Seal Beach, CA, A Beach Destination Protecting Its Charm

By C. MacDonald

Dave Buffet Values the Pacific Ocean and Saves It One Cart At a Time

When the rainy season arrives in California, the beaches and ocean have many heroes to thank for efforts to clean up trash--even when it isn't there trash. Two such heroes in Seal are Kim & Steve Masoner of Save our Beaches. Dave Buffet is another. Here's the story about Dave Buffet's work to make the beach safer.

SEAL BEACH, CALIF. -- Dave Buffett got fed up when he was jogging in Seal Beach and saw broken grocery carts in the water and stuck in the rocks of the San Gabriel River. So he did something about it--started pulling them out piece by piece. That was 11 years ago and he's still doing it today. We saw him pull out six shopping carts that had been thrown in the river probably many miles away.

"They pose such a hazard to surfers, swimmers, boaters, fish and the ocean," said the Long Beach State Psychology grad, who also loves to surf in North Seal Beach. "Many are corroded, jagged and a real hazard to people and fish. Some have chrome and other metals that deteriorate and produce chemicals in the water."

"After a storm is the worst, when it comes to the abandoned shopping carts that are brought by swift current down the river to the ocean. Many get wedged in the rocks and are difficult and dangerous to pull out."

Three times a week, Buffett jogs Seal Beach and pulls out carts, then stacks them in a heap on the beach for the city to cart away. Sometimes his wife and five kids also help in his crusade to make the beaches safer for swimmers and surfers. "It's also easy for folks fishing or hiking along the rocks to unexpectedly cut themselves from the sharp cart parts, some of which are hidden in the boulders along the river."

"I'd love to see the State of California team with a business sponsor, who would have a contest with a prizes for college students to design a net or system that could be put across the water to catch big things, like shopping carts, from going into the sea. I think it would attract great participation and really help with this dangerous problem."