Paddler Welcomed Home, Shore11.org Launched

Woman paddled to D.C., urging support of ocean-friendly bill

Messenger returns

By TERRY GAUTHIER MUESSIG STAFF WRITER

Asbury Park Press

For 16 days, Margo Pellegrino paddled her way from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. Her mission in July was to bring a message in a bottle — the message for Congress to pass a bill known as Oceans 21, designed to encourage healthy seas by promoting environmental awareness in the classroom. "The message was in a milk bottle I found in the Rancocas (Creek) near Camden," Pellegrino said. Last year, Pellegrino paddled from Miami to Maine. During that trip and this one, she said, she has seen huge clumps of algae.

According to Bill Wolfe, a member of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and a former state Department of Environmental Protection employee, algae and jellyfish are clear signs of poor water quality.

Pellegrino, of Medford Lakes, was welcomed back Monday from her New Jersey-to-Washington canoe trip by local and state environmental leaders who support her efforts to bring awareness to the public of the ocean's condition and who also support Shore11.org, a new Web site that offers state environmental news, environmental blogs, beach and surf conditions and tools for building an online community around shore issues.

The Web site was created by Benson Chiles of Atlantic Highlands. "The goal behind Shore11.org is to empower shore lovers to take action to protect our fragile coastal and ocean environment," Chiles said, "by providing real-time information and news and by giving the public access to a community of concerned people. We hope to create a platform for ocean activists, like Margo, and to magnify their impact."

The site is sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Coastal Ocean Coalition. The site will address broad coastal issues such as poor water quality, coastal development, global warming and overfishing as well as local environmental issues, Chiles said.

On Monday, Chiles, Wolfe and other supporters of the site gathered at the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club on Center Avenue to conduct a community awareness program. Those present included Michael Pisauro, a government affairs agent for the New Jersey Environmental Lobby; John Weber of the Surfrider Foundation and Grace Sica of the Sierra Club, based in Trenton.

Carl Alderson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facility at the James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, conducted a seining program for the 15 children in attendence.

Emily Dooley of Atlantic Highlands said she has a personal interest in learning how to help the environment. She has two young daughters and wants them to learn about marine life and how the family can help the environment.

"We live close to the beach," she said. "We have to take care of it."

Original link: http://www.shore11.org/launch