Old Town Monrovia, California BABY!

Location: Monrovia, California

 

ARRIVAL:

I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of Monrovia (like ever) until I got there. And, at the start, I was kind of just a melting pot of emotions (mainly confusion (like where the heck are we), a teaspoon of anger- scratch that more like A TABLESPOON, a cup of excitement, heaps of curiosity, and the rest is just random bits of feelings, another story another blog type of thing you know- ANYWAY) when I arrived at night sometime in December of 2017.

It was a change of scenery, moderately chilly, and I couldn’t really tell the vibe of the city yet as I was still half asleep in the car ride during our arrival. All I could make out was the mountains that gleamed under the moonlight and the few palm trees that greeted me with a steady sway. sweet.

 

FEW MONTHS IN…

Fast forward to a couple months in, I was in love. Found in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of L.A. county is Monrovia (named after the founder, William Monroe). A 30 minute (really it depends on the traffic) drive to the City of Angels, about 20 miles. Pinpointing it, even more, just 10 miles from Monrovia, you’ll hit Pasadena, and 14 miles from Monrovia is the N.A.S.A’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PRETTY COOL RIGHT). There’s just so much more fascinating things about this place from filmed tv shows and movies to a library room with ancient books (okay, okay not really ancient but more like old, ooold, oollld books- you get the point) that will blow your mind. Let’s dive right into it. 

 

cool side note: on Tuesdays, the tickets are $5 in the movie theatre

 

HISTORICAL STUFFIES

The perimeter that I’m going to be focusing on today, however, will be Old Town Monrovia. What is that? You may be wondering, I shall get into detail right now, don’t worry. Okay, so, Old Town Monrovia is considered the heart of the city. All along the street, you’ll find buildings rich with history. Just a heads up, Monrovians take their building and history preservation quite seriously. That is why you may notice that there are quite a few landmarks, buildings, and even homes (very victorian style btw) that truly show the outstanding style of architecture tied in with the legacy and past of Monrovia. While the outside of the buildings is old-style, you walk right in and you get the modern-day style back, a perfect blend.

 

art, Art, ART

Aside from the aesthetic brick buildings and quaint historical landmarks, Monrovia is filled with art- EVERYWHERE. This is all thanks to the Art in Public Places Committee and Art in Public Places program. Take a stroll around Old Town and you’ll find art on the floor, walls, meter blocks, and even trash cans. Murals of wings, airplanes, poetry written on the floor, beautiful designed doors and gates, and so much more. Here’s some of the art they have around:

• Mark Twain (location: library)
  

 

• Red Box Car (location: paragon)

 

• Library Mural (location: library)

 

SAMSON THE HOT TUB BEAR

This is something I couldn’t leave out. You take a walk around and I bet you that you’ll bump into a painted bear statue whether it be in the library, chilling like a tourist, or at the park. Might as well get acquainted with him. Who is this dude anyway? First off, it’s a bear- get it right, and second off his name is Samson the Bear. Let me tell you the scoop. It was around the 1990s when this particular 500 pound California black bear found it’s way to Monrovia. He often made trips up and down the foothills, contemplating life, treating himself to some food from fruit trees and trash cans. Word spread about this bear and his adventures as he often was found chilling in hot tubs. However, in 1994, Samson fell ill and was going to be euthanized, news spread quickly, and Samson was saved. Together, Monrovians, the Orange County Zoo, and the San Gabriel Valley raised $125,000, which went into construction for the beloved Samson’s habitat, which fed him greatly and even provided him a pool! Samson is pretty special, you see. 

 

Samson the bear the tourist- he asked me if I could take this picture for his instagram yeah

 

Filming in progress

guys. GUYS!! Monrovia has had some amount of movies filmed there. I’ve had my fair share of seeing films being filmed at Old Town itself! I found it particularly entertaining when they switched out signs of restaurants and all to suit the need of the film. And, during times when the background people were needed to act as casual as possible (which I witnessed, by the way, very cool), I swiftly breezed by the professional-looking dudes in suits who seemed like they missed their much-needed cup of coffee and tapped their pen on what looked like an important binder thing quite a few times.

Okay, first let’s start at Monrovia High School where A Cinderella Story was filmed. In my opinion, a classic. I did go to school there for about a year and a half and knowing that Austin Ames has walked in the school hall that I walked in is a dream come true (I’m overreacting here, but I’m just saying that I found it pretty damn cool). Some movies that filmed in Monrovia: 

• American Pie (location: 402 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia)
• Legally Blonde (location: 625 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia)
• Not Another Teen Movie (location: Monrovia High School)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park 
• A Cinderella Story (location: Monrovia High School)
• A Quiet Place (location: 304 N Canyon Blvd, Monrovia)

And, that’s just to name a few!! Pretty cool, huh.

