Red Crabs Take Over Orange County Beaches

For the second year in a row Orange County beaches are again covered in small red crabs.

These red crabs swarm on the shore when there is a red tide which is an algal bloom so numerous that they color the water red.  These Pleuroncodes planipes, also known as tuna crabs look like baby lobsters or crawfish but are no longer than 3 inches long. The crabs were first washing ashore in Long Beach and in the Huntington Beach area before the tide washed them south to Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Dana Point.

Factors that are especially favorable for red tide include warm surface temperatures, high nutrient content, low salinity, and calm seas. Many have taken to Twitter to show others what they found at their trip to the beach.

Dead and dying #redcrabs at #piratescove in #coronadelmar by... pic.twitter.com/p8mtWbVYeK

— CoronaDelMarNews (@_CoronaDelMar) May 13, 2016

"Just like last year, in June we had a washing of tuna crabs and they think its correlated with El Niño," Imperial Beach Lifeguard Captain Robert Stabenow told San Diego's CBS affiliate. "The warmer waters are pushing them up and when they hit the cold waters of San Diego, they die off."

Although it is a sight to see, scientists call the red tide 'harmful algal bloom' that can potentially harm species of fish and can even cause illness in humans. 

Warmer water from El Nino causes the crabs to migrate from Mexico to further north but they eventually die from the change in conditions, and most of the thousands of crabs that were washed ashore in Laguna Beach and Dana Point today are dead.

Last June, nearly hundreds of thousands of red crabs washed up on shore from Newport Beach to San Clemente. Balboa Island was hit the hardest with red shores covering the bay. It was the first time that residents of O.C. saw this feature of red tide, and bystanders compared the look of the crabs to a bloody shoreline. 

Dana Point and Neighboring Cities to Expect Higher Water and Sewer Rates

South Coast Water District announced today that factors including increased costs to purchase water from wholesalers and the demand of delivering the water to its customers will cause water and sewer bills to increase for Dana Point and neighboring cities of San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Beach.

The proposal of increasing its rates will be mailed out this week to their customers. The district supplies water to 35,000 residents, 1,000 businesses and 2 million annual visitors to the area. This will be the first time since 2013 that the district has increased its prices.

“The severe drought and future availability of water from up north or the Colorado River has highlighted the need for reliable, sustainable and drought-proof sources of local water supply,” District Manager Andy Brunhart said in an interview with the O.C. Register:

“Pump, reservoirs, we have to have all that in place whether a customer buys water or not,” he said. “We want to create solutions to stabilize our rates. We want to shift costs to annual cost. That way we’re assured we have enough revenue, and people reduce water usage, we can still pay our fixed costs and other bills.”

Dana Point Harbor Jetty by Savannah Sullins

An example of the proposed plan from danapointtimes.com:

FOR EXAMPLE

Under the proposed rate structure, a single-family residential customer with a ¾-inch meter and using 10 CCF, or 7,480 gallons of potable water per month could expect to see a total net increase of $1.67 per week.

This example applies to the 9,500 single-family residential customers in the district.

One CCF (a measurement of centum cubic feet, or hundreds of cubic feet) is 748 gallons.

Because the proposed new rates shift the portion of fixed costs previously included in monthly bills over to yearly property tax bills, the same customer would see a decrease of $18.05 per month ($216.60 per year) on their monthly bill and a $303.54 increase on their annual property tax bill.

“We have proposed to establish new rates going forward for the next five fiscal years,” Brunhart said, adding that the new rate structure supports water conservation and establishes more rate stability—to address the statewide theme of water demands going down, customers conserving more and water districts raising the rates.

Brunhart said the district’s capital improvement program will cost $75 million across the next five years.

Breaking: DP Harbor Director Brad Gross Resigns Day After Audit Went Public

A day after an audit revealed that a county owned Inn located in Dana Point's Harbor surfaced for owing a $62,000 debt to the county, harbor director Brad Gross resigned from his position.

Gross looked over all operations and managed contracts for the harbor. The audit criticized his department's unauthorized program that had given discounts to employees and contractors at Dana Point's Marina Inn.

