By Founder and President Kurt Lieber

As the world celebrated the 56th anniversary of Earth Day, ten Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA) volunteers joined in the festivities by spending the day removing debris from the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge (SBNWR).

 Long-billed curlew

The day started with overcast skies, but that didn’t darken the mood of anyone. In fact, it was kind of celebratory in that John Milligan was part of the team. John was a crucial team member when I first started ODA. He’s an electrical engineer and he worked with a few of us on the first boat we owned, the Garibaldi…every weekend for almost 3 years!

From left to right: John and Kurt with the Garibaldi boat.

John in engine compartment of the boat.

John has helped throughout the years with my computers and electronics, but he hadn’t been out with us on a cleanup for years, life and jobs getting in the way like they do for most of us. But he made time for this special occasion.

There were 10 of us in total. Dennis Arp, Dave and Jean Merrill, John Milligan, Kent Morris, Linda Nicholes, Blake Storie, Lisa Taylor, and Steve Tyler.

I went into the Refuge the day before to look for areas where there might be a large amount of accumulated debris, and I found 2 sites where I felt we could make a big difference.

As I was driving around the wetlands, I got a chance to see some of the birds that call this magical place home. I was able to get some pictures of a few of them, like the Royal terns, Belding’s savannah sparrow, black-necked stilts, and long-billed curlews.

Check out this amazing photo of the tern carrying a newly caught fish in its mouth! 

Tern in flight with its catch.

I saw a bird that I thought I recognized as a great blue heron, but it was only half the size. I didn’t think much of it, but then when I got home and looked at the images it turned out to be a rare sighting. It was a yellow-crowned night heron.

Yellow-crowned night heron

When I read about them in my bird books, I learned that they were only found on the east coast of the United States and Mexico. When I talked to the SBNWR biologist, she said these birds started showing up in San Diego around 2008 and have slowly been making their way north. They were first spotted in this Refuge around 2022. What a beauty!

Back to the reason we were all at the wetlands

We met up around 9am,had a quick briefing, and made our way to the cleanup sites. We split up into 2 groups and spent the next 3 hours pulling all manner of human detritus from the muddy banks of the wetlands.

Check out this area before Linda worked on it and after. There are still sticks, but please look closely -- all the garbage is gone! Way to go, Linda!

Before Linda

After Linda

There is so much trash that, to a bird, looks like food. We are determined to get every little piece out!

Regular, long-time volunteers Dave and Jean "do their thing"!

Mylar balloons, plastic bottle caps by the hundreds, Styrofoam in just about any shape and size you can think of, dozens of tennis and baseballs, a golf bag, backpacks, syringes, straws, and a disgusting amount of food wrappers.

Just another day for ODA, trying to undo the havoc that humanity inflicts on our natural world.

ODA Cleanup Crew with their "Catch of the Day"

Thanks to all of you who got out and did something on this momentous Earth Day.

We invite YOU to come and join us if you’re in the Southern California area. Mother nature needs us like never before! Email us at volunteer@oceandefenders.org!