 

Monrovia Park Library

Hands down one of my favorite places. For reals. In case the name didn’t entirely give out the picture, IT’S A PARK AND A LIBRARY. A big one too, might I add. Starting outside, there’s enormous patches of grass, benches along the walkway that leads to this fountain, a game table, a big park at the back with swings, climb-y thing-os, a slide, and other park stuff, more benches, and picnic tables. There are a lot of events that are held in the library area, which usually have pizza served (I know because I’ve volunteered quite a few times during events and I have never not seen pizza served… coincidence? I THINK NOT). It’s a perfect place to read a good book while being out for fresh air, play some soccer, walk around, journal, and play with your dog. I’d say the best time to go and hang outside would be when it’s cloudy but the sun still peeks up over the whole place while the wind sings along the breeze. perfecto.

side note: there was a time I was “throwing” a football in front of the library (if you can even call it a throw) as I was playing with my sisters when this guy came up to us (probably in pain by seeing us countlessly struggle and fail to throw, although I’d give us points for trying) and offered to help. Apparently, he was a football coach (the luck was definitely in our favor) and saw how much we sucked (he didn’t say that btw he was actually really nice about it) so he offered to help. Ten minutes later, me and my sisters were basically pros. We could literally throw the football straight to each other with our eyes closed. And, yeah that was fun, that’s my lil story at the library.

Now, on the inside is even better. When you enter, there’s a little store that you’ll find to your left which is called the Friend Store where you can buy books, DVDs, magazines that are pretty affordable, and, at times, excellent finds. Next, there’s a room to the right which known as the community room where events are held and activities take place in. When you continue your journey inside, you’ll be faced with the front desk where you can check out your books, get your library card, and more. There are two main sections: To the left, you’ll see the Youth section and to your right, the Adult section. As you may have guessed, the Youth section is more of the library’s bustling side where you can talk with your normal voice volume. You can also find computers, a baby area with toys and everything, and a room known as the Story Room where other events are held, too. The Adult section has a Teen section with tables to study on, computers to use, couches, and books. And, continuing on in the Adult area, this is where the study rooms you can reserve for few hours (it works as a first come first serve) are found, shelves after shelves of books on an array of topics, computers, printers, a magazines area and remember I mentioned the ancient area earlier? Actually, it’s called the Heritage room, and let’s just say my brain thinks that somewhere hidden might be a book on the existence of Damon Salvatore, or not, you never know.

reminder: If you ever find yourself in this beautiful library, GET A LIBRARY CARD. 

There’s so much more than what meets the eye and pre-covid times, the volunteering community is one fun place to be at and help.

another side note: The library park is actually located next to the community center.

 

Friday Night

This is probably my favorite day of the week, aside from Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. Friday nights are absolute the best in Old Town Monrovia. This is because of the street fair that’s set up along Myrtle (they have safety precautions set it place like social distancing, etc.). A few blocks get closed off from 5 pm to 9 pm and lil vendors set up. The end is usually filled by food trucks and live music playing. There are plenty of stalls selling many different things from fresh honey to strawberries to floppy hats and shades to bubble machines and so much more. ALSO (I’m not sure if it’s open yet due to Covid) they have this like area where you can go and feed and pet animals like horses, bunnies, a donkey, goats, turtles and more. I may or may not have been charged at by a llama because of the cup I had filled with its preferred food, a total misunderstanding which was worked out at the end by the way. There’s even like this rock climbing area. You’d probably be surprised about how much that part of the city can change from a quiet lil area where cars just pass every now and then to a music-filled street fair with dancing and activities and all. It’s truly something to see.

 

Hiking, walking, and all that jazz

This goes out of Old Town Monrovia radius but I’ve got to mention it. Parks, waterfalls, hiking trips. There are many places to go hiking and let me tell you it’s absolutely amazing. Although I struggle climbing up the mountain, it’s worth it. So for the hikers out there reading this or those thinking about hiking you’ll find a place in Monrovia to do so. 

 

There’s more. A lot more but this where I’ll be stopping today. Monrovia is a charming little city. The community is absolutely great and I’m definitely going back one day to visit and eat some ice cream. Hope you found this blog to be interesting. See yah in the next one. Bye! Love you! Stay safe! Social distance!

 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

L.O.A.S.H’S ECO SWITCH: Reusable Bags

Quote of TRUTH: “The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” – 

Sup, my eco-peeps, back again with an ECO SWITCH. Heck yeah. Let’s get this party rolling. Parrttyyy. Okay, serious game face. seriousness.

dot. dot. dot.

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Single-use plastic bags = NO!!!! Food, food is good. It’s necessary. It’s yummy. It’s the essence of- okay, let’s get back to the point. Remember those plastic bags that we use? The ones we use for like food, groceries, vegetables, and other stuff? Yeah, we kind of need to change it up. Like ASAP, ASAP. Did you know that there are billions (it’s a pretty big number) of plastic bags being consumed yearly?? Plastic bags win the majority of grocery bags in the United States alone. Estimated only 1 out of 200 plastic bags we use get recycled. In coastal cleanups, there are so many plastic bags popping up. Dude, it’s not good. at all.

How do you switch this up? Invest in a reusable bag! Stay committed by always remembering to bring this bag with you when you go grocery or someplace else. To get your own eco plastic bag switch, one option would be to get it from your local grocery store. Sometimes they do sell reusable, durable bags! There are other places you could order from, too. Another option for you could be to purchase one from these links:

 

Reusable Shopping Bags

 

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These reusable bags are durable, compact, washable, and can fit a good amount of groceries in them. Click here or the image to check them out!

