Clean water advocates will climb aboard their surfboards and paddle around the Ocean Beach Pier on Sunday for the Surfrider Foundation’s 28th annual paddle out.
They are hoping to draw attention to water pollution issues.
Surfrider officials hold the event annually to allow people to celebrate the ocean and to talk about making it better.
Urban runoff and trans-border sewage flows are two big concerns for the San Diego chapter.
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“Outside of the South Bay, which is truly a water quality crisis, (the ocean here is) better than a lot of other places in the world. On any given day there are thousands of people surfing and enjoying the beach and we love that,” said Mitch Silverstein, San Diego chapter manager.
But Silverstein concedes that the ocean pollution coming from Mexico is a major concern.
“Transborder sewage flows have really been devastating in the South Bay communities,” Silverstein said. “And really turning perfect beach towns into places where you might get sick from just going out to surf or swim or bring your family to the beach. So, we really want to elevate that issue and talk about the way our chapter is addressing it.”
The Sunday event at Ocean Beach features a paddle around the pier, music, games and other activities designed to celebrate the ocean.
