Sea

A new children’s book aims to make environmental education enjoyable. “See into the Sea,” written by Laguna Beach resident and Ocean Foundation member Molly Peckels and illustrated by Australian artist Svett Strickland, is a 16-page coloring book designed to educate children about tide pool behavior, sea critter identification and environmental responsibility. Each page has an illustration of common shore and near-shore animals for coloring, information about the creatures and a “Wacky Wave” insert that reveals unusual and quirky characteristic about each animal.

What is the Montage going to give us besides a big headache ? which I?ve already got from having to review the extensive number of documents involved with these two massive development projects. The Montage has bragged about supposedly giving us this great gift of having a mountains-to-the sea trail. We already have several mountains-to-the sea trails. We have mountain-to-ridgeline trails, we have mountain-to-mountain trails; we have sand-to-sea trails. What is it you are giving us besides a big headache while you wreck (excuse me, I believe the preferred developers term is ?

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may." The silence stretches, and stretches ? a longing fulfilled. In this "silence" are many sounds ? the laugh of a gull on the water, the soft slap of the waves of the morning-calm sea, chirruping finches, the whir of hummingbird wings. The splash as a cormorant dives below the smooth surface of water while a pelican glides by just inches away. Bright morning light is softened by scattered cloud cover. A panga boat angles away from the shelter of land.

27…Northwood…62 Today: at Ocean View, 7 p.m. Sept. 24: at Bishop Montgomery, 6 p.m. Oct. 1: vs. Mary Star of the Sea, 7 p.m. Oct. 8: at Oak Hills, 7 p.m. Oct. 15: at Estancia, 7 p.m. Oct. 22: vs. ^Calvary Chapel, 7 p.m. Oct. 29: vs. Godinez, 7 p.m. Nov. 5: at Costa Mesa, 7 p.m. Nov. 12: vs. Saddleback, 7 p.m. Nov....

Offshore, two pangas race toward the harbor, a sailboat rocks gently at anchor and a flotilla of pelicans dives and dines. Awash in a world of sensations, my mind fills with wonder as I gaze at the Sea of Cortez from my new home in Loreto. The power of friendship is not to be deterred. In October 2005, I had come to Loreto, Baja California Sur, to visit my lifelong Laguna friend, Val Iverson Wilkerson. I had made the journey, as had another Laguna grad, Sue Klaasen Jones, with her husband, Curt, to celebrate the completion of Val and Barry's new home.

CHERRIL DOTY Trying to remember the Gulf is like trying to re-create a dream.... We know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why. JOHN STEINBECK, "THE LOG FROM THE SEA OF CORTEZ" Awareness takes on new meaning. The groundhog has returned to his hole in the eastern part of the United States. In spite of this, I feel springtime in my bones. Leaving the house, I walk out into the lavender morning to see ... white, frothy waves scouring the shoreline at high tide ... cream-colored blossoms tinged with deep maroon markings adorning a fig tree ... playful sea lion pups frolicking with dolphins in salute to the springtime of their lives.

As beach dwellers, we Lagunans are constantly exposed to the above and below worlds at the edge of the sea. I’ve spent years swimming, surfing and snorkeling the local waters, but it was just last year that I finally donned a scuba tank and received my open water diver certification. The underwater world opened to me in ways both extraordinary and unimaginable. There is so much life! Odd sizes and shapes. Brilliant, muted and camouflaged colors. Fast swimmers and slow. Crawlers.

CATHARINE COOPER Feathery tendrils of rain-laden clouds press eastward across the sea, and as evening edges toward night, a crimson-cloaked horizon peeks through the darkness. I imagine that pirates and early explorers were soothed by such a sight which gave direction and bearing to their journeys. For me, the horizon has always held the promise that there will be another day. When life seems confusing, what better place to find solace than the beach?

In an early season battle between two of the top-ranked teams in CIF Southern Section Division 2, second-ranked Corona del Mar was able to get the best of third-ranked Laguna Beach, 25-23, 25-16, 25-18 on Tuesday. Jackson Pries, who transferred to Laguna Beach two years from Corona del Mar, led the Breakers (11-6) in kills with 10 in the nonleague match. Weston Barnes had eight kills in the opening game and ended up with 10 kills. "Tonight was a tough loss to a big rival," Laguna Coach Scott Panaro said.