 

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Reusable Shopping Bag w/ Wheels

 

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This is better for when you have heavier and more groceries with you. When you aren’t using it, it can be folded! It’s a great size and good quality. Click here or the image to check them out!

 

 

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Reusable Mesh Produce Bags

 

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These are amazing for vegetables and fruits and moreeee! They are durable, eco-friendly, see-through, and breathable. Instead of grabbing those one-time-use plastic they have, use these ones instead. You can even clean the veggies with the bags, too! Click here or the image to check them out!

 

 

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invest. commit. share.

🙂

 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

Ugh, Ocean Acidification

Quote of TRUTH: “How inappropriate to this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.” – Arthur C. Clarke

ugh.

 Our Ocean   

Under the beautiful glistening ocean, marine life silently suffers from the effects of overabundant carbon dioxide (a.k.a CO₂) that has been dumped (and is still continuously being dumped until today) into our atmosphere. You may be wondering how a percent of the excessive amount of CO₂ we produce ends up in the ocean damaging the structure, life flow, and ancient paradise underwater. Well, let me tell you that it wasn’t just a one time job and the effects from it will only get way worse if we don’t take action. Today you shall learn about ocean acidification and what it does to our oceans. 

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 Industrial Revolution   

It was during the 1800s when the human industry and advancements were booming. Fossil-fuel powered machines and different inventions (like the steam engine, construction, oil-slick roads, mining & dump sites, livestock waste, and more) were the root cause of the CO₂ entering the atmosphere. This was known as the industrial revolution. This gist of this revolution will come into play later on.

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 Ph Balance

Essentially, the pH scale is a scale used to measure the acidity of something. The scale goes from numbers 0 to 14. Lower numbers, ranging from 0-6, are more acidic. 7 is neutral. Higher numbers, ranging from 8-14, are basic. To give some examples:

• Lemon has an acidity level of 2
• Lye has an acidity level of 13

Putting it into more technical terms:

The acidity of a solution one is measuring describes the Hydrogen ions (H⁺) the solution contains. An acid, on the other hand, is a substance that releases hydrogen ions. Going back to the pH scale, this is the measure of the concentration of H⁺ ions. Since the pH scale is logarithmic, a slight change in measure makes a big difference.

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Industrial Revolution + Ocean pH

Since the industrial revolution, the ocean’s pH has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1. Although this might seem like a small change in number, this is a 30% increase in acidity! That’s right, I’m talking about the whole ocean out there changing 30% in acidity (THAT’S A LOT, SHALL I ADD!). It is even estimated that more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that gets released by burning coal, oil, and gas gets absorbed. I SAID MORE THAN A QUARTER INTO OUR BEAUTIFUL OCEAN. okay, I gotta chill. Proceeding….. At the moment, 22 MILLION tons of CO₂ gets dissolved into the ocean PER DAY. When this was first discovered, it was seen as a positive thing (as scientists saw that is lessened the carbon dioxide warming up the atmosphere). However, further studies showed that the ocean’s chemistry was changing.

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Natural Buffering

There is this stabilizing effect that scientists call buffering. This process is when rivers carry dissolved chemicals from rocks to the ocean. This helps to stabilize the ocean’s pH. However, since there is too much carbon dioxide entering and all at such speed, this natural buffering hasn’t been able to keep in pace. There is a possibility that the ocean’s capacity to function as a carbon storehouse will begin to falter.

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Adapting

Although there are some species that are finding ways to adapt and be even stronger (such as crustaceans), many marine organisms are being negatively impacted by the increasing CO₂ levels. We’ll get more into this in a bit.

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CO₂ + Ocean

The reaction that happens when our ocean absorbs CO₂ can be broken down simply. When water and carbon dioxide get mixed, they form carbonic acid. This kind of acid, just like hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, breaks down solids and releases hydrogen ions. It is weaker compared to the others, nevertheless, it still accomplishes the same in breaking down solids.

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Shelled Organisms

A key component of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) shells is carbonate (CO²⁻ ₃). Shell-building marine animals combine calcium ions (Ca⁺²) with carbonate (CO²⁻ ₃), which they get from surrounding seawater, to make calcium carbonate.

Here’s the thing, hydrogen ions (which is released as carbon dioxide and ocean combine) usually bond and get attracted to carbonate. When hydrogen ions combine, bicarbonate ions (HCO₃-) is the result. Shell-building organisms are able to get the carbonate they require from bicarbonate. 

In conclusion to this, the ions that corals, mussels, clams, starfish, oysters, and any other shelled organisms become less abundant with the chemistry changes caused by ocean acidification. And, although these sea creatures may find a way to adapt in more acidic water, their resources, and energy (that normally goes to reproduction and other important activities) will be exhausted.

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A Global Problem

This is truly a global problem. There are millions of people who depend on the ocean for livelihood and as a source of food and protein. Imagine, with the corals being affected like this, the results with the food chain won’t be good. And, on top of ocean acidification, there are already so many existing threats our oceans, the reefs, and the sea creatures face. To name some: pollution, plastic, garbage dumping into the sea, overfishing, and coral bleaching. To be aware of these problems is truly great, but, without any action, the consequences we get, give us too much unnecessary lose. We must take action, spread the word, find solutions, and take action my peeps.

