O.C.’s Link to the Sea Steeped in History : * Efforts to Save Beached Whale, Preserve Coastline Show Residents’ Close Association

Orange County’s romantic link with the ocean has been celebrated for years in the popular culture of surfing and its music. But the county’s rich relationship with the sea goes well beyond the surfboard and a day at the beach.

It has been much in the news this summer, evident in paleontological history, in the protection of tidal pools by concerned communities by the sea, and in the concern for our fellow creatures.

Orange County’s interaction with the sea did not begin with the arrival of freeways and shopping malls. We learned much about our collective history recently when roadwork for the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor turned up a 9-million-year-old, 26-foot whale fossil, which was remarkably complete. At the time the whale died, Orange County was both a lush and arid place as it is now, but much different in configuration. In the Miocene Period, there was a channel near the Saddleback Mountains, and indeed, most of the land from Santa Monica to Camp Pendleton was under water. Joaquin, as the whale is called, was preserved by sediment, and eventually the land where he was buried was pushed up by fault activity. The painstaking recovery has been put on display at Ralph B. Clark Regional Park in Buena Park, and represents a fascinating glimpse, in modern times, of prehistoric life. It was a time when water approached Santa Ana and early ancestors of camels, rhinos and elephants roamed the area.

As for our modern relationship with the sea, the minke whale that caught the attention of a crowd of beach-goers after washing ashore at Newport Beach recently prompted an heroic effort by veterinarians to save its life. It eventually died at Sea World in San Diego while a team of experts worked to keep it alive. The close affinity of humans with their neighbors from the sea was evident in the effort.

And to foster efforts to preserve the fragile ecological balances at water’s edge, the state Senate voted 34-0 this month to give final approval to a measure sponsored by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) that outlaws removal of any sea life from the pristine stretch of tide pools in Dana Point, and expands the boundaries of existing marine refuges in Laguna Beach so that the entire coastline of the city will be protected.

These events give evidence of an evolving relationship between Orange County and the sea. They highlight our interaction with it, not as mere visitors but as neighbors living in close association.