I.THE PHANTOM MENACE

As I'm driving down Highway 1 listening to The Plain White Ts, the road twists and turns and all I can see is blue. I can't tell where ocean ends and sky begins and I'm reminded why I became a marine biologist: The real magic in the world is far more interesting and invigorating than anything even J.K. Rowling can dream up and today this stretch of California's coast is simply breathtaking.. All too often we're bombarded with visions of a dying planet. Sea birds covered in oil, drowning polar bears, beached whales.. the famous photos keeping several NGO's and plenty of actors in the conservation business. But all the negative imagery paints such a dismal picture of the state of things that we're often left so depressed, we wonder why we should care anymore if the world's going to hell in a handbasket. Staunch advocacy groups would have us ...