 

 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

LAWNS = NO, GARDENS = YES!!!!

Hi, guys! Welcome back to my blog! And, advanced MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you awesome humans!! Here’s a blog on lawns and how we shouldn’t

Yes, those huge green spaces, usually found in front of a house, which normally has sprinklers (around 1-3, really depending on how big the lawn is), grass, grass- oh! Did I forget to mention there’s grass? And, if you’re really lucky, you would find one or two dandelions around. Some people even consider putting a sign or two saying “KEEP OFF OF GRASS” or “WALK ON PATHWAY ONLY”.

The thing is, lawns have been existent as far as the 16th century. In the beginning, lawns just had the purpose (waaaaaay before) to help the people see if an animal or some person were coming from a direction which seemed to be endangering others. Then soon enough years passed then bowling came the next “cool and popular thing” that went around until it was banished for the “commoners” in England by several kings, which is just unfair. Let’s fast forward again, the Northern Europeans migrate and travel to North America, they share their ideas with the lawns and what they need to start their own. Only the rich and wealthy were able to afford these new “cool” grass trends, at the start. Then looking at today, you can find lawns nearly anywhere. There are too many gallons of water that endlessly get wasted to just these lawns.

I just found out that according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, that more than 30-60 percent of water from the total percentage which a household uses goes to your outdoors. If we look at both what would be worth using up water on, lawns or gardens? Another thing the US EPA mentioned was this:

If the average sized lawn here in the US gets 20 minutes of watering every day seven days a week 

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running the shower constantly for 4 days 

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taking more than 800 showers 

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this is the amount of water needed for the average family to take 1 year’s worth of shower

I was blown away by such an extraordinary amount that is being used just by ONE average lawn, just one. Can you imagine the hundreds of thousands of lawns using this much water? That’s way too much. But it’s not too late to change this numbers and change our currently occupied spaces by lawns into something better. It’s never too late.

The benefits of having a garden:

Plants and trees absorb sounds. Yeah, you read that right. They absorb sound and these are actually one of their not – so – known traits that they have. Meaning this benefits us when it comes to noise pollution.

Secondly, plants and trees also aid with our pollution. They take in the carbon dioxide that we humans exhale and create, as they give out and produce oxygen. And, this oxygen is a very important component for us to live and survive.

If you have edible plants you could even save a bit of money by reducing the times you visit the market and grow them yourself and produce more in your backyard! And since you’ve grown these plants yourself, you’ll also be aware that there won’t be any preservative or other stuff that barely anyone could spell being injected or placed into your food.

Gardens also help other types of wildlife which insects and other animals like to hang out and even eat a bit of fruit from the trees and take shelter. It’s awesome knowing that we’re helping these creatures while we help ourselves, too. It’s awesome that we’re able to help in these little ways to our one and only home, earth, especially since plants help remove chemicals and bacteria from water in the ground.  

Here is an awesome (oh you know, they’re just so awesome) solutions:

• Home Gardens for everyone!

Here, imagine this, trees that bear awesome tasting and healthy fruits at your front door. You look up and even find a bird perched on one of your tree branches singing a lovely tune. A breeze swifts past you momentarily spreading an aromatic smell filling your living room with a fragrance of ripe oranges, basil, rosemary and you even take a hint of sage which seemed to be lingering from your next door neighbor’s newly planted herb. Wouldn’t this be such a wonderful sight (or should I say smell) to wake up to? Everyone can try to convert their lawns to a garden which would not only be such an amazing sight to see but very useful to this earth, the animals that live in it and even ourselves. It doesn’t have to be a humungous garden with trees and herbs everywhere you could barely walk back to your house. There are plenty of ways you could design your garden to your liking! Small or big, it all helps. Students and everyone who would want to could even volunteer to help water or take care of the plants.

Spread the word, guys! You could also probably be the one to influence others wherever you live to do the same! Just keep being awesome and create your own ideas! 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mexico and the Dead Zone *DUN DUN DUN*

The situation occurring in Mexico’s dead zone hasn’t improved, in fact, it has gotten worse. 

What is a dead zone? It’s an area in an ocean or big lake, found in lots of places around the world, with hypoxia, in other words, oxygen depletion. When there is oxygen depletion, the area affected by this problem causes the instability to support marine life. When there are too much growth and bloom of algae it chokes the water and makes it not possible for marine like to survive with the inadequate amount of oxygen. But, how does nature suddenly start blooming and getting all these nutrients enough to keep spreading this hypoxia? Well, it doesn’t work alone. It’s also our fault because one way or another the nitrates and phosphorus that our farmers use in farming eventually seeps into our water systems and into the ocean which makes the algae flourish and grow and bloom and other things that shouldn’t happen because it (LITERALLY) chokes the ocean and the marine life below it.

Since we covered the basics and everything you will probably need to know about hypoxia and dead zones, we can now focus on a specific ‘dead zone’ and that is in the Gulf of Mexico.

