I urge you to protect the ocean off of California by designating the "Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary" as soon as possible.
California’s Central Coast is an area of extraordinary biodiversity. Endangered whales, dolphins, sea otters, seals, pelicans and other wildlife thrive here, feeding on rich nutrient upwellings.
This area needs protection and sound science-based ecosystem management.
We have seen the devastating impacts of offshore oil spills, such as the May 2015 Plains Pipeline spill at Refugio on the Gaviota coast that killed hundreds of marine animals and birds. It's not too late to permanently protect the area to the north of this spill from this kind of catastrophic damage.
Designating a National Marine Sanctuary is the only way to permanently protect this critical and unique marine ecosystem from oil extraction, seismic testing, polluted wastewater and other threats and to increase its resilience in the face of climate change and ocean acidification.
The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary will fill a critical gap between the Monterrey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, thereby providing a long-term legacy of ocean and wildlife protection for our children and grandchildren.
Thanks for your attention to this matter.
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