1/21/2026 Newsletter
Friday January 23 to comment & Stop Offshore Drilling off our Coastline. Send an email, a letter or sign the petition to Protect California Sanctuaries and Our Coastal Ocean
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 Deadline to Comment- Call to Action and Public Hearings The Trump administration is proposing a new Five-Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program that includes drilling off the coast of California, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in previously protected coastal waters off the Florida and Alaska coasts. The program proposes drilling in the Alaska wilderness, where drilling has never been attempted because of high risk to sensitive marine wildlife. These coastal waters are home to the richest marine biodiversity in the United States, and include critical habitats for endangered marine animals. Now is the time to speak directly to the officials shaping this plan. Learn more about the proposal Here and tell the Feds NO to any new offshore drilling leases. As a boy I experienced the Santa Barbara Oil Spill in 1969. Two years later two tankers collided near the Golden Gate bridge, fouling the ocean and beaches, and killing thousands of seabirds and hundreds of marine mammals. These events would shape my life and career, and led in part my founding of Shark Stewards. See the excerpt from my upcoming book below, and join us preventing another preventable disaster to our California coastal ocean and wildlife. Public comment on the proposal closes on January 23! Comment Here  Last week I attended a hearing hosted by Surfrider Foundation Marin, with Congressman Jared Huffman, Former Superintendent Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Maria Brown (pictured top), Ocean Advocate Richard Charter, and other dignitaries with hundreds of people objecting to the proposal to drill off our coastline. California has one of the most productive marine ecosystems on the planet, with 5 National Marine Sanctuaries, and an economic Blue Economy worth 44 Billion in GDP. We cannot risk destroying this to benefit industry and short -term gain. Join the majority of Californians and tell BOEM No to Drilling our Ocean. “In 1969 I remember surfing the beach at Carpinteria, a shoreside town south of Santa Barbara where my parents would take my brother and sisters to camp. A catastrophic blowout from Union Oil Platform A offshore leaked millions of gallons into the Pacific, coating miles of sensitive coastal habitat. Thick patches of black ooze formed gooey strands and islands along the wash zone. Globs of tar balls congealed in the wrackline of kelp and driftwood, as sea birds and seals navigated amongst the brown tinged foam. The black surface of the ocean reflected prisms of color. Surfers from Goleta to Ventura were recognized by the tar- spotted decks of their surfboards. Bottles of baby oil were placed outside doors to dissolve the sticky goo from bare feet. Images of oiled cormorants and seals flashed across news programs on television across the nation. All this was the aftermath of the largest oil spill off California, and at the time the largest in the world.” (Excerpt from upcoming book Sharks, SCUBA and Sanctuaries, a retrospective on diving and marine protection in California National Marine Sanctuaries.) Let’s not relive this disaster, or the Standard Oil tanker collision, the Cosco Busan, Huntington Beach, and Gaviota Spills that followed, polluting our Sanctuaries and coastal ocean. We can learn from the past: when we drill we kill. ADD YOUR VOICE  Give Voice to Endangered Species and Sanctuaries- No to Offshore Drilling |
| Send a comment to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and let them know you OPPOSE new offshore drilling. Your email will be mailed directly to the agency as part of the official public record. The specific comment period docket number is BOEM-2025-0015-0003 for the 11th National Program. Submit a comment, or send by mail a written comment to the address provided in the official Federal Register notice BOEM-2025-0015-0003. For the upcoming 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, comments can be submitted by the link above or by mail to Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD), 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166-9216. The U.S. has been a net oil exporter since 2020, and hit an all-time high of domestic oil production in 2024. New oil and gas leasing is not needed to meet our nation’s energy needs. |
EVENTS
Download our 2025 Plastic Survey and Branding Data Report!
- January 24 Beach Cleanup and Plastic Monitoring – Junipero Beach, Long Beach 9:00am-11pm Meet Near the Snack Shack!
- January 25, Beach Cleanup and Monitoring Aquatic Park Berkeley, 2125 Bolivar Drive, 10am-1pm
- February 4, Distinguished Speaker Series Sharks and Science in Baja- Ocean Institute- talk by Shark Steward’s Carmen Pasos 6-8pm
- February 24, Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup, Catalina Island with Catalina Divers
- March 6-8, Festival of Whales, Dana Point- Join our sharks in the parade!
Join our Voices of Extinction Campaign and help us defend the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and our National Marine Sanctuaries in Washington DC in 2026. Sharks, whales, seabirds and other endangered ocean species need your help. Time is short. Please act now and add your voice for the sharks and othere endangered marine wildlife.
Save the Sharks,
David McGuire
Director, Shark Stewards
With your support, we keep sharks swimming and the ocean healthy.
Shark Stewards is 4-star rated by Charity Navigator, Platinum-ranked by Candid and a top rated charity by Charity Watch., We are a member of 1% for the Planet, a proud project of the Earth Island Institute, a federally registered 501(c)3 non profit.
Will you help us save sharks with your donation? 91% of all your donation dollars go to program.
Copyright © | 2025 | SHARK STEWARDS | All rights reservedOur mailing address is:
Shark Stewards, PO Box 617, Sausalito, CA 94966
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