On April 20, 2010, one of the biggest oil spills in the BP (British Petroleum) and American records and history occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. It happened just a day after they sealed the 70-kilometer deep hole with concrete followed by a metal valve used to stop the flow of oil entering the ocean. While the men were doing their inspection of the day old concrete, they noticed that oil and gas have actually been spilling out into the water through the faulty concrete and failed valve.

87 days past before they finally sealed the oil spill which already gave out 5,000 gallons of oil per day! Let’s do the math here: It would be an estimate of 5,000 x 57 which equals to 435, 000 gallons. HOLY MACARONI. Imagine how much has spread already? Especially since the oil spill was close to the dead zone, which made a few people worry things would get much worse. Honestly, a LARGE oil spill next to a DEAD ZONE. Nah-uh not a good combination nor timing. Won’t it affect the surviving animals living in the area? Think about it. The people in the restaurants were worried about the food they’ve been serving thinking it might affect the people, but they trusted it was all in good hands.

The oil soon mixed and glued itself to the plankton and other bacteria i

n the ocean which caused marine snow to sink to the bottom. What if small creatures and animals start eating this. These are some of the worries fishermen had when catching the food. But, fortunately, due to the natural oil seeps, the flora and fauna of the ocean have adapted to the oily marine snow. Yes, there are actually natural oils that seep from the earth. Th- WAIT, what is marine snow you wonder? It looks like the picture below —>

How dangerous it would have been to be the person underwater checking out the valves and the fear of it not properly functioning. There have been many oil spills through history. One after another there has news flashes saying “Now this one is the biggest oil spill..” It just keeps getting bigger. Luckily, they got to shut out the rest of the oil spill, even though it was after 87 days. 

According to National Wildlife Federation, below are the lists of affected animals near the Gulf of Mexico:

Dolphins and Whales

• Nearly all of the 21 species of dolphins and whales that live in the northern Gulf have demonstrable, quantifiable injuries.
• The number of bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay and the Mississippi Sound – two places particularly affected by oil – are projected to decline by half. Multiple studies have determined that the injuries to bottlenose dolphins were caused by oil from the disaster.
• It is estimated that it will take approximately one hundred years for the spinner dolphin population to recover.
• There are only a few dozen Bryde’s whales in the Gulf. Nearly half this population was exposed to oil, and nearly a quarter of these whales were likely killed. The long-term survival of this population is in doubt.

Sea Turtles

• Scientists estimate that as many as 167,000 sea turtles of all ages were killed during the disaster.
• In 2010, the once-remarkable recovery of the endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle halted abruptly. Scientists remain concerned about this species of sea turtle, which is known to congregate and feed in areas that were oiled off the Louisiana coast.
• Heavy oil affected nearly a quarter of the Sargassum – a type of floating seaweed – in the northern Gulf. Sargassum is an important habitat for juvenile sea turtles.

Fish

• Studies have determined that oil is particularly toxic for many species of larval fish, causing deformation and death. The federal study estimates that the disaster directly killed between two and five million larval fish.
• At this time, the data does not indicate that the oil spill caused significant decreases in populations of commercially harvested fish species.
• However, a number of species of fish have documented oil spill injuries. For example in 2011, some red snapper and other fish caught in oiled areas had unusual lesions, rotting fins, or oil in their livers. Oil spill impacts have been documented in fish species such as southern flounder, redfish, and kill fish.

Birds

• At least 93 species of bird were exposed to oil. The resulting loss of birds is expected to have meaningful effects on food webs of the northern Gulf of Mexico.
• Species particularly affected include brown and white pelicans, laughing gulls, Audubon’s shearwaters, northern gannets, clapper rails, black skimmers, white ibis, double-crested cormorants, common loons, and several species of tern.

The Gulf Floor

• Scientists estimate the habitats on the bottom of the Gulf could take anywhere from multiple decades to hundreds of years to fully recover.
• A significant portion of the Gulf floor was affected by oil. The federal study confirmed that at least 770 square miles around the wellhead were affected, while a separate analysis determined that at least 1,200 square miles were affected. Both studies suggested that a significant amount of oil was likely deposited on the ocean floor outside the areas of known damage.
• Coral colonies in five separate locations in the Gulf – three in deep sea and two in shallower waters – show signs of oil damage.

 

Dolphins, whales, turtles, fish and birds are getting affect by this and they already have lots of other things to worry about such as plastic. Now, here’s the most shocking truth. This 2017 they found out that the dead zone at the Gulf of Mexico is the size of New Jersey! NEW JERSEY. The size is about 8776 square miles.

 

We can stop this. Start gathering solutions people you can do it! Some ways are to stop utilizing the products that help in causing the blooming, like nitrate. Keep thinking creative my awesome readers.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

 

 

 

 

Ibajay Journey: Third day, A Wedding

The third day in this beautiful place

Our third day begins with some Longganisa and eggs. Excited, we left to the mangrove eco – park. One of the men, Denise, who works at the park called us. We went to him and he pointed to a bucket and told us he caught two mud – lobsters. Ate Aga picked it up, but we only saw one mud – lobster. We told him there was only one, then he said that the other men ate it. I was shocked, but after, he said it might have just been a crab. So, which really ate it? I guess we had to accept it. It affect us that much.

