Whale Migration Near Record Levels This Season

I just discovered some great news regarding whale sightings and migration in the South Bay. Scientists with the American Cetacean Society Los Angeles Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project report that so far this season, 1,055 gray whales have been tracked southbound en route to nursing and calving waters off Baja California. Last year at this time the number was 704, so this represents a substantial increase. It is the highest count since the 1997-98 season and represents the third highest count on record, with December being the highest month on record.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, project director for the ACS/LA census, said that good weather and more gray whales traveling closer to shore may be some of the reasons for the increased count. Four fin whales were also seen traveling together near shore over the weekend, as well. It used to be that fin whale sightings were extremely rare but they, too, have been reported more often in the past five to six years. Fin whales (the second largest animals in the world after blue whales) are in the same family as the blue and humpback whale. February is normally the end of the peak of the southbound migration of gray whales, but this year has been different. There appear to be two peaks this season, Schulman-Janiger said, making this a great year a peak opportunity to get out and see whales firsthand.

The ACS/LA census uses citizen scientists who track whales seen from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center in Ranchos Palos Verdes. If you have never been to the Point Vicente Interpretive Center you definitely have to check out its beautiful park and the expansive natural and cultural exhibits about the history of the peninsula. Whale-watching from there is REALLY fun and there is always a colorful group of locals and regulars camped out along the ocean cliffs. Whale season usually runs from the beginning of December until near the end of May, and the ACS/LA gives monthly talks regarding whale and sea life in the area all year long at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro.

Plenty Of Excitement Over The Rare Whale Skull Excavation At Palos Verdes School Last Week

It looks like the rare fossil found at the Chadwick School in PalosVerdes has become international news! Local news crews such as ABC7, KTLA5, Fox11, and NBCLA showed up early Wednesday morning to witness the excavation of a 12 to 15 million year old whale skull found on the school's property and they created a bit of a media frenzy. The next day the story was national and international news, with publications as diverse as the International Business Times and the U.K. Daily Mail reporting on the event.

Paleontologist Howell Thomas discovered the fossil in October of 2012 after a teacher at the school contacted him to see if any of the "stones"  (actually known as Middle Miocene Era Altamira Shale) that had been lying around the property since the school was built 80 years ago had any special significance. Within seconds of looking at the fossil, he identified the rear of the skull, the blow holes and the location of the snout as that of an ancient Sperm Whale. It is not known if, because of the smaller size of the skull, this is a juvenile whale fossil or a new species but the fossil is seen as further proof that Palos Verdes was at the bottom of the ocean before shifting tectonic plates created its rolling landscape.

If the fossil is indeed a newly identified species, it will likely be named after Chadwick School. They have donated the finding to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles which, in turn, will create for the school a detailed model of the fossil for display. Restoring the skull could take up to a year and will be a painstaking process. In the meantime, Thomas and other paleontologists and archaeologists will be examining other fossils in the area...so who knows what amazing discoveries await?  I can just imagine how exciting it is for these kids to be a part of history like this and I think it is so cool that all South Bay kids (and adults) have many more interesting historical discoveries to look forward to. 

Mira Costa Orchestra Gearing Up For Summer China Trip

The members of the Mira Costa Orchestra Program were, of course, overjoyed when they learned last Fall that their symphony orchestra was one of only 4 high school orchestras in the nation selected to perform in the People’s Republic of China this June and July, and they have been holding fundraisers over the last few months to help with the substantial costs of making sure every student who wants to participate in this amazing experience can do so. Since everyone who knows me knows how strong my Mustang pride is, I thought I would post the link to their fundraising Facebook page, which they update for boosters. Most of the fundraisers have been pretty low-key, fun events and the link will keep you updated if you want to attend any of them in the coming months.

John Crozman and Dean Marshall, co-founders of the popular professional alternative violin ensemble Barrage, extended the enthusiastic invitation to the Mira Costa Orchestra to perform in China after their well-received performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall last June. Under the program name of League of Astonishing Strings, Crozman and Marshall lead a group of educators, composers and promoters whose goal is to envision, create and produce innovative string music events and projects, and it is a huge honor for them to invite Mira Costa to participate in this trip.

During their trip, Mira Costa Orchestra members will be taking the stage at several world-class venues, including the Hangzhou Grand Theatre (the amazing concert hall pictured above), the Xuzhou Concert Hall, and the prestigious Shanghai Oriental Art Center. In all, the orchestra will be performing at six professional concert venues while visiting seven cities in a span of twelve days. This will be an extraordinary experience for the kids and I congratulate them for their hard work and exceptional talent!

A Few Free Fun Things To Check Out This Weekend

If you haven't yet made plans for tonight you might want to check out Seymour Jewelers in Hermosa for a Benefit Open House for the Boys & Girls Club of Los Angeles. This free event starts at 6:00 p.m. and will feature a wine tasting presented by Uncorked Wines along with refreshments and bites donated by My Fit Foods of Hermosa Beach.  If you have any jewelry that needs attention bring it and they will clean and polish it for free. I first started going to Seymour's with my mom when I was a little girl--and still go there today--so it is nice to see them host this worthy event. Even if you can't make it you can learn more about the Boys and Girls Club here.

For those gals who don't have Valentine's Day plans or just want to splurge this weekend with their girlfriends, the South Bay Galleria is holding something tomorrow it's calling Anti-Valentine’s Pamper Thyself. This is another free event and will feature special sales, giveaways, makeovers, mini-massages, complimentary refreshments and a fun Instagram contest. The first 100 people who show up get a $10 Galleria gift card, and the Instagram contest, where you take pics of you and your friends enjoying the various promotions and post them with a special hashtag, will be giving away gifts to women who post by the end of the day. More info on that is here.

