Written By: Alan Martin, Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department
Editted by: Laurie Egan, Coastal Watershed Council
“My name is Alan Martin and I am a temporary employee of the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department, working in the east maintenance zone. My job is to keep the Riverwalk clean by removing objects large and small, from tires to plastic bottles, needles and candy wraps.
To do that, I get close to the river and I have the opportunity to see the beauty of nature, like a mother duck with its ducklings diving for food. I have seen a mother duck challenging a hawk to protect its babies. Yet other times, I have seen ducklings struggling to move through trash floating on the river. There was a mother duck (I called her Emily) that had nine ducklings and lived around and under the Riverside Avenue Bridge. The last time I saw her, she had only one! I haven’t seen her in two weeks!
I have a bachelor’s degree in music and have taken composition courses in the masters program in the music department at San Jose State University. I try to put my musical skills into good use. I hope you enjoy my mini-production that I hoped would bring attention to the beauty of the river. Without its wildlife Santa Cruz wouldn’t be as beautiful.”
Take a look: