor? Is it a sign my eyesight is

failing because when I stand on a dock I can no longer see more than

10-12 inches beneath the surface?

Possibly, but whenever I complain that things aren’t what they used to

be, I always forget to include myself.

When I was young (the olden days as my daughters tell me), I was

disgracefully intolerant. However, I was raised to respect my parents,

grandparents, others, the elderly, music, animals, art and my

environment. Believe me, I never therew Jack-in-the-Box wrappers out of

my ’56 Chevy Nomad window while cruising down PCH; I never flicked a

cigarette butt into the street (that was easy, I’ve never smoked), I

rarely burned rubber from a stop sign, and I wouldnt have thought of

heaving aluminum cans, styrofoam cups, pop-tops, trash or anything else,

in the water.

Oh, I’m not saying I was “Dudley Do-Right,” but these things were a

“given” when I was growing up.

Scanning the headlines ... “Santa Monica Bay fish dangerously

contaminated with mercury,” ... “Huntington Beach closed due to high

levels of bacteria and sewage,” ... Bayshore Beach closed due to

bacteria,” ... “Balboa Bay Club Beach closed because of oil slick,”

...Rhine Wharf shows Some of the highest levels of contamination in

California,” and “Shifting tides put Newport on alert,” ... enough!

Enough already!

We’re supposed to be about boats, power, sail, row, oared, electric

and other. But what good is a pleasure boat when it’s cruising across

bacteria, sewage, paper cups, dirty diapers, syringes, medical supplies

and other monstrous atrocities?

Should we forget boats and take a drive in the country? No, too much

traffic. OK, let’s take up flying. No, too much smog. And the beat goes

on, and on, and on ...

The people from Greenpeace are also causing chaos. They continue to

mount heroic efforts to haul, push and drag beached whales back into the

water, after they have gasped their last breath while swimming past the

Huntington Beach strand.

Don’t they understand that the world’s largest mammal is trying to

escape the contaminated sea? Please, Greenpeacers, let them escape, let

them out of the sea, they’re trying to survive, for gosh sakes. If only

whales could talk!

All I ask you to do is to think back five, 10, 15 years or more years

ago. I really don’t believe these “Beware - Contaminated Beach” signs

were even printed - there was no need for them in those days.

Take a long look at the boot stripe at your water line and view the

scum and stains. It’s really disgusting.

The good news is individually we can make a difference making boating

a a cleaner and happier experience. Just by following good common sense

and exercising courtesy to others, our water and waterlife, can make a

signifcant improvement.

And one this is for sure, don’t think you’re a “bad guy” for reporting

those that violate our water and enviornment, either. On the contrary,

you’d become a hero!