Ever since I wrote an article on the native oysters of San Francisco Bay, I have been awed by the complexities of our estuary’s underwater ecosystems. Despite its murky appearance, the San Francisco Bay supports a diversity of wildlife — from oysters clinging to pier pilings to bottom dwelling leopard sharks.

This summer I got a little closer to the Bay’s web of life (notably jellyfish, harbor seals and brown pelicans) by training to swim from Alcatraz island to Aquatic Park in San Francisco with a close friend. Before setting this goal, the idea of “open water swimming” had not even occurred to me.

I discovered the Bay Area is full of open water swimming enthusiasts who venture out into the Bay’s cold and choppy waters routinely. Many of them are concerned about the health of the Bay – including seven brave swimmers who plan to Relay for the Bay, swimming over 100 miles, from Sacramento to San Francisco, beginning tomorrow. They will swim 40 nonstop hours from September 18 to September 20, 2009.

The swimmers are members of the San Francisco-based Dolphin Club who want to raise awareness and funding for Baykeeper’s work to protect San Francisco Bay from pollution. The 100+ mile swim route begins in the Sacramento River.

How to Explore San Francisco Bay

• Swim in It: Swim-Art organizes evening group swims at Aquatic Park (Monday evenings) and Treasure Island (biweekly Wednesdays) and expedition swims, including an Alcatraz swim.
• Learn from Bay Nature Magazine and The Bay Institute
• Volunteer with Save the Bay or The Watershed Project (The 25th Anniversary of the California Coastal Cleanup Day is this Saturday)
• Visit Aquarium of the Bay
• Join a club, team or association. Bay Access (advocates for a Bay water trail) provides a comprehensive list from kayaking and kite sailing to dragon boating.

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Youth development advocates nationwide have been building a movement to prioritize play and outdoor time for children and youth – through recess, sports and adventures in nature. Backing them up are new research studies from the fields of pediatrics and youth development, linking the influences that regular play and outdoor learning time have on success in school and life.

This afternoon the inaugural Sports4Kids Play On conference kicks off three days of keynotes and sessions dedicated to the topic of play – its multiple benefits and how to build programs to make a difference in our schools and communities. The conference runs May 18 – 20 at San Francisco’s Mission Bay Conference center. This conference comes at a time when many children and youth-oriented nonprofits are developing community programs that get kids outside to play in safe, fun, and supportive environments while learning, connecting and being physically active.

Finding funding and understanding philanthropic priorities is key to making outdoor and sports-based programs a success, so I am looking forward to today’s afternoon session featuring speakers from health-driven foundations including the The California Endowment, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Kaiser Permanente followed by a discussion with Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play and often called one of the country’s premiere experts on play behavior.

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“Exercise is key to health, and studies have shown that people are much more likely to exercise if parks and opportunities for recreation are nearby,” writes the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in their latest issue of Land & People. For TPL and many other community-focused organizations, the interconnected issues of physical health, getting outdoors and connecting kids to the outdoors, are becoming paramount to their work. These issues are relevant for the land conservation-focused TPL, health organizations like Kaiser Permanente and funders like the Stewardship Council in California. TPL in fact received funding from Kaiser Permanente to build what they call “Fitness Zones” in Los Angeles, particularly in densely populated low income East Los Angeles neighborhoods where obesity is high.

Another organization focused on getting youth outside believes “[c]hildren are smarter, cooperative, happier and healthier when they have frequent and varied opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors.” As such, the Children & Nature Network, chaired by Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv, compiled two annotated bibliographies to research that will tell you just how much kids are not getting outdoors, the consequences and the most promising solutions.

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