July 2025 Newsletter

HTO 2025 Gala Campaign – Join our Community, Be a Sponsor!

2025 Gala Campaign – Join our Community, Be a Sponsor!

Heal the Ocean kicked off its 2025 fundraising campaign! We invite the community, local businesses, and ocean advocates to become early sponsors of the HTO Imaginary Gala 2025, culminating in an exclusive celebratory happy hour event on November 13, 2025, at the Santa Barbara FisHouse. Respond with a sponsorship by August 22nd to receive an invitation for the unique in-person event! Sponsors will be recognized in the Santa Barbara Independent, Montecito Journal, and on HTO’s website as our way of sharing a public “Thank You!” Read more about sponsorship tiers and how to donate here.

To the Rescue – HTO Removing Boat off Butterfly Beach

*Boat wreck at Butterfly Beach (credit: Harry Rabin).*

A 30-foot sailboat washed ashore at Butterfly Beach on July 9, 2025 – yet another incident resulting from “Fools Anchorage,” the area offshore Montecito, where many inoperable or ill-maintained boats anchor. As usual,HTO Field Consultant, Harry Rabin, was on the scene to assess the situation the day it happened, remove toxic materials, and work out an extraction plan with Brian Borgatello of MarBorg Industries. The wreck is in a difficult spot to reach, requiring a low spring tide to access the wreck with equipment to clear it out. This week, on Friday, July 25, Harry and the MarBorg team will remove this wreckage – with HTO organizing and MarBorg’s generosity. HTO continues to work with the City and County of Santa Barbara to work on a mutual solution for wrecks that hit county beaches – a recurring waste problem.

HTO helps lead the Goleta Slough Coastal Resilience Project

*Birds roosting at the mouth of the Goleta Slough estuary.*

Goleta Slough, a large coastal salt marsh, has been impacted over time by development and land use changes. HTO has been supporting efforts to restore this system, including opportunities to make it more resilient to sea level rise and reduce nearby impacts from flooding. HTO’s Executive Director, Karina Johnston, is partnering with Resilient Cities Catalyst, Tidal Influence, and others to lead the Goleta Slough Coastal Resilience Project. This project will accelerate nature-based adaptation solutions to help reduce impacts from flooding, while improving water quality, benefits to wildlife, and other services. These issues have been long-term goals of Karina’s previous PhD research at UCSB’s Bren School.

Recognition for HTO’s Beloved Hero Andrew Velikanje

*Andrew Velikanje cleans up trash from our environment (credit: Rebecca Caraway / Noozhawk).*

Heal the Ocean loves our relationship with Andrew Velikanje, who joined our team after we worked together to clean up an abandoned camp at Haskells Beach years ago. Andrew is the star of a recent Noozhawk feature highlighting his work removing trash and cleaning abandoned encampments around Montecito and Santa Barbara. Andrew’s company,Earthcomb, has been responsible for cleaning more than 480,000 pounds of litter and waste from local communities, including beaches, encampments, and along highways. Much of this was done before Andrew was discovered by HTO, or anybody else – he did it because of his love for the environment.

Amber joins HTO Team as Operations Manager

*Amber aboard a whale watching vessel in Iceland.*

HTO’s new Operations and Outreach Manager – Amber McEldowney – is taking over for Jasmin Tupy, who is leaving for extended travel across Asia. Amber has a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UCSB, and has been deeply involved in ocean issues for over a decade. She has worked with a California-based whale conservation program, helped organize marine debris cleanups at the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, and has paddled to four of the eight Channel Islands with her outrigger canoe club. She has also worked in environmental planning and digital marketing in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors. Welcome to the team, Amber!

- More News -

HTO’s Karina Johnston Helps Guide Coastal Habitat Restoration

*Final pool of sentinel sites selected for the southern California Bight (Walker et al. 2025)*

Just released: Restoration Ecology paper co-authored by HTO Executive Director, Karina Johnston, on identifying “sentinel sites” guiding restoration planning for a variety of habitats, including wetlands across southern California. Read the paper here. Find out more about Karina’s work to restore California’s coastal habitats by listening to her Pelecanus podcast interview, released in June.

Lazy Acres Features HTO in its Envirotokens Program

Heal the Ocean has been chosen as an Envirotoken recipient by Lazy Acres, a prominent Santa Barbara grocer committed to sustainability. The Envirotoken program rewards customers who bring reusable shopping bags by giving them a 10¢ “Envirotoken” for each bag used. Customers can then donate their tokens to one of six local nonprofits — this year, HTO is on the list of recipients. From July 2025 through June 2026, every token donated to HTO at Lazy Acres helps support our mission. So, don’t forget your reusable bags — and thank you for supporting us one token at a time!

Lobster Jo + HTO = A Clean Beach

*HTO Cleanup at East Beach, Santa Barbara*

On June 25, HTO participated with Lobster Jo’s Summer Camp in a cleanup of East Beach, a project that removed over 60 pounds of trash from the shoreline. Lobster Jo’s is a dynamic program that engages kids in hands-on learning and fun, with activities focused on the ocean.

From all of us at HTO to all of you, thank you and enjoy your summer!

HTO thanks the Poehler-Stremel Charitable Trust
for providing funds to publish our newsletters and e-letters!

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