A killer whale was born on Tuesday afternoon at SeaWorld – the seventh such Orca born at the San Diego park in its 50-year history.

The whale was born at 12:34 p.m. in Shamu Stadium to a 10-year-old Orca named Kalia.

Kalia’s calf was estimated to weigh between 300 and 350 pounds and measure between 6 and 7 feet long, SeaWorld officials said. The sex of the baby has yet to be determined, nor has a name been released.

After carrying the baby for 17 months, Kalia was in labor for just over an hour. Seconds later, the infant whale swam to the water’s surface to take its first breath, SeaWorld officials said.

The calf appears healthy, though zoo officials say the first few days are critical. Trainers and veterinarians will continue to monitor the baby and mom.

This is Kalia’s first calf. Her mother, Kasatka, has given birth to four calves.

The most recent killer whale born at SeaWorld’s San Diego park came last year when Kasatka delivered Makani. Prior to that, a whale named Kalia was born in 2004 to Kasatka.

Rain pelted the Bay Area for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, leading to a flurry of car wrecks, flooding and mudslide watches amid an otherwise welcome break from California's severe drought.

Flashing lights and sirens were common on the highways, with crashes reported before the sun came up on Interstate Highway 880 in Hayward and Highway 17 near Santa Cruz.. The California Highway Patrol responded to various reports of flooded roadways, including on Interstate Highway 580 in Livermore, U.S. Highway 101 near San Francisco International Airport, on the northbound state Highway 87 to Interstate Highway 280 connector in San Jose and on state Highway 4 around the border of Antioch and Oakley.

An oak tree fell on Woodside Road at 5 a.m. taking down several power lines with it, according to the Office of Emergency Services in Redwood City. However, the power outage only affected about five homes. At 6:45 a.m., San Francisco International Airport reported the rain was delaying flights by almost four hours. CHP tweeted that it had more than 400 calls for collisions during the morning commute including a mudslide in Redwood City and flooding from Oakland to Marin. A flood advisory was issued for the entire Bay Area.

"It is tough out there," said NBC Bay Area Meteorologist Christina Loren, who added that the rainful, while a headache to drive in, is a much needed antitode to the statewide drought.

Storm Photos: Send Images to isee@nbcbayarea.com

Loren said the rain should continue throughout the day with thunderstorms expected later in the afternoon - with a slight respite at lunchtime. The National Weather Service predicted the coastal mountains could received about 4 inches of rain on Tuesday, and Santa Cruz could receive up to five inches.

Loren said the last time San Francisco received an inch and a half of rain was in 2012. And if the city surpasses that amount by the end of Tuesday, that will be the most precipitation since 2009.

The rain won't be enough to cure the historic drought in California, where some lakes are at less than half their normal levels for this time of year. But Loren did say that the rainfall so far this year is slightly above average - something that hasn't happened in three years.

In Los Angeles County, voluntary evacuations in the Silverado Canyon burn area were planned as residents there watched for potential flash flooding. In Ventura, crews braced for possibly more rock slides. In San Diego, residents were also preparing for  storm to wallop the city and surrounding areas.

 Rain is expected through Wednesday.

 NBC Bay Area's Shawn Murphy and Mike Inouye contributed to this report.

One person was seriously injured in a stabbing outside a local home improvement store, according to San Diego police.

The stabbing happened around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of Home Depot at Fairmount Avenue and Twain Avenue in Grantville.

Based on the preliminary investigation, police say it appears two people got into a fight over returning items.

The suspect is still on the loose. Police have not released further details.

Check back for updates.

For weeks, Pacific Beach parents raised concerns to school administration about gates to the Pacific Beach Middle School campus being left wide-open and unattended during school hours.

Now, a new principal is making changes to school procedures to make sure all campus gates remain locked during school hours.

NBC 7 Investigates visited the school Monday and found a gate to the campus wide-open and unattended, allowing unvetted public access to the school during school hours. A security camera was aimed toward the gate, but no staff monitored the entrance for nearly an hour NBC 7 observed the school.

Another gate remained open Monday only between sixth period dismissal and an optional seventh period, parents said. One parent says she saw a suspicious man carrying a duffel bag who walked right onto campus through this entrance on Oct. 23. She says she observed him looking around and then walking off campus again, during school hours. 

