Heal the Bay Annual Awards Gala

May 24, 2012 - PRLog -- Heal the Bay celebrated the ultimate beach party at their annual Bring Back the Beach gala benefit on May 17, 2012 at The Jonathan Beach Club in Santa Monica, California.
The event recognized the eco-accomplishments of this year's honorees: past president and chief operating officer of Hilton Hotels Matt Hart, director of photography Danny Moder and actress Julia Roberts, and actress Amy Smart.
When Heal the Bay was founded in 1985, the Santa Monica Bay was in bad shape. Swimmers and surfers were contracting strange rashes and frequent respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. There were dead zones in the bay, where no marine life could survive because of the lack of oxygen. Fish in the bay had fin rot, and local dolphins had tumors. Today, we’re happy to say that the bay has vastly improved. People can still get sick from swimming in runoff contaminated water, but the majority of our local beaches are clean during dry weather. We see significantly fewer animals with fin rot and tumors, and the dead zones have disappeared.
Exhibiting at the event was, Award Winning Jewelry Designer Steven Zale with his beautiful collection on display to help raise money for the cause.  Zale explained, "I'm happy to be a part of this.  As an avid boatsman, I appreciate the gallant strides this organization acheives in helping the costal water enviroment".