There will be winners and there will be losers as Southern California beaches erode unevenly in response to rising sea levels over the next century, according to a new study. Using models to project how climate change would alter the width of the sand, attendance and visitor spending at 51 public beaches in Los Angeles and Orange counties, a team of researchers found some would shrink or even disappear. But others would remain relatively large. A 1-meter rise in sea level would reduce the width of beaches up and down the coast, according to the study.

Flanked by officiants of the Ecumenical Catholic Church and local parishioners, activists seeking to reopen the shuttered St. Francis by the Sea Church met Friday to elect an executive board and appoint an interim bishop to again open the historic church's doors to public services. Paul Merritt was elected president; William Kelly, vice president; and Jessica DeStefano, secretary-treasurer. Named interim bishop was Bishop Peter Hickman, who serves as presiding bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion and pastor at St. Matthew Ecumenical Catholic Church in Orange.

Recent reporting and comments about global warming do not include information on the increase in the ocean's sea level, or what properties in Laguna Beach have been threatened or damaged by the rising sea level. In February 2007, the City Council adopted unanimously the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. From it and former Vice President Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth," the major concern was "sea-level rises that interact with coastal storms to erode beaches, inundate land and damage structures.

LAGUNA BEACH - Corona del Mar High football coach Scott Meyer said the Sea Kings' 41-14 victory over host Laguna Beach that ended a four-game losing streak in CIF semifinals dating back to 1992, meant they finally got over the hump. But it's certainly easier to surmount any bump in the postseason landscape when your primary offensive strategy involves running downhill. That's just the way it appeared for CdM (11-2) in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division semifinal, the Sea Kings' third semifinal appearance in four years.

LAGUNA BEACH - If Corona del Mar High girls' volleyball coach Marissa Booker needed any reminder of her team's character, she needn't look anywhere but the second set of Tuesday's CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinal match against rival Laguna Beach. "To come back like that, in that second set, really showed me the heart of this team," said the first-year coach whose squad rallied to win Game 2 and used it as a springboard to an eventual, 25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16 road victory that sends the second-seeded Sea Kings on to Saturday's divisional championship game.

Mike Churchill called last week's game an "important test" for his Laguna Beach High football team. The Breakers, you could say, passed the exam with flying colors. This week, Laguna faces another type of test: as in, road test. The Breakers play their initial away game of the season Friday when they travel to San Pedro to take on Mary Star of the Sea. Kickoff is 7 p.m. "It'll be different for us," Churchill said of a nonleague road test that puts the Breakers far from the friendly confines of Guyer Stadium.

You may not notice it right away. As you visit Dallas or Idaho or Corona, something slowly tightens in your stomach, or your throat thickens like a small spring allergy. Some describe it as claustrophobia; others say it's like a mild panic attack. You have been away from Laguna Beach for too long. You are missing the water, the peaceful sea, the horizon that is eternity. There is an undeniable "thing" that happens in people who live at the coast. Almost like an infection, we cannot be away from the water for extended periods.

Most of Laguna's shoreline will be closed to anglers starting this fall. The Fish and Game Commission announced June 29 that implementation of the Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs, in Southern California will begin Oct. 1 under regulations adopted in December that ban fishing and, in some cases, prohibit taking plants, animals and other marine life, including shells, from certain coastal areas. "Commercial lobster fishermen will lose 30% to 40% of their income with the 7-mile closure of Laguna's coastline," said Councilman Kelly Boyd.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach last week rescued an elephant seal pup in Seal Beach, which SeaWorld had rehabilitated. Melissa Sciacca, director of development and marketing at the center, said the incident wasn't cause for concern. The seal, named Safari, was found weighing 92 pounds at 5 months old, and was described as lethargic, with feathers in his mouth. The center is investigating what caused Safari to become stranded. A tag designated the pup as coming from SeaWorld San Diego, according to Sciacca.