The audit did not blame Gross for the costly debt to the county however he was listed as the person in charge who oversees the business decisions and reports from the Inn. County spokeswoman Jean Pasco would not comment on whether his departure was based from the audit. 

However Pasco did comment about what changes are in store for the county owned business. Pasco said that CEO Frank Kim wants the Dana Point Harbor to be included in O.C. Parks instead of it being an independent department.

Photo by Paul Rodriguez, O.C. Register

Updated: Pint Size Surfer Hangs with Pro Rachael Tilly

Aviana Zizi stole our hearts with her video that went viral last month of her surfing her first wave in Dana Point, California.

That famous wave caught the attention of World Champion Surfer Rachael Tilly who met with her to surf along side her.

Video by Mark Zizi

Tilly is a longboard world champion of 2015 and is a San Clemente High School native. Tilly began surfing at the same age as Zizi and was inspired by her video.

Sitting Down With Spa Manager Darcey Holdt During Dana Point's Renovation

I had the privilege to sit down with Massage Envy’s general manager Darcey Holdt. Holdt manages the business in Dana Point's Ocean Ranch Center. Dana Point is a cozy beach town that is currently transitioning into Southern California’s travel destination.

How long have you been managing Massage Envy in Dana Point? 

For five and a half years.

What changes have you seen to Ocean Ranch Center?

In the last five years the center has grown much busier. The sales of homes around the area are selling quickly, and its a great family friendly city. A lot of new businesses are coming to our area, especially in our center. 

What changes have you seen in your customer demographics?

We see a lot of people come from out of town seasonally for the Dana Point Whale Parade and Doheny Blues Festival. We do get a lot of traffic during the summer time because we are a very family oriented area.

What do you think about the renovation of Dana Point, including the Lantern District that is adding several new restaurants and shops?

I do think that this is revitalizing Dana Point, and it is making it much more attractive that will cause visitors to come back once they’ve seen the changes.

Do you expect an increase in sales after the construction is done with the Habit in your center, and the construction in Lantern District?

Definitely. Whenever there is something new added to the center it increases foot traffic and we will see an increase in sales.

Photo by Chelsea Sullins

Breaking: Dana Point Marina Inn Audit Shows Costly Debt to County

A recent audit on publicly owned Dana Point Marina Inn shows that employees had given unauthorized room discounts to employees, friends and contractors that totaled to approximately $62,000. 

The audit showed this discrepancy in the reporting starting a few years back. Rooms at the Marina Inn typically run for $100 to $350 dollars per night, and the audit revealed that employees including top managers had discounted the rates to $35 a night.

Photo by Californiabeaches.com

The audit had been released by the Orange County Auditor-Controller Nick Woolery who found over 988 instances in the last six years where the room rates had been discounted.

Employees of the hotel may face disciplinary action but Orange County Spokeswoman Jean Pasco had no comment when asked about personal matters. The audit does recommend that county officials review their case to determine whether they violate state or county laws.

The Inn has a total of 136 rooms and is located in the heart of Dana Point Harbor.

Dana Point to Become Tourism Destination, Additional Projects Announced

Dana Point has begun its rennovation process from being turned from a sleepy beach town into a top travel destination in Southern California.

“Development is widespread across the city,” Mayor John Tomlinson said Friday during the chamber’s annual State of the City luncheon. “Given that we have over $100 million in residential construction activity, we have a quality of life that is highly sought after.”

Developers, business owners and city and county officials met at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort that hosted the luncheon. The mayor spoke about the city's investments in the Dana Point Harbor that will cost approximately $150 to 200 million dollars to complete. Once finished, the city envisions Dana Point to be the new go-to travel destination in Southern California for boating, fishing and entertainment.

Dana Point Harbor by Chelsea Sullins

Hotels including the St Regis, Ritz Carlton and Marriott Cliffs have already began renovations in order to accommodate more guests. The Dana Point Harbor has already began construction on its jetty and boating docks that have seen more visitors in the last year after videos went viral on the internet of pods of dolphins and killer whales off the coast of Strands Beach.