"My mother's intuition kicked in, and I just felt that gut feeling: "Something's not right here,'" said the parent, who asked not to be named. She said she reported it to the school principal but felt the administrator's response was "flippant" and that her only excuse was the large size of Pacific Beach Middle School's campus, which spans two full city blocks.

"I felt uneasy about the entire situation, and it stayed on my mind all weekend," the parent said.

After NBC 7 Investigates scoped out the situation Monday and discovered the gate to the campus allowing unrestricted access to the campus, we inquired with the school about procedures.

Monday night, school parents received a voice message and email from the principal stating all gates would now be locked.

"Starting this week, the gates from the parking lot to the school campus will be locked during school hours," the email states. 

On Tuesday, Principal Kimberly Meng sat down with NBC 7 to discuss the issue, saying that she also noted the problem when she began her job in October.

"When I came to campus, I always check safety and I noticed there are quite a bit of gates and lots of gates for entrance and exit before-school and after-school," Meng said. "And we have some gates that are left open during the school day, which we try not to ever do, and I'm not accustomed to that from working at other school sites." 

Meng said she was working on a solution that includes obtaining more keys for school staff to lock and unlock the gates and addressing handicap access issues, as well as other safety concerns.

"So, we have to think about, of course, keeping our kids safe when they are on campus all day long," Meng said. "That safety includes people coming on campus, but it also includes our students being able to evacuate should an incident ever occur on campus, in terms of if there were a fire. We need to be able to get off-campus quickly, too. That has been the reasoning behind a gate or gates unlocked during school hours." 

District officials say San Diego Unified just completed a comprehensive safety study, evaluating all unique safety challenges at the different school sites.

At PBMS, which is surrounded by city streets and a public rec center to the west of campus, that study includes recommendations for modernization, like a drop-off and pick-up zone, so the best access to campus is more defined by one entrance.

That report is due to come to the board in January.

School trustee Scott Barnett agreed to do an interview about this issue, but then backed out at the last minute, saying he had a family emergency. 

In 2013, NBC 7 Investigates found that California state officials have no idea how many schools have safety plans in place.

In California, the law requires schools to develop and annually update their safety plans for prevention and response to school violence, natural disasters and other emergencies. However, NBC 7 Investigates found that in the past 10 years, no California school district has ever reported a school for not complying with the Ed Code’s safety requirements, and no district has ever been fined for not following the law.

A bank robbery suspect, wanted for two heists over the Thanksgiving holiday, has been nicknamed the “Chit Chat Bandit” by FBI agents.

The man was captured by bank surveillance cameras at his first target – the Wells Fargo Bank on Girard Avenue in La Jolla, California on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014.

Two days later on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the same man was captured on camera at the Wells Fargo Bank inside the Vons store on Camino Canada in El Cajon.

Investigators say the suspect likes to make it look like he’s chatting up the tellers as he’s robbing them.

In El Cajon, the bandit demanded money from two tellers and then left the bank with the money using a small green BMX-style bike, agents said.

No one has been injured in the robberies.

If you have any information, you can contact the FBI at (858) 320-1800 or San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 540-8477.

A Wisconsin man was in custody, accused of shooting and killing a San Diego man at a backyard party earlier this month.

U.S. Marshals arrested Jarvis Starks Monday near the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus in Kenosha, Wisconsin according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Starks, 20, is accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old Omar Largo in Encanto on Nov. 8.

The shooting took place around 7:30 p.m. at a party on Winnett Street south of Federal Boulevard.

The newspaper named a second suspect, Lawrence Tate, as being involved in the shooting.

According to an online fundraising site, Largo was the father of a 3-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old
stepson. The site was accepting donations to help with funeral services and set up a trust fund for his daughter.

The Chula Vista community is rallying around the family of a woman killed after being run over by a truck.

Police say Leonor Castillo, 37, died Friday after being hit repeatedly by a pickup truck driven by her ex-husband, 37-year-old Cesar Castillo. On Monday, Cesar surrendered to authorities at the U.S.-Mexico.