A wedding

Denise showed us another passage to enter the starting of the park because there will be a wedding. The wedding was starting in the afternoon but we have to be prepared. We can’t just walk through a wedding all muddy and stinky.

Shovel Time

Unfortunately, when we checked our traps nothing popped up. We left the traps behind and went to our first station. The first two mounds we dug with our hands and when we used the shovel, it kinda went terribly wrong because the mounds got clogged. The third one was going alright and deep but high tide was coming. A few minutes after, we started to pack up. Luckily, we hung our bags on a branch. The water was already on our knees. You could see some worms and other weird bugs floating around already.

Another Passage

We trudged under the bridge and through the mud where we could hear the music from the wedding. And, today we learned many different things from the local people who work in the park. They told us how they cut down the nipa and sell them for about 300 PHP per sack. It’s exciting learning about their culture here and because they stay here every day they know a lot of things about mangroves and mud lobster and other wildlife.

It’s beautiful how they take care of the land so much. They know how to find the right food. But, we need to make more people aware. And, not just aware but also care about these mangroves. Are you in?

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

Ibajay Journey: Second Day, Mangrove Exploration

Circa: JUNE 7, 2016

Second day

We went back to the park to check out our traps and the mangroves. This time, we came at 8:00 am. The sun was shining through the trees and the birds were chirping beautifully. We arrived at our trap site.

Did we catch any?

From afar we could see the trap was touched by something. The trap was deactivated, but by what? We walked down the muddy stairs and to the traps. One was under a bridge and the other was near the oldest tree. We got both the traps and checked them. We were able to peek through a small hole which was created for inserting the paddle. We saw a claw and an antenna. It was possible that it was just a crab, but I guess we’ll find out soon.

Frightened Creature

We slowly lifted the opening for the creature to get out. On the other end of the trap, we put a container to catch it. We didn’t know exactly how the attitude of this animal was. We prepared to catch it as a mix of excitement and curiosity took over. We surrounded our trap and waited patiently. Silence filled the air. You could probably hear a leaf fall from a mile away.

But, fortunately for us, slowly it came out. It meaning the mud – lobster. We closed the lid of the cylindrical container. The mud – lobster pushed the cover and was trying to claw its way up. Very intelligent animals, indeed. It stopped moving when I ventured toward the container it was in. I put a small stick in front of its face to see what it would do. It didn’t move but after a few seconds, it loudly tried to clamp it with both its claws.

Plot 2

After capturing the mud – lobsters we went back to our second plot. We measured the starting of the plot and went further inland. We noticed there were a lot of Nypas on one of the mounds. We studied how the other mounds were surrounded by other kinds of plants. We were trying to measure the other mounds on the other side but it was covered with Acanthuses and Nypa Fruticans. After measuring all the mounds visible, we went back to the old tree.

New Plot

Since we found some interesting things happening on this small piece of an island with the tree, we decided to make a plot there. The circumference of the whole island was 18 M 77. We wanted to look at the mud – lobster better so we decided to let it go for awhile. Scared it would run, we tied a small piece of string to its body creating a leash. It looked pretty funny, leashing a lobster. After realizing they are actually very, very slow we just unleashed them. We barricaded their surroundings with small logs and pieces of stick we found lying around, even an old boot. The biggest mud – lobster kept escaping and trying to get into one of the holes. They both stopped moving so we put them back into their containers.

Traps

We decided the best idea was to set up the traps in the same mound to check if more than one lobster lived in it. After setting up the traps, and nearly catching some mudskippers, we rested on top of one of the open bridges. This bridge wasn’t completely finished so the sides had no railings yet. We spotted a medium-sized jellyfish that got itself tangled up in the vines. It was beautiful and after few minutes untangled. The cool breeze was passing as I stared through the binoculars. I could barely make out the sweet songs of the birds anymore. The sun started to fall and the night was filled with partying crickets.

Night Sky

It’s been two hours since we left the trap and made a decision to check them out. We steadily made out our way with some flashlights. The ants started to appear everywhere, we could barely touch the railings for support. There was this one time when we found five ants all tearing up one ant. It was crazy. We did our nocturnal prospection for maybe 45 minutes. We went back and forth quietly trying to spot some mud – lobsters burrowing away. On our way out we closed all our lights and stared into the sky. All the stars were out, and the moon was like a shimmering diamond. We told each other stories and left back to go home.

THUNDER!!

We’ve finished freshening up and we were just laying around studying. We could see the flashes of lightning through our window. There was no after sound with the lightning in a long time. The silence in the air was occupied by the sound of the aircon. All of a sudden a loud boom came screaming through my ears. I jumped, accidentally pulling off my earphones with it. We all looked at each other, surprised. The ground shook for me, it felt so close by. It was past 9:00 pm so we decided to sleep already.

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

My Journey at Ibajay Begins….

So, here we go. We are about to dive into this adventure I took a while back. Get ready!!

Circa: JUNE 6, 2016

Arrival at Ibajay, Panay

Our journey finally begins as we arrived in Ibajay, Panay at 6:00 pm. Me, Kuya Garrett and ate Aga went to our room and cleaned up our baggage. After preparing our backpacks with some of the survival and mangrove equipment needs such as :

Flashlight
First Aid Kit
Lunch
Bandana
Measuring tape
Ribbon
Binoculars
Old newspapers (for press drying the leaves from Mangroves)
And more….
we ate our dinner and hit the snooze button.

