Quick Take
Friends and admirers will gather Wednesday morning at Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz for a paddle-out to honor the late Wallace J. Nichols and to pay tribute to his work in marine biology.
A few hundred people are expected to show up at Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz on Wednesday morning to pay tribute to longtime Santa Cruz writer and scientist Wallace J. Nichols in a paddle-out that’s being tabbed “World Blue Mind Day.”
Nichols, who died in 2024 at the age of 56, was the author of a book titled “Blue Mind,” in which he put forth a concept that humans have a deep evolutionary affinity for being in water. He was considered an evangelist for the idea that being in, on or near a large body of water is crucial to improving or maintaining mental health.
The paddle-out will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and take off from Cowell. Those interested in participating as paddlers or surfers are asked to show up at 9:45 a.m. Those who are not going out on the ocean can observe from Cowell Beach, West Cliff Drive or from the Santa Cruz Wharf.
Nichols earned a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, specializing in sea turtle conservation. As a marine biologist and conservationist, he often referred to Santa Cruz County’s North Coast, where he lived with his wife, Dana, and two daughters, as the “Slow Coast.” The Nichols’ home was destroyed in the CZU fires of 2020.
After the publication of “Blue Mind” in 2014, Nichols toured the country touting the idea of “blue mind,” a mental state of calmness and serenity in the face of stress.
One of the organizers of Wednesday’s paddle-out, Dan Haifley, said that “the idea is that World Blue Mind Day becomes an annual event. And this will be a celebration of J’s life and an acknowledgment that his work will go on.”
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