Blossom's Blog

Dear Laloo,

You know how we’ve been upset about the oil and sewage spills in San Francisco Bay this year, and worried about our fish friends, the salmon and the Delta smelt? Well, my new BFF, San Francisco Baykeeper, works on fixing all these problems. They’ve been telling me how I can help protect our local waterways as part of Laloo’s partnership with the Waterkeeper Alliance to promote clean water.

In June, we went to the SalmonAid festival in Oakland. The festival was organized by fishermen, environmental groups, chefs and scientists who all came together to raise awareness about the plight of West Coast salmon populations, as well as the rivers and streams they spawn in and the communities that rely on salmon for their livelihoods. Did you know that this year salmon fishing was banned along the West Coast for the first time in 160 years?! There is a lot of debate about what is causing the decline of West Coast salmon, and I learned about a lot of different reasons at the festival: the 1,400 dams in California which block salmon migration; pollution; logging; and the extraction of fresh water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that salmon need to get out to sea. I also heard some people say that global warming has made the ocean too warm for the fish and killed the things they normally eat. It seems like the salmon are probably suffering from a combination of all these things, and they need our help to make sure they have a place to live and food to eat! I’m glad Laloo’s is doing our part to support Baykeeper’s work on this and other clean water issues in the Bay Area. You would have loved it! Our booth was right next to a music stage, and my hooves were sore the next day from dancing to reggae and blues.

I’d love for you to learn more about Baykeeper at www.baykeeper.org. I’m hoping if we get enough Laloo’s fans to become Baykeeper members, we can convince them to change their logo to include a goat – or at least get them to take you and I out on their boat!

Love,

Blossom