Start of our field work

Around 5:00 am we ate our breakfast and headed straight to the Ibajay Mangrove Eco – Park where we waited for our guide. There were a lot of different kinds of mangroves it was sometimes difficult to tell apart. You really needed to check the bark, leaves, texture, color, fruits, and flowers. We would even use our newspapers to dry and identify them while we had our guide around. While walking through the park I found a few of the 28 kinds of trees :

1. Avicennia Alba / Marina / Officinalis / Rumphiana
5. Acanthus Ebracteate / ilicifolius / Volubilis
6. Aegiceras corniculatum
7. Bruguiera Parviflora
8. Ceriops Decandra / Tagal
9. Pemphis Acidula
10. S. Alba / Caseolaris
11. Xylocarpus Granatum / Moluccensis
12. And exploring more…
We went deeper into the park and went to explore the ground and get our hands dirty. We started to plot ten by ten meters square for our stations. Each station we would measure how big the mounds were, the circumference and the height. We have now created two stations and are planning on hitting 5 stations. Each side of the square we would use an app, altimeter, to find out the coordinates and the degrees. Measuring the plot would, sometimes, get us stabbed by the Acanthus Ebracteate, This plant was very sharp and you can find almost everywhere around or on top of the mound.

Mounds and Mud – lobsters

Mounds are like big lumps of soil which are made by mud – lobsters. You can find these mounds almost everywhere near the mangrove trees or the saline environment. The biggest mound we’ve measured had a circumference of 14 meters, which was pretty large.

Looks pretty cool, right?

Some of the mounds are all clumped together, we called these condos. When we open up these ‘condos’ there would be dozens of holes leading somewhere deep. We couldn’t even reach the bottom, the mud – lobsters are really good at making mounds. The mud – lobsters use their claws to burrow a mound. They are called engineers sometimes. When mounds are created it also helps the soil. People usually see these mounds as useless lumps on the ground, but actually, it provides homes for special snakes, ants, crabs, spiders and other animals. Mud – lobsters are very timid and nocturnal creatures so it is low probability to see one.

 

Some Rain

On the second plot, we started to hear some thunder. We hurried up our business before everything started to pour. We didn’t have time to measure any mounds because the hard rain started. We ran up the stairs to the nipa hut where we ate some snacks. Our research did say that the mud – lobster come out when it’s raining so me and ate Aga went to look at some of the mounds.

Blue Water

The rain somehow changed the color of the river to blue. Awhile ago it was murky green now it was just light clear blue. I wanted to get a sample but I didn’t find time to get any. We didn’t know why it changed the color. We were thinking maybe when the fresh water and the salt water mixed it did some things and changed color? I still need to research on that

Damaged Mounds

We came up with an idea to conduct an experiment and see if the mud lobsters repair their damaged homes. We started to shovel up open the tunnels from the mounds which were really deep. We never reached the bottom but opened up everything. The next spot we dug up was near the biggest in width tree which was a 750-year-old Avicenna Rumphiana.

High Tide

We all decided to check our second station and start doing our measurement again. Everything was covered with water, all the small plants. The water was so high up our knees we couldn’t find the path we were in awhile ago. We decided to do our studies of our second plot in a few hours.

Starfish

While waiting for the tide to lower down a notch we swam in the beach. Not one single fish did I see. The water we swam in was clear. No corals. No fish. No seaweed. Nothing. We started to swim further from shore. There, in the middle of nowhere, a blue starfish with small spikes on top. We picked it up and I noticed one of its arms were missing. It must have been washed here by the tide. But, it was awesome that a starfish out of, so far, a clear sea just popped up here.

Setting up traps

After cleaning ourselves up we walked back to the eco – park. Finally, the tide calmed down and we could do more field work. We went to the spot where we opened a hole to see the progress. We raced back to the scene where we shoveled the mounds. Amazed, the mounds were covered with fresh mud. They say that this creature only does their work at night because they are nocturnal. This time, we planned to trap the mud – lobster with a snare trap. Luckily, we had a few which were made of bamboo. We put two snare traps in two holes which were in the area of the oldest mangrove.

Snare Trap

A snare trap is bamboo contraption which was designed to lure in animals and trap them. This is the trap that was set up to catch them in the park.

Fiddler Crabs

While the others were setting up the snare trap, I and my brother looked for some fiddler crabs. The fiddler crabs (color: red, blue and gray) which were hiding under the soil were fast. We caught two each. One of them had a big claw and the others were spotty. We put them in a small plastic container to identify them later. Our guide said that the light red one was the female, while the fiddler with the large claw was a male. The crabs with the one big claw are the ones who fight for the female and gain their territories. If you stay quite and watch carefully you could find two crabs fight with their large claw. Their claw is the size of their body. While I held them captive I was watching what they would do when their just not bothered. The female crab was using its small claws to like scratch her eye.

There are about 100 species of the genus Uca. We have 5 in the mangrove park. I did identify it to be a genus Uca but not the exact species.

