A warm Southern California day welcomed Ocean Conservation enthusiasts to Dana Point's Annual Ocean Awareness day. This gathering of groups focused on restoring and preserving our oceans ends the two week long “Festival of Whales”.

This year marks the 37th Festival of Whales. The Festival is held every year on the first two weekends in March and celebrates the round trip migration of the California Gray Whale from Alaska to Baja and includes an art show, street fair, parade, sand sculptures, whale watching tours, and sailing and rowing instruction. read full article

On the last day of the Festival, the Dana Point Harbor Association puts on Ocean Awareness Day to close the festival and remind us of how important the ocean is to all of us. The ocean covers three fourths of the planet and provides us with 70 percent of our oxygen. I spoke with Ms Kim Tilly, Event Coordinator for the Dana Point Harbor Association, and she was glad to have such a variety of ocean conservation groups attending this year's festival. “It really makes it a fun day for the families to come out and learn about what is being done to protect bays, watersheds, streams and our oceans”. Kim said she was glad to see the big blue Wyland Clean Water Challenge van open for tours alongside Dana Point's Ocean Institute. Wyland is known for using a “Fluke” or “Whale Tail” as a symbol of his lifelong dedication in working to educate and inspire young people to become active in ocean conservation.

These “Flukes” seem to be everywhere as I walked among the exhibits assembled in the park near the Ocean Institute. Some of the groups in attendance were members of the Orange County Chapter of Surfrider Foundation, The Dana Point Lighthouse, the US Coastguard, Ocean Defenders Alliance, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, and the American Cetacean Society. One “Fluke” that got my attention was the “Whale Tails Tortilla Chips” booth. Some local eco entrepreneurs have started an organic, kosher tortilla chip company that gives 10 percent back from the sales of their Whale Tail (fluke) shaped chip to groups involved in ocean conservation. Ms Terry Kraszewski, the owner of the company, was handing out samples of her whale tail shaped chips to crowds of festival attendees. I finally got a moment to ask her about these delightful chips. Terry said “My husband and I have lived a block from the Pacific Ocean for 30 years and it was time we started giving back to what has given us so much pleasure in our lives. The idea started in my kitchen with some fresh corn tortillas, a drawing of a Whale Tail (fluke) and a pair of scissors. I cut out the shape, dropped it some oil and out came the first Whale Tail Tortilla Chip. I wish I could say the rest was easy. It has been a lot of hard work but very rewarding also.”

Terry told me that Whole Foods Southern California was the first major retailer to add them to the organic kosher snack aisle in June of 2006 and they have been adding new retailers ever since. Ms Kraszewski was particularly happy that the largest snack distributor in the Hawaiian Islands has added Whale Tails Tortilla Chips to their offerings. Terry added “Having our chips in Hawaii has always been a goal because this is where the Humpback Whales migrate to every year to give birth to their young.” I learned from Terry that the first ten percent from her organic tortilla chip went to fund water quality surveys in Magdalena Bay. This bay in Baja is the calving ground for our Pacific Gray Whales who make the long migration off our California coast from Alaska.

What a great way to spend a Sunday in this beach side community of Dana Point. They really put the spot light on Ocean Conservation and its no “Fluke” that is event is in it's thirty seventh year.

To learn more about the Festival of Whales visit:
        www.dpfestivalofwhales.com/
To learn more about the Dana Point Harbor Association visit:
         www.danapointharbor.com