Leonor leaves behind three daughters, ages 10, 8 and 3. The girls were waiting for their mother at their grandparents’ house so they could decorate the Christmas tree together, according to Chula Vista police.

The story tugged at the heartstrings of members of the Chula Vista Police Department, who have jumped into action. The Crimes of Violence Unit is collecting money from police officers and other employees to buy Christmas gifts for the girls, and dispatchers are stuffing stockings. The children will also be part of the department’s annual toy drive Dec. 13, according to CVPD.

Leonor’s family has set up its own Go Fund Me account for the girls. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, it had raised nearly $3,000.

Leonor was vice president of the Parent-Teacher Association at Palomar Elementary School. On Monday, the school sent a note to parents explaining their "beloved" PTA vice president had been killed.

An 18-year-old accused of jump-kicking in a mother in the back as she carried a baby is in police custody Tuesday, police said.

Police tracked down Alonzo Brown less than a day after authorities released video showing a suspect kicking Odila Orozco as she carried laundry bags on East Tremont Avenue with her 2-month-old son strapped to her chest on Friday.

Both the mother and the baby fell to the ground after the kick, and the suspect allegedly ran off with the woman's cell phone.

Brown was charged with robbery, attempted robbery, several counts of assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday. 

As he was being driven away in a police cruiser Brown claimed he didn't know Orozco was holding a baby. 

"I'm sorry to the lady and the baby," he said. 

Orozco and her son Jordan were taken to Jacobi Hospital, where they were treated for their injuries and released.

The 24-year-old victim told NBC 4 New York she was walking home from the laundromat in West Farms last Friday afternoon when she was attacked. She said Tuesday that she didn't accept his apology, and that she doesn't believe he didn't see her baby because they made eye contact as they walked by each other. 

She told NBC 4 New York through a translator: "He deserves to pay for what he did, he has probably hurt some other people in the past. He didn't think of [the] baby so he deserves what he's going to get." 

"He didn't think like a man, he acted like a coward," she said. "He has to pay for what he did." 

Brown, who has 11 prior arrests, was ordered jailed on $25,000 bond, and is scheduled to return to court Dec. 8. He has other court dates for two other outstanding cases. 

-- Pei-Sze Cheng contributed to this report. 

A Redwood City home was flooded with sewage water after a street drain got clogged with debris during a heavy storm that hit the Bay Area on Tuesday.

"It's a little gross to think my neighbors' poop is in my house," said Adrienne Herro, who was making school lunches for her children when she noticed the dirty water creeping into her home.

"It was about two inches of water, and it just kept rising," she said.

Herro was not referring to rain water. Sewage water, human waste and even toilet paper flooded her home.

Herro said the flooding has happened before when the drain near the streets gets clogged with debris. City crews spent the morning clearing the pipe.

Redwood City sanitation crews will cover the cost of cleaning the mess. The city's public works department said the pipe in the neighborhood is likely more than 50 years old and will soon replace the damaged section.

Disturbing new video shows a deadly attack on a homeless man in San Francisco last month that police call one of the most horrifying they've ever seen.

Police are asking the public for help identifying the three young men seen in the clip minutes before they kicked and beat to death Tai Lam, a 67-year-old homeless man.

Lam was a 100-pound man who needed crutches to walk, and he appeared to have been sleeping when the trio first approached him, investigators said. There is no indication he provoked the three suspects, they said.

Veteran officers who said they’ve "seen it all" said this attack was bad.

"I have 25 years in, and this is a really awful attack, probably one of the worst I've ever seen,” San Francisco Police Sgt. John Cagney said. “I think all of us that are investigating this were personally affected by it."

The video surveillance footage recorded the suspects attacking Lam twice on Nov. 23, between 11 p.m. and midnight, in the 100 block of Sutter Street, according to San Francisco police Lt. Toney Chaplin.

"The fact that they left and came back and resumed the attack, I think it speaks volumes about how bad it actually was," Chaplin said.

Police said they think the men traveled on BART or Muni the night of the assault and predict they will find even more surveillance video of the trio.

Lam's body wasn't found until about 7 a.m. Nov. 24, according to police. The victim's family has been notified and asked for privacy, Cagney said.

Homeless advocates said it's common for the