Giant Pacific Octopus, by Erick Villegas, 12th grade, Los Angeles, winner of 2013 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest

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New and Notable Items:

• Learn about and help clean up debris from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.
• Five things you can do NOW to protect our coast and ocean
• Assemblymember Muratsuchi presents AB 754, which would allow voluntary tax return contributions to the "Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund," supporting more Whale Tail Grants! (video)
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7,500 California students took part in KIDS' OCEAN DAY 2013, learning about ocean pollution prevention at school and then taking a field trip to a beach to do a cleanup and form a fantastic art message on the sand. This image shows 1,100 students and 200 volunteers at Huntington State Beach at the Orange County event on June 4, organized by Orange County Coastkeeper. To see more images and learn more about this annual program funded by the Whale Tail® License Plate visit the Ocean Day website. Photo by Kurt Soderling/Spectral Q.

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Announcing California's new official Marine Reptile: the Leatherback Sea Turtle The leatherback sea turtle swims more than 6,000 miles to feed on jellies off the California coast, although it does not land on our beaches. This 100-million-year-old species outlived the dinosaurs but its population has declined by approximately 90 percent in the last 25 years. Learn more about leatherbacks. Artwork by Tim Malko, 12th grade honorable mention in the 2007 Coastal Art & Poetry Contest.