I'm not going to post this on any weekly meme. It's just too depressing. I had a half a day off school yesterday due to a meeting. I only applied for 2 hours off, but our school secretary docked me for half a day (3 hours), so I headed down to the Salton Sea, since I was only 20 miles away. The sky was cloudy and I wasn't sure how my photos would come out, so I didn't take that many of the sky and clouds and sea. Instead, I looked down. I was wearing my boots and they started burning when I walked out on the shells. I'd only been down to the sea one other time. That was when our daughter did a science report in high school on the fish dying there. We drove down there and I was wearing tennis shoes. Something started to burn the bottom of my feet then, just as soon as I walked out on the shore of the sea. Today there was a little breeze and the stench wasn't too bad. The Salton Sea smells because of the algae content of the sea, plus the thousands of dead fish which litter the shore. Really, it wasn't a pleasant place. In fact, it was downright DEPRESSING. Here lies the largest inland body of water in California and it's a cesspool of raw sewage from the New River, pollutants from the fields in the Coachella Valley, and an extremely high salt content of the sea itself. NOBODY seems to know what to do about it....sigh...so it will continue to sit and fester.
5 comments:
We recently go back from our trip to your areas (which we loved by the way!). A friend of ours went a few weeks ago and told us not to bother taking the time to go to the Salton Sea...I now understand why he said that.
It is frustrating to see nature hurting so bad. On occasion, we have seen documentaries on mounds of the garbage that float in the ocean and it make me feel the same way...depressing.
Oh yes...I took photos of the dead fish too. I haven't posted them yet. How about "Scenic Sunday?" This is a very sad situation and one that needs to be rendered...but, it might be too late. I wish it would just dry up rather than fester for years to come. Sad, sad, sad!
I think I've heard of the Salton Sea but I never knew where it was.
That is really a terrible thing seeing all of the beauty that COULD BE get neglected and abused.
I too have seen documentaries on this same kind of thing...very depressing.
Oh my gosh, how tragic. What a shame that nobody seems to know what to do to remedy the situation.
I believe you when you said it took 8 weeks to completely recover from bronchitis. I am finally up and functioning, but still not 100%... Donna
We are a family of 4 from Indiana who just returned home after a week in Southern California for Spring Break. We definitely aren't your typical tourists (we got bored at the San Diego Zoo!), we love out of the way sights. We spent one day driving out into the desert, and could not believe the beauty of the Salton Sea...but only from a distance! The "housing addition" or whatever that is, has got to be the creepiest place on earth. We just couldn't get over the perfection of the day - temperature was amazing, the sky was an incredible blue, the lake was calm - not a boat in sight, whih only added to the overall creep factor. Your blog definitely helps to clear up those lingering questions we had. What a sad place!
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