Shitty business

The folks over at Surfrider Foundation are always working to clean up the ocean water from pollutants that degrade the environment, and they aren't alone.

The Weekly recently received an interesting email from Dave Bulleshat, a.k.a. the Poop Detective. His personal mission is to remind people why they should clean up after their dogs before that shit goes right into the ocean and harms human health. He even made a video about the subject.

"Poop contaminates our water supply," the poop detective's website says. "Rain often flushes pet waste left on trails, sidewalks, streets, and grassy areas into the nearest waterway (even if you can't see water near you, the feces go into your stormdrain)."

And Surfrider agrees. In fact, the Newport Beach division of the non-profit organization is having an event to educate the public on this stinky situation: their first annual RockWater race. Taking place later this month, the run will begin from the mountains of Big Bear and span to the ocean to show people the path of watershed, from Big Bear mountain, along the Santa Ana River, ending at Newport Beach.

Their goal is to draw attention to the length of the Newport Beach watershed bring awareness that everything ends up in our ocean, even poop.

And remember, poop is not fertilizer! Like human waste, dog waste can contain bacteria and viruses that are harmful, including E. coli and Salmonella. And recent studies show that dog feces stands third or fourth on the list of contributors to bacteria in contaminated waters. So lets clean this shit up, shall we?

For more information on the poop detective visit www.thepoopdetective.com or to sign up to participate in RockWater please email robyn@surfridernb.org.