Barbara Streisand woke up to the smell of nature at work this morning. As she breathed in the usually refreshing salt air of the Pacific ocean lapping at the beach below her stunning beachside Malibu mansion……
Rolling in the surf line, just upwind, was the rotting carcass of a dead fin whale.
Wildlife authorities think the whale, on the endangered species list, might have had a collision with one of the ships that ply the coastline. But the fact remained; this is a lot of nature to have going on in your front yard.
The exclusive surf side community is home to Streisand, Bob Dylan and many others in the Hollywood entertainment industry. This is ground zero for those who embrace and fund every “green” cause and proudly drive their Prius to show how pious they are about it.
Of course Barbara and her family could shift residences into the adjoining and interconnecting two other seaside mansions she owns, to try to avoid the smell of nature at work. But it seems the prevailing wind graces each residence equally.
Although rare for California, this particular stretch of beach is private. According to Carol Baker from the Los Angeles County beaches and harbors commission, the homeowners have responsibility to the high tide line and the state has control of the tide lands.
According to Cindy Reyes, executive director of the California Wildlife Center,
Los Angeles County lifeguards planned to try to pull the 40,000-pound carcass out to sea.
But fire Inspector Brian Riley said that won’t work.
"The carcass is embedded in the sand and impossible to tow free," "Burial at low tide will be difficult as well as land removal. It's in an area with bad access."
It will be interesting to see if red tape will be cut in order to facilitate this “rescue.”
Will these residents get special dispensation from the usual quagmire of interconnecting environmental agencies, coastal commissions, building departments, fish and game, harbor traffic safety and every other local, state and federal ABC agency you can think of?
Meanwhile, residents of La Jolla, a community south of Malibu, have been petitioning the state and federal authorities for months, just to let them wash off rocks in the ocean near their community.
The rock strewn shores have become home to large groups of protected species who deposit large amounts of their feces. Evidently the stench is unbearable. But environmentalists and government regulators are adamant about disrupting the natural order of things. This part of the California coast is home to a more politically conservative group of residents.
The rock strewn shores have become home to large groups of protected species who deposit large amounts of their feces. Evidently the stench is unbearable. But environmentalists and government regulators are adamant about disrupting the natural order of things. This part of the California coast is home to a more politically conservative group of residents.
With the violent death of the fin whale, a capital environmental crime has been committed. The whale is an endangered species; shouldn’t a full scale investigation be conducted before the body is even remotely considered to be moved? Where is the environmental CSI team?
This talk of bulldozing up a California beach in order to bury the carcass or move it is another assault on almost every environmental nerve ending. Where is the moral outrage?
If this were a true “green community,” and the residents were really concerned for the environment, they would let the whale carcass stay where it washed up naturally and let nature take its course for the next year. The whale would provide badly needed nutrition to the local marine animal/bird community.
Letting the whale carcass stay and decompose naturally, would also make an environmental statement louder than any horn from a Prius could make.
What are the chances? The answer is blowing in the wind.
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