“Our hotel partners have done a fantastic job positioning their assets to make Dana Point a truly amazing resort destination,” Tomlinson said. “Dana Point is becoming a destination for culinary entrepreneurs. We have seen several new exciting dining concepts come to fruition.”

Photo courtesy of Dana Point Harbor

The O.C. Register reported in November 2015: 

The landside renovations include demolishing 13 of the harbor’s commercial and boater support buildings and replacing them with seven larger buildings that will add 30,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, commercial and office space. The plan also includes construction of a two-level parking deck that will add 545 parking spaces to the harbor area, plus a 35,000-square-foot park near the waterfront. The 65-foot-tall “boat barn” is planned to hold 400 boats.

The project was said to be in progress until the year of 2036.

Breaking: Burglars Hit Restaurants in Dana Point, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano

Local restaurants in Dana Point and neighboring cities are victims of latest smash and grab incidents that began midnight Friday evening that carried until approximately 11 a.m. Saturday morning.

The thieves smashed in windows and doors to eventually steal cash or entire cash register units. The Laguna Niguel Patch reported that Lake Forest was hit the hardest with five burglaries at Dream Dinners, Flame Broiler, Thai Corner and Mr. Wok, according to Orange County Sheriff Department Lt. Mark Stichter.

Restaurants including Casanova on Del Obispo Drive in Dana Point and Mahe on Dana Point Drive were victims to the break ins.

In Mission Viejo, Antonucci’s and Don Gustavo’s Mexican Grill were targeted and San Juan Capistrano’s Tannins Restaurant & Wine Bar were victims to the crime as well. 

There are no leads as to who the burglars are at this point. However, this isn’t the first round of smash and grab incidents that Dana Point has seen. 

Back in March, Dana Point had two break ins at Taco Surf and Craft House, both restaurants on Pacific Coast Highway. Craft House had only been open to the public for a few weeks before they were victimized to a burglar caught on film but has not yet been identified. 

Dana Point Captain Dave Anderson's Drone Video to be Appearing on Nat Geo

Local boat captain Dave Anderson and his crew will be featured on an upcoming feature on National Geographic after his drone video of whales and dolphins spiked interest with the t.v. series.

Photo by dolphinsafari.com

Anderson and his crew started working with Nat Geo in September of 2014 where they spent three days filming dolphins, blue whales and fin whales off the coast of Dana Point. The footage will be the premier of the upcoming weekly t.v. show that will be called Nat Geo Wild starting this Friday night at 10 p.m.

Photo by Savannah Sullins

This isn't the first time that one of Anderson's excursions has been televised. Back in 2013 Diane Sawyer and ABC News shared a video with dolphins and whales that he filmed off the Orange County Coast. Captain Dave has also been interviewed on the Ellen Degeneres show about his concerns with marine life dying from entanglements caused by pollution.

DHHS Hosts CUSD Special Olympics

Dana Hills High School hosted the Capistrano Unified School District Special Olympics over the weekend that accommodated athletes from Dana Hills High School, San Clemente High School, Marco Forster Middle School, Tesoro High School, Newhart Middle School and Niguel Hills Middle School. 

Photo by Allison Jarrell

The afternoon consisted of dance parties and an energetic rally for warming up the athletes. Over 200  students competed in the 100-meter dash, the long jump, 25-meter wheelchair race, softball toss, and standing long jump. Students also participated in obstacle courses and a hula hoop contest.

Dana Hills High School was announced to be the new host of the Special Olympics for CUSD after the event was almost cancelled without having a venue and is open to host the games again in the future.

Dana Point's Newest Grommet

A 4-year-old surfer has gone viral after surfing her first solo wave of her life in Dana Point.

Avian Zizi has been tandem surfing with her father since the age of 2, but this was her day to drop in on her own. The grommet's video has been shared on Twitter by her fans.

"It was fun because I like going in the water," she told ABC 7 News.

Her video went viral and shared by news stations including ABC and CBS News.