Letters from the Louks Family in support of MLPA

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The following letters were addressed to Dear Stakeholders, scientists, and Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Task Force Members.

Five years ago my parents brought me down to the Little Dume beach in Malibu.  I loved it from first sight.  It was like a secret vacation spot in my own backyard! Never in my whole life had I seen so much life!  As I walked along the tide pools I found that the ocean was flourishing with all sorts of animals I had no idea even existed!

That year I counted about 400 starfish and found lots of sea slugs! My dad even caught an octopus and I could have sworn we’ve spotted many more. Sea anemones covered the rocks, crabs lurking in their cracks.  When I went surfing I looked down to find fish swimming all around me!  

This year I’ve counted about 15 starfish and have spotted only one sea slug-it was dead.  Instead of sea anemones covering the rocks, they are few.  Seldom are there crabs lurking in the shadows and when I peek over my board, I’m lucky to even see a fish.  It’s really quite amazing how there can be such a dramatic change in only a couple of years.

Please make Point Dume a marine protected area. It is a very special beach to many people.  Thank you for your work protecting the California coast and I hope you keep my letter in mind when you make your decision.

Lauren Louks,

8th grade student, Little School on the Point

Five years ago my parents brought us to Point Dume. We went to the beach there a lot even though we didn’t live there. The oceans and coral reefs were teeming with life. On one day the tide was particularly low and our family counted a little over 370 starfish. We would see five or six sea slugs every day. The oceans were filled with fish.

My parents built a house on their lot and we now live there and go to school in Malibu. We go to the beach several times each week. Now when we see starfish we only count 15 at the most. It is very rare for us to see sea slugs at all-maybe two in this past year. We don’t see as many fish anymore.

I hope to see more wildlife here in Malibu once more. Thank you for your work in protecting the California coast. I look forward to having a Marine Protected Area at Little Dume.

Heather Louks

8th grade student, Little School on the Point

My name is Hailey Louks. I am nine years old. The reason I am writing this letter is because five years ago I found 352 sea stars. As the years past I found less and less and now it is about 15.

That’s why I want to make a change in Malibu, especially Point Dume.

My mom tells me about when she was little, she always went to the beach and saw lots of sand dollars washed on the shore and abalone shells and lots really pretty shells that you can NEVER see on this day. I went to the beach yesterday and I only found bones, a dead fish head, broken shells and a balloon an animal could have choked on. That day I thought about how much fun it might be to see all of the life and nature, sand dollars and abalone, but now it is barely any. I still went in the water but it didn’t feel like a live ocean, it felt more like Dead Ocean that is losing all its life.

Please help establish a safety zone for the fish.

There is going to have to be a really big difference in Malibu if we are going to help the ocean, and everyone needs to pitch in!

Hailey Louks

Fourth Grader at LSP

I am seven years old. My mom takes me out paddle boarding. We saw fish and stingrays but now there is not that many. I hope our Point Dume beach gets protected and our precious fish. I hope I can go out and see lots of fish one day.

Charlotte Louks

Second Grade Homeschooler