Take a walk ON THE CAREFUL SIDE

Mike Swanson

Those rocks you think you’re walking on at Shaw’s or any of Laguna

Beach’s several coves probably aren’t rocks.

They’re likely barnacles, and identifying the types of barnacles

is crucial in deciding whether you ought to be walking on them. If

they’re buckshot or acorn barnacles, then you’re all right, but steer

clear of the gooseneck variety.

The “rocks” could also be aggregating anemones, periwinkle snails,

limpets, chitons or mussels, all living creatures that don’t

appreciate being walked over.

If you’re confused, then the nonprofit Tidewater Docent program,

which started sending volunteer educators to local beaches and coves

on Thursday, will be there to assist you.

With 45 trained docents prepared to share their knowledge of the

area’s vast intertidal zone, the hope is that cove visitors’

awareness of what they’re walking on will heighten respect for the

plants and animals.

Program organizers Fred and Jan Sattler, “Bluebelt”

environmentalists, also stress that removing something as apparently

slight as a mussel shell, or even a rock that really is a rock, is a

fineable offense at all of Laguna Beach’s coves.

From now on, don’t be surprised to receive a personal reminder

from someone wearing a standard-issue Tidewater Docent T-shirt. Fines

can be up to $500.

“There’s a lot to preserve out here,” Fred Sattler said, “and a

lot to see. We want people to come out and see what’s here, but they

ought to know what they should and shouldn’t do ... and what they can

and can’t do.”

New signs are also part of the plan to educate visitors and

clarify what should be left alone.

Every docent took two classes in April, totaling about six hours,

from marine life experts Cheri Schonfeld and Jon Lewengrub. Schonfeld

is a marine life refuge supervisor and community watch volunteer

coordinator serving South Orange County, while Lewengrub is the

marine life refuge project manager for the Ocean Institute in Dana

Point.

“Fred was expecting to have about 10 docents,” Jan Sattler said,

“but the interest level has been tremendous, and we expect it to

grow.”

Docents will be assigned shifts at Laguna beaches from 9 a.m. to

noon or noon to 3 p.m., depending on low tides to determine

schedules. Off-duty docents spending leisure time at the beach are

also encouraged to be on duty, even if they aren’t carrying the

informational brochures.

Trained docent Mia Davidson said the April classes provided a nice

backbone of knowledge that she continually expands upon through

“on-the-job training,” which consists simply of exploring the areas

above and under water on a regular basis.

Davidson, Jan Sattler, Nancy Bushnell and Melinda Stanton comprise

the self-proclaimed “Swim Chicks,” who can be frequently seen

snorkeling through cove channels from North to South Laguna in search

of everything interesting (as long as it hasn’t rained in 72 hours).

“You see something new every time you go out,” Jan Sattler said.

“You’ll see a lot of what you expect to see and get at least a few

unexpected, special sightings every time. It could be an octopus

tentacle sticking out of a rock that you mistake for a stick or some

colorful organism you’ve never seen before.”

A special docent tour on Tuesday revealed one questionable,

colorful organism that fit Jan Sattler’s description. She uncertainly

called the floating, hot-pink, apparently tentacled, thumbnail-sized

creature a nudibranch, a type of mollusk with several species found

on Southern California coasts.

The Sattlers said Shaw’s Cove is frequented by marine biologists.

Steven Murray at Cal State Fullerton regularly conducts studies with

his students to see how tidal life is progressing.

At Shaw’s Cove, they encountered a Cal State Dominguez Hills

professor who called the area “the richest bio-system south of Santa

Barbara,” Jan Sattler said.

The area has lost some of its richness with the disappearance of

abalone, moray eels and sheepshead (California’s answer to Hawaii’s

parrotfish). Jan Sattler cited the surplus of pelicans as one welcome

change from her childhood days in Laguna. She said the use of DDT

kept pelicans from the area in the 1950s and ‘60s.

She has mixed feelings about all the seagulls.

“The seagull’s become a more robust scavenger over the years,” Jan

Sattler said, “and people should absolutely not feed them, or leave

trash or food on the beach, because they’ll flock and poop, which

raises the contamination level in the water.”

In general, anything that isn’t in the area when you get to the

rocks, or the beach, shouldn’t be there when you leave. Moreover, you

shouldn’t be leaving with anything you find, the Sattlers said.

“We’re all just trying to do our little bit to show our

appreciation of this environment,” Davidson said. “The more people we

teach about what’s out here, the safer the area will be.”

For more information, or if you’re interested in becoming a tide

pool docent, call Fred Sattler at (949) 497-9367, or send e-mail to

fjmasatt@aol.com.

* MIKE SWANSON is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.

He covers education, public safety and City Hall. He can be reached

at 494-4321 or mike.swanson@latimes.com.