What's a Marine Protected Area? It's like a national park for the sea. Areas of the coast are set aside as protected areas which, studies show, give the plants and fish and mammals a chance to retrench, regroup and repopulate.

Don't take my word for it. Heal the Bay has all the links and info you need. But consider this: 13 percent of the land on earth is under some sort of conservation care. Just half of one percent of the oceans -- .05 percent, if numbers are more persuasive -- are protected.

Here's an overview of what Marine Protected Areas can do, with links to letters you can send to support MPAs in general, and in Malibu and Palos Verdes specifically.

And here's Heal the Bay's everything-you-need-to-know MPA page, with links to government agencies, newspaper and magazine articles and studies.

Too busy? Then here's the single link you need to email your support.

Love the beach? Write a letter.