Wildlife Defender Retires

Dana Michaels Starts New Adventure

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Longtime wildlife defender Dana Michaels, a public information and marketing specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is retiring after 25 years with the agency as a writer, editor and spokesperson.

Michaels put her communications skills and passion for the environment to good use helping to protect the Golden State's natural resources and endangered species.

Working to save sea otters, the California Condor, Northern Spotted Owl and plants from the tiniest flowers to the towering redwoods…

she was as comfortable out in the field as she was writing a news release.     

Starting out in radio, Michaels was an on-air personality at stations from Los Angeles to Anchorage.

After working at Country-105 and COOL-101 in Sacramento, Michaels, who’s one of the Sacramento Valley Broadcast Legends, eventually found her calling at the CDFW.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel could always count on her to keep us informed about the state’s environmental issues, whether it was a drought or beach erosion, protecting native habitats or safeguarding animals.  

Michaels' last project at the CDFW was reporting on the reintroduction of the endangered Pauite Cutthroat Trout to Silver King Creek in the High Sierras.

The trout, which had almost disappeared, were rescued and returned to their historic natural habitat. Michaels worked on the project for ten years so it’s fitting that it came to fruition just as she retired.

Now, Dana Michaels has other projects to pursue – finishing the novel she’s writing, playing rhythm guitar in a traditional Scottish quartet, and exploring the world she’s helped to make a better place. 

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

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Living Green in Huntington Beach

Surfrider Foundation Chapter Wins Award

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

The Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce announced the 2019 winner of its annual Living Green Award – the Surfrider Foundation Huntington/Seal Beach Chapter.

The chapter's weekly beach cleanups, ongoing environmental education activities and community volunteer work earned it a wave of support in the balloting.

The award honors "the organization making the most considerable effort to reduce their carbon footprint," said Amy Anderson, the chamber's Administrative Coordinator.

Surfrider's H/SB Chapter does this and more, keeping the local beaches clean and adding to the vibrancy of the city.

Chapter President Stephanie Pedroza and Tony Soriano, the chapter's Staff Advisor, were excited to win the award. Soriano said, "Surfrider is honored to receive this award and to be able to help make Huntington Beach such a special place." 

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

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Exxpedition Ready to Set Sail

Female Crew Researches Ocean Pollution

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Everyone knows the Marines slogan "We're looking for a few good men." Now, another sea-going organization, Exxpedition, is putting a female spin on things, looking for a few good women – 300, to be exact.

The all-female crew of environmental activists is looking for "300 incredible women from all over the world to join our crew on a pioneering ocean sailing expedition to circumnavigate the globe," researching the impacts of plastics and toxics in the ocean.

"Past sailing experience is not necessary, but a passion to protect our ocean is a must!" says group founder and Exxpedition leader Emily Penn. 

The around-the-world journey sets sail in October 2019 and will cover 38,000 nautical miles over a period of two years with new female crew members joining the Exxpedition team on a rotating basis.

During the voyage – consisting of 30 legs, ranging from four to 23 days – crew members will gather data and conduct experiments to learn more about the state of the ocean.

"It's important to understand where the plastic in the ocean is coming from and how to prevent it," Penn explains. "We also need to communicate this story." She hopes crew members can be "change makers" when they return home, drawing attention to the ocean pollution. 

Penn, a graduate of Cambridge University and a Fellow of Britain's Royal Geographical Society, is skippering the S/V Travel Edge sailing vessel and floating research lab, which will be the crew's home at sea.

Built and equipped to sail anywhere in the world in all weather conditions, the 70-ft vessel was used by the British military for an expedition to Antarctica.

For the crew this is the trip of a lifetime – and a voyage with the power to affect the life of our planet!

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.