Check out what Surfrider Ventura County was up to this past month!
Respect the Rincon Parkway - February 14th
We had 50 volunteers show some love to the ocean on Valentine’s Day. We picked up 165 pounds of trash, containing over 2,000 pieces of microtrash that are still collecting in the arundo donax piles on the beach.
Keep sharing your love for the ocean and make a difference to our local marine ecosystems in the Santa Barbara Channel at our next Rincon Parkway Cleanup on Saturday, March 14, at the Rincon Parkway Day Use section!
Ormond Beach Cleanups - February 21st
Ventura Training Center's 25th Class
Wow!!! 55 volunteers and 1 Port Hueneme Solid Waste employee removed 4,000 pounds of trash off the beach! Many thanks to Sergio, who not only brought dumpsters out, but also picked up multiple pieces of large, heavy furniture and other trash, allowing the firefighter cadets from Class 25 of Ventura Training Center and others to pick up thousands of pieces of plastic and styrofoam. A special thanks to Kristen and Lindsay from the Ventura Audubon Society’s Shorebird Recovery Program for collaborating with us on this cleanup.
Sergio from the City of Port Hueneme
While the water outflow of the Lagoon prevented us from cleaning up the Western Snowy Plover nesting area, we made a big part of the beach and lagoon beach much cleaner for all the shorebirds and us humans.
Now that it's almost nesting season 🪺 for the California Least Tern and the Western Snowy Plover, we'll be off the beach side and on the Island at our next Ormond Beach Cleanup on Saturday, March 21st!
Ventura Promenade/C St. Cleanups - February 28th
The weather at the February 28th Ventura Promenade "C St." beach cleanup felt more like July than February, but that didn't stop 140 community volunteers from showing up and collecting 284 pounds of trash & recycling, and 1,000 cigarette butts, protecting both humans and wildlife from pollution. Many thanks to everyone who came out! 🌊
Join us at our next C Street Cleanup on March 28th!
Sponsored/Private Cleanups
Milken School Seniors in front of the Alaska 261 Memorial
Thanks to the Milken School Seniors and their advisors for stopping by Hueneme Beach Park on February 20th for a couple of hours of service. The students picked up about 40 pounds of trash and learned about the importance of coastal wetlands and watersheds. We hope they'll join us again soon, and thank them for being awesome friends of the ocean!
Port Hueneme Beach Park Dune Restoration - February 7th
February 7th was another great restoration event thanks to our 22 awesome volunteers, many of them Oak Park High School students from the Surfrider and Honor Clubs. Dave and Alma, who drive in from Moorpark every month, helped collect 521 pounds of invasive plants and plant native species seeds between rainstorms.
Help us restore this critical habitat – we meet in Port Hueneme on the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM. Sign up here!
Blue Water Task Force
February results for bacteria levels of enterococcus that exceeded state standards for safe water entry were extremely mixed. Before the end of February storms, we had some of the best water quality results of the season. In the last week of the month, however, we had the highest levels of indicator bacteria at almost all of our beaches post-rainfall. The County of Ventura Environmental Health Division posted water quality warning notices at Ventura beaches in mid-February. (Check the vcsafebeaches app to follow the County’s ocean water quality data.)
Our regular BWTF season ends on March 27, 2026, but keep an eye out for our 2025-2026 annual season report to see the bacteria level trends at your favorite beach during the winter.
We need water sampling volunteers for our new Summer BWTF program, which runs mid-June through mid-August. Email bwtf@ventura.surfrider.org for signup and details!