Movie buffs will probably love the Art and the Movies exhibit that starts this weekend at 608 NORTH art gallery in Redondo Beach. Running through February 23rd, the exhibit is a showing of some of the gallery's hundreds of full-size movie posters and original artwork from the 1980's and 1990's, many in French and Spanish. This was an era when special effects and movie promotion reached entirely new levels so there should be some really cool stuff to see, and mixed in among the posters will be original art and photography by artists who have created special pieces celebrating movies, Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general.

As always, if you follow any of these suggestions I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you enjoyed yourself, either here or on my Facebook page.

Manhattan Beach Leads The Soaring Luxury Housing Market In California

As the L.A. Times, the California Association of Realtors and other sources have been reporting over the last few days, sales of $1 million-plus homes went through the roof last year in the Golden State. In a nice surprise, Manhattan Beach recorded 439 million-dollar and up sales — the most in the California in 2013 — edging out Hillsborough in Northern California’s San Mateo County by 3 sales. And it is not just homes commanding top dollar as a lot in the South Sand section of Manhattan Beach recently sold for in excess of $9 million.

Across the state buyers purchased 39,175 homes costing $1 million or more compared to 26,993 in 2012, according to DataQuick, the leading compiler of real estate data and statistics. That’s the most since 42,506 in 2007 and is a whopping 45% increase over 2012. Also,  a record number of buyers — 10,602 — purchased these homes, with Southern California dominating the luxury market once again.

Locals, flippers, athletes, investors and celebrities all played a big role in the boom this last year. This year could prove to have similar activity, as well, and hopefully inventory opens up as folks on the fence about selling realize the true value of their South Bay properties. And, unlike what happened with the San Francisco-area tech boom two decades ago that created instant, young, single millionaires and priced many people out of their communities, Manhattan Beach (and much of the South Bay) is still home to long time residents and families.

Help Manhattan Beach Continue To Be More "Green"

Many of you may know that Manhattan Beach is one of the "greenest" cities in California. Beginning in 2008, the City of Manhattan Beach took action to become an environmentally conscious leader amongst cities in California by creating a community environmental task force to focus on environmental issues and it hired a new Environmental Program manager to coordinate green policies. In 2009, MB held the largest climate action event on the West Coast and last year they became a member of Green Cities California, a coalition of California’s largest and most environmentally progressive jurisdictions dedicated to accelerated environmental sustainability policies and practices.

There are two events going on tonight that illustrate Manhattan Beach's continued commitment to green policies. The first is a free workshop at 7:00 p.m. at Mira Costa High School for those planning on remodeling their home. During this class attendees will learn about ways to make your home more energy and water efficient. The result will be a healthier and more comfortable home, lower energy bills, better energy and water reliability and environmental sustainability. Going green doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, either, so financial incentives and ideas on financing your remodel will be covered as well. It is sponsored by the South Bay Environmental Services Center and this link will provide you with the details.

Also at 7:00 p.m. this evening is an Earth Day Planning Meeting at the Manhattan Heights Community Center. The City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department is seeking volunteers to help plan this special event that takes place on April 26 at Polliwog Park. They need community members to help coordinate food & other vendors, man info booths, help with children's activities, participate in promoting the event, etc., and students may earn community service hours through volunteering. Go to the Voice website for details and a schedule of all of the upcoming meetings for the Earth Day 2014 celebration.

Super Bowl Sunday A Great Day To Get Around L.A.

That is, of course, until the game ends...then, watch out. I'm mentioning this because there are a couple of things going on outside of the South Bay on Sunday that would normally make for a less than fun drive to try to attend but, until at least 6 p.m. or so, should be a breeze to get to and from. As it so happens, they also involve the Chinese New Year that started yesterday (if you didn't know, this is the Year of the Wooden Horse), and this year's celebrations look to be amazingly fun.

The biggest event is the The 115th Annual Golden Dragon Parade and Chinese New Year Festival in the heart of Chinatown. This HUGE celebration is today and Sunday and the festivities start later this afternoon with a series of spectacular floats, decked-out cars, dancers and bands parading through Chinatown (with Mayor Eric Garcetti serving as Grand Marshal this year). Following the parade, the festival will really get underway with cultural performances, children's activities and hands-on cultural workshops. Taste a bit of Chinatown with traditional Chinese cuisine specials offered at a bunch of Chinatown restaurants, or munch on some killer street food and non-traditional dishes offered by some of L.A.'s hottest gourmet food trucks. Eagle Rock Brewery is hosting the craft beer gardens and among the micro-brews represented from all around Los Angeles will be a couple of offerings from the El Segundo Brewing Company. There are a few different locations where there will be large festivities taking place (especially Sunday), so this link will help you sort it out if you decide to take advantage of this FREE event.

Santa Monica Place has authentic Chinese traditions such as the Traditional Chinese Dragon Dance, Chinese Ribbon Dancers, Chinese Stilt Walkers, a New Year’s Wish Tree, a Chinese Henna Tattoo artist, Chinese Children Crafts and complimentary Fortune Cookies planned for Sunday. The Grove in the Fairfax district has erected a towering totem of red cloth and bamboo poles guarded by glittering representations of mythical Chinese beings. Sunday plans include a calligraphy demonstration, drummers and lion dances planned for the lawn. The craziest thing is probably the RACE/LA scavenger hunt on Sunday where you'll search Chinatown for the mysterious Mr. Lee during the big Golden Dragon Festival. Hunt for clues throughout the neighborhood while you discover ancient traditions alongside experimental art, explore picturesque alleyways and traditional temples, bustling shops and hidden courtyards.

So, if you are not into the game and plan to take advantage of smooth sailing on the freeways for most of the afternoon, this Sunday it will be you and Domino's drivers on the road (the company expects to move 1.2 million pies nationwide, a 42 percent increase over the typical Sunday).