Hansen: Reef photographer sees hope

If your car breaks down, you take it to a mechanic. If you don’t feel well, you consult with a physician. And if you worry about the Laguna Beach coastline, you ask Patsee Ober.

She’s like an ocean bellwether.

She swims in the ocean nearly every day as a certified open water swimmer — all year round without a wetsuit.

She tracks ocean life and notes unusual patterns for the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition.

And oh yeah, she free dives with a camera, takes photos of the beautiful marine life and exhibits them at the Sawdust Festival. She’s in booth 228 and her work can be seen at pophotography.com.

A former My Hero winner, Ober downplays her achievements and instead likes to shift attention back to the water.

“I’m in the water almost every day swimming around the coastline of Laguna Beach,” she said. “That has really opened my eyes to what’s under the water. Now I want to expose people to what’s under the water because a lot of people don’t go down there in our Marine Protected Area.”

As a member of the Oak Streakers, those long-distance swimmers that don’t blanch at swimming to Catalina, Ober has seen progress over the last few years because of the MPA.

“It’s very noticeable to us because we’re in the water every day,” she said. “There’s a group of us that meet at 6 a.m. at Shaw’s Cove, every day of the week.”

So what has she seen?

“I have seen a huge amount of fish come back since the Marine Protected Area has come into effect, and it’s amazing,” she said. “We’ve got abalone coming back, we’ve got lobsters coming back. There’s a school of barracuda by Seal Rock that’s been hanging out. I saw a halibut the other day. I haven’t seen halibut for years.”

The fish resurgence also includes the sea stars, which are starting to come back after a massive die-off.

First reported in late 2013, scientists say the densovirus killed millions of sea stars impacting two dozen species. From Alaska to Mexico, entire sea star populations were decimated.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, given the range of the deadly impact and the number of species involved, the plague was the largest known marine wildlife disease in history.

In a related effort, Ober is involved with an upcoming educational event on Catalina Island, Sept. 9-11, called Ocean Awareness Challenge, which will raise money for underserved youth. For more information visit wsaoc.org/oac.

Meanwhile, Ober tries to remain positive about environmental impacts. At the very least, she gets eager about her swims, saying she gets “antsy” if she misses a day.

“It’s like my zen. It’s very peaceful. Springtime is my favorite time to shoot because everyone’s happy. They’re all happy down there. It’s spring; everyone is doing their thing. There are little babies cruising around. Right now the Garibaldis have their babies out. They are amazing. They’re orange with neon blue dots on them.”

Ober’s booth at the Sawdust is filled with closeups of various fish and other marine life. She likes to keep things simple by free diving with just a snorkel instead of using scuba gear.

While she does have a big digital camera with a waterproof housing, she also likes to use a simple, high-end point-and-shoot camera to get into smaller spaces in the reef.

“I float above the water with a snorkel and I look specifically for color and movement. When I see that I’ll go down and I’ll start shooting.”

A resident of Oak Street in Laguna, she grew up on Lido Isle in Newport Beach when she first got the water bug.

“So I was in the water since I was 3. And my dad used to take me to the tidepools all the time. I’ve just had a love of the ocean my whole life. We used to swim the island and I would collect little specimens and take them to my microscope. Well now my microscope is a macro lens.”

Nowadays, she feels territorial about her ocean and gets dismayed if tourists or others disrespect nature. Most often, she said, it’s just ignorance.

“We want to be nice and educate people, but it’s hard. We’re trying to spread the word. That was our biggest fear — enforcing the rules of the tidepools. We’ve got signs on every beach entrance, which of course people don’t read. There’s always trash on the beach. It’s just ignorance. We’re dealing with it the best that we can.”

Her favorite place in Laguna remains Shaw’s Cove.

“It’s a beautiful reef there and you can go north or south. There’s kelp there and that also brings the fish — tons of those kelp bass around.”

If people resemble their dogs, Ober resembles her fish: colorful, spirited and happier in the water.

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DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.