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Hello Everyone, This edition of the Marina Reader is late in getting to you because I’ve been struggling. My goal has always been to keep these messages upbeat and cheerful. However, during my tenure, I have never been more disappointed, perplexed, and angry at an action taken by one of our own marina community members. Those of us that work out of the Alamitos Bay office are at a loss and in disbelief at the malice, intentional destruction, and surreptitious action taken. Someone or a group of individuals drilled three, 1-inch holes at the base of two Myrtle trees and a 1-inch hole in a palm tree; filled these holes with Roundup, killing all three. For those of you that are thinking, “what’s the big deal, trees and birds are messy and I have to wash my car and boat all the time.” Think again, not only can this result in fines and imprisonment, but nothing was accomplished by this or these individuals. The City is required to replace each dead tree at a 2 for 1 ratio. Three messy trees will now be 6 messy trees. Not to mention the cost of the biological survey, removal and replacement which will be upward of $8,000. Unfortunately, a portion of your slip fees will have to be redirected to finance the implications of this destructive act. Regardless of whichever side you’re on when it comes to the protection of trees and birds, the truth is that destruction like this is a misdemeanor and potentially a felony. A perpetrator can be charged with violating the California Penal Code, the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the California Fish and Game Code. CA Penal Code 384a states “a person shall not willfully or negligently cut, destroy, mutilate, or remove plant material that is growing upon public land or upon land that is not his or hers…..”. CA Penal Code 622 states “every person, not the owner therefor, who willfully injures, disfigures or destroys …… any shade tree or ornamental plant growing therein whether situated upon private ground, or on any street, sidewalk, or public park or place, is guilty of a misdemeanor”. CA Penal Code 594 states “every person who maliciously commits any of the following acts with respect to any real or personal property not his or her own, in cases other than those specified by state law, is guilty of vandalism”. The Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, U.S. Code 16 Chapter 7, violating the protection of migratory birds can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. A misdemeanor conviction is punishable by up to six months in federal prison and a $15,000 fine. A felony conviction is punishable by up to two years in federal prison. If multiple birds are affected, you can face a charge for every injured bird, leading to far more substantial fines and lengthy prison sentences. California Fish and Game Code, Section 3503 states, “it is unlawful to take, possess, or needlessly destroy the nest or eggs of any bird, except as otherwise provided by this code ….”. Thus, in California, it is a potential State offense to knowingly disrupt an active nest of virtually any native bird species. The Marine Bureau has filed a criminal report with the Long Beach Police Department. An ongoing investigation, in which camera footage from the area will be examined, may still lead to the apprehension of the individual(s) responsible and result in extensive fines and the possibility of incarceration. The Long Beach Marinas are our home. Marina staff works diligently to improve your experiences through customer service, landscaping, and capital improvements. With your cooperation, we will always strive to maintain a safe and friendly community atmosphere that balances boater needs with environmental sustainability.  Until next time,  Elvira

Marina Offices are open and are now accepting new vessel permit applications. To protect you and our staff from COVID-19 please call the ABM and Shoreline offices in advance for any and all boating needs. Many requests can now be handled by phone or email. Please continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 by adhering to CDC recommended social distance and COVID-19 health safety protocols. For more info on CDC COVID-19 mask recommendations click here. Signage is City property – Destruction or removal can adversely affect your slip permit status. Marina Agents will be in the field identifying slips with unauthorized equipment, accessories and miscellaneous items stored on the dock fingers throughout the months of March and April. Please stow your equipment, accessories and miscellaneous items in a neat, organized fashion aboard your vessel or in your provided dock box as directed in Long Beach Marina Rules & Regulations. Anchoring at Island White this Spring? Please click here to be taken to the open permit for anchoring at Island White. Specific anchoring rules and timelines apply. Marine Safety will cite boaters anchoring outside permit parameters.

DID YOU KNOW? In old Roman calendars, one year used to be ten months long, starting in March and ending in December. On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first-ever phone call. The etymology behind the word “April” comes from the Latin verb “aperire,” which means “to open.” It’s commonly believed that the word refers to the season of trees and flowers beginning to “open” or bloom. On April 15, 1912, the famous ship Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk on her first and only voyage.

