City Honors Sardine Cleanup Volunteers

More than 700 volunteers from across Southern California who helped scoop up from the harbor despite were honored Monday night for their hard work.

The sardine die off and the water surges "really [were] an incredible one-two punch that hit our community," Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin said at the event at the .

Nevertheless, multiple volunteers called the cleanup efforts "fun."

Redondo Beach resident Dean Fracois, who was part of the Community Emergency Response Team working the first day said it was a "fun feeling to see [the fish] just slide and glide out of [the net]."

"It surprisingly did not get too dirty and smelly," he said, noting that proper net-handling technique meant he never touched the fish themselves.

Marc Lear, who also volunteered with CERT, said the worst part of the job wasn't the smell of the fish--cleaning fish around the rocky area of the harbor was.

"The rocks were slippery, and the water was coming in," he explained.

Nevertheless, "[I] got a lot of experience, got a lot of sun," he said.

CERT was one of many organizations that helped scoop up the dead fish. California Conservation Corps representative Duane Wilson said about 42 workers and two supervisors from his organization helped out with the cleanup.

"It wasn't really a big emergency," said Carlos Cruz, another member of the organization, "but we still decided to help out to be part of the community."

Twenty-six students from the El Camino Fire Academy also helped out with "a lot of back-breaking work," according to recent graduate Kyle Conforti.

The smell wasn't too bad, said fellow graduate Louie Aguilar.

"They took care of us down there," Conforti added.

Organizations weren't the only source of volunteers for the cleanup; individuals like Eddie Sandoval heard about it through their television sets.

Sandoval drove all the way from Riverside to help out. He was assigned to a cleanup crew on a boat.

"It was like shooting fish in a barrel," he said.

Robin Arcuri, who lives in Hollywood, also saw the fish die-off on the news, and she thought they might need volunteers.

"I rounded up a friend and decided to head down to Redondo," she said.

In addition to a commemorative pin from the city, Arcuri, Sandoval and the other volunteers received a certificate good for two tickets to an 8 p.m. performance at the Civic Light Opera this week and next.