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

 

In Danjugan, Day 1: Exploration of the Island (part 2)

Day 1 (again):

Where was I? Oh, yeah…

We reached our destination! Yay. We were assigned to drop our bags over at one of the tables before anything. I remember one of the first things that we were all told was about the eco toilet (which the place where you do the number 2). Btw, it was already lunch. Time to eatttt. The other kids went into the dining area already while I took a quick glimpse of the place. When I decided to join the rest I went up the small bamboo steps up to the dining area which was hovering over (with the aid of some concrete) the Moray Lagoon. The water was so clear and blue. Also, the reason to why the Lagoon had a Moray in it was because if you looked at the water you could see Moray Eels. They can look scary sometimes but also they made the water look lively if that makes sense.

As I stared at the dining area, I had no idea where to sit. Most of the tables were taken and I didn’t know where to sit. Also, I didn’t plan on sitting alone. And as I’ve mentioned before, most who came were with a relative or friend so they had a person to eat with.

I gathered my strength and decided to take a seat with a table that had 3 occupied seats. I said “hi” and we started to have a good conversation. In just a few minutes we all became friends.

While everyone finished their remaining lunch, one of the camp directors started introducing all the other camp members which we call ALs. Apparently, we were gonna be split up into four teams. Each team would be lead by one adult leader (or AL). All the AL’s each took turns in introducing themselves and their background about where they came from and why they’re in the camp. There was one scientist who came from Germany and who was going to teach us about fish and corals.

Also, we were told that for the answers that we got correct or for the behavior or actions that we did right we would get points for our teams. And of course, with being late or others our points could go down. Once we finished acquainting with our teams and AL’s, we all went out of the dining cabana and made a circle. Apparently, we were going to say our name and a dance. It went one way around the circle. When it reached my turn like everyone else, I shouted “LIBI!” and did this awkward dance move which everyone then shouted “LIBI!” and the same move. This was just a fun way to acquaint ourselves with everyone.

There are actually four cabanas for all the campers. Two are for the girls and two are for the boys. One of the main rules is that no boys allowed in the girl’s cabana and vise versa. There were about 5 girls in my cabana while there was about 7 in the other girl’s cabana.

When we finished preparing ourselves for swimming and trekking, we heard our call (KUUUUUWEEEEE (which is a bird call which came from one of the ALs)).

Most of the things you would hear (from the Camp Director) when all the campers gathered are “look at me if you could hear me” or “clap twice if you could hear me“. These were some of the ways to gather the attention when everyone was being loud.

Anyways, back to the learning center. We were briefed about the island and the different beaches and lagoons. At this point, there were a few questions in which you could earn a few points from. We were also briefed about first aid and other things to be aware of while we do our trek. We were ready. We were instructed to bring our snorkel, other gear (if you have any), waterproof bag (if you need for things you want to bring which you don’t want to get wet), water bottle, sunscreen and insect repellent. If you forgot to bring your snorkel gear (just like me ;D) don’t worry! You could rent a snorkel or any other gear at one of the gear stall area on the island. All you have to do is sign your name and Tadaaa!

Because each team had its separate color (in my case, color white), we had to wrap a different color per team on the snorkel. We then headed out team by team. While passing one of the bridges, we saw big sea urchins at the bottom. Wanna know why they were hanging out there? Well, above the bridge is a bat cave. And, the bat cave goes all the way down. The urchins liked the bat poop. Mmmm.

We passed by turtle beach and typhoon beach. And, after waiting for the other teams at some sort of bar (rehydrating ourselves with some water), we swam to the beach reaching one of the far rafts with the ALs and our teams.

Good thing for the tapes wrapped our snorkels when the others were still snorkeling you could still identify which ones were part of your team. We were shown the different corals and fishes. It seemed to explode with colors! It was beautiful.

We made our way back with a sunset trek. The sky was orange and the light slowly made its way down. Our night ended with some dinner and finally a bath! Even though it’s only one bucket per person, I agree that it’s a good amount to use. Here’s the tip, use the tabo twice to wash away the sand and wet your hair, then shampoo and soap, then another wash. Done! You’ll probably have some leftovers.

Just before sleeping, we all sat around in a circle at the dining area after pushing away the chairs and tables to the side. One of the ALs told us that this was our community building and that it will be one of the only times we’ll be doing it. As we sat down in a circle, we shared what we enjoyed throughout the day and something we liked to build in our community. On a sheet of Manila Paper, a circle was drawn. Inside the circle, we would throw out ideas we would like to have in our community, an example, trust or respect for others.

The picture above is the paper that we all made. In our community, we had the power of choice, the power of two feet, and the power of experts. Inside our community, we wrote down words we wanted for our Danjugan community. As you may see above, we wanted positivity, trust, support, friendship respect, understanding for each other in our Danjugan family.

After this, we went to our cabanas and slept. Well, the truth is I talked to my roommates (cabana mates) before sleeping. We were having a small debate whether or not we should leave the chips in the cabana. Laziness kinda went around and we decided to leave the food in the room.

We put our mosquito nets properly around our mattresses and finally slept. 😉

(to be continued)

~ L.O.A.S.H