Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Salton Sea Bird Festival


I am totally going next year.
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What kind of festival will it be, Lorraine ?? Are they going to release all the birds in CA ?? :)) I will start studying at Toefl class tomorrow! GL to me ;) {peace 4 Birds}

2/14/2006 08:13:00 PM
K. Lorraine Graham said...

It's really just a bird-watching festival. The Salton Sea is a large lake in the middle of the southern California desert. I don't think I'd want to go in the summer, but in the winter it's not too hot and there are a lot of birds!

You don't need luck, Alp--you're ready to start preparing for the TOEFL.

2/15/2006 10:11:00 AM
Logan Ryan Smith said...

I spent my teenage years in the Imperial Valley. I don't highly suggest visiting it. But I guess there area a lot of birds.

2/15/2006 05:22:00 PM
K. Lorraine Graham said...

It is supposed to be an awful place, and since I am not from there, it's awfulness is comforting--awful, I know. Why, specifically, don't you suggest visiting it?

Mark's dad grew up in Thousand Palms outside of Palm Springs. He says that they used to go swimming in the Salton Sea.

2/15/2006 06:45:00 PM
Logan Ryan Smith said...

Swimming in the Salton Sea? That must have been some time ago. It's terribly polluted, and so salty that garbage floats atop it because it can't sink.

The valley is just a really depressing place. Hot and barren. Lots of nothingness. But the smell of the desert after a rain makes up for it in many ways.

I guess it's not too depressing to visit. It's just that I had to go to high school there, stunting my growth as a human being in a real world, and so I hold a grudge, I guess.

2/17/2006 09:13:00 AM
Anonymous said...

Not at all true, Logan!
The Salton Sea's problem is not pollution. It's hypersalinity. Also there is sometimes an algae problem: when the algae proliferate, it is followed by a death phase. The latter gives off a bad smell, but it's not always as smelly as people say. Also the algae bloom takes O2 from the water which is rough on the fish, so many die if the bloom is big enough. Very sad watching the poor tilapia up at the surface like koi fish futily trying to take in atmospheric O2.
There is far less pollution in the Salton Sea than along the CA coastline, and virtually no e coli. I personally wouldn't swim in it though because the color is usually murky (which in itself is not evidence of pollution)as I like clarity where I swim. However I was knocked off a kayak last year in the Salton Sea and have yet to grow a third arm or have anything bad happen as a result of that. I know of some seniors who wade, even swim, in it claiming the salts do wonders for their aches and pains. I a university scientist specializing in inland waters told me he and his grad students take a dip in it after a day's research.
It's a fantastic bird viewing location! I once when to the SS Bird Fest (held Februarys) and there were people present from all around the US, even Mexico and once from Russia. But study up before you go so you know what to see and where exactly. The Salton Sea is huge.

It's not for everybody. Very remote, rugged, some residents in poverty, and many neglected buildings.

1/30/2009 09:49:00 PM

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