The current status of the coronavirus pandemic made it doubtful that we could conduct the Acura Grand Prix as originally intended in April and thus the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will now take place September 24-26. The event will feature the season finale of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR® SERIES…plus the always exciting IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Super Drift Challenge, Robby Gordon’s Stadium SUPER Trucks and the Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge. Long Beach Grand Prix organizers have worked in coordination with their racing series partners and Long Beach officials to postpone in anticipation that the event will be able to run in September with full fan participation. Tickets for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach are expected to go on sale in mid-2021, with ticket prices and options to be announced. Fans that chose to credit their 2020 Grand Prix tickets to 2021 will get priority placement in their seating before the regular 2021 ticket renewal period and the general public ticket sale. Area traffic impacts and alternative access routes to your vessels in the Shoreline Marina should remain unchanged from years past. Specific information about traffic impact, parking and marina access will be provided to boatowners as we get closer to race dates in September.

Marine Safety staff recently trained alongside fellow lifeguard personnel from Seal Beach to familiarize themselves with new state-of-the-art Search and Rescue technology. The new electronics will be installed in each of Marine Safety’s six rescue boats. The system upgrade is being done to comply with United States Coast Guard recommendations. The initial introduction to the technology was hosted by USCG personnel. Sandy Needle, Search and Rescue Controller USCG provided an in-depth demonstration and tour of the operational functions of the package to Rescue Boat Operators for both Long Beach and neighboring Seal Beach. The RAYMARINE technology suite consists of navigation charts, radar, FLIR, side scanning sonar and three-dimensional sonar. The new equipment will have the capability to quickly plot search patterns requested by the USCG in search & rescue operations and will even support flight controls for drone activities. Technology upgrades of this quality and scope can be expensive. Fortunately, Marine Safety secured $190,000.00 in grant funding from the Port Security Grant Program. “We are very excited to have these capabilities and these tools will help us during our daily operations,” said Marine Safety Captain Scott Dixon. Captain Dixon stated the implementation of this equipment on all six rescue boats is another example of Long Beach Marine Safety’s commitment to innovation and progressive approach to modern lifeguarding. Long Beach Marine Safety will continue to train and become acquainted with the new system alongside both internal and external safety partners. This modern electronics suite will provide fast and efficient support to safety personnel for many years to come and will be another critical aspect of safety operations in the Long Beach Marinas.

Albert Estrella was born in Artesia, California, to Carlos and Rosemary Estrella. His father was born in Mexico and his mother was born in Texas. As a child he loved to play football, baseball, skateboard and Boogie board. He attended Walnut Elementary in Norwalk and Middle and High School in Long Beach where he graduated in 1996. He has lived in Norwalk his entire life and is the father of 2 boys, Sebastian, 20 and Giovanni, 18. He enjoys going to Dodgers, Raiders, Kings, and Lakers games and loves to hang out with friends and family and BBQ on the weekends. He listens to all types of music, but his favorite is Classic Rock. Albert worked as a Part-time Public Works employee for the City of La Mirada from 2007-2011. From there he went on to manage an 8-man crew at Star Pallets Inc, his father’s business, from 2011 until 2020 when he started with the City of Long Beach. Albert loves the City of Long Beach and is proud to be part of the Marine Bureau team. He is currently our Gardener II out of the Queens Way Bay office and is in charge of the monitoring of the landscaping contractor and addressing issues as they arise. He appreciates being able to beautify his part of the City which is called “The Jewel of Downtown” and seeing projects through to their completion. He takes joy in serving the public through keeping the downtown area clean and safe, and assisting citizens and tourists with their questions.

The Marine Patrol detail welcomed its newest member last month. Officer Sanchez-Montoya came to us with prior law enforcement experience gained through the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. He has completed his initial orientation and began field training on February 20th. He is quickly adapting to his duties within the marinas and should have a bright future with the detail. We recently had four officers attend the Long Beach Police Department Bicycle Patrol training course. This is a physically demanding course in which the participants ride upwards of 30 miles over the course of two days. During the course, they also learn basic bicycle operation and maintenance, riding techniques and slow-speed navigation, emergency braking, and the negotiation of obstacles such as stairs, curbs, and pedestrian traffic. The officers are then required to pass a timed obstacle course and we are pleased to announce that all of our officers were successful in doing so. Bicycle patrol is a valuable component of Marine Patrol’s deployment options. The bikes allow officers to cover more ground than on foot and navigate areas inaccessible to vehicles.

Patrols and Enforcement During the month of January, Marine Patrol officers were dispatched to 79 calls for service. They initiated almost 2,800 targeted patrols which include directed patrols of a specific area, dock-walks, and field investigations. Officers took enforcement action on several occasions where a misdemeanor violation took place and wrote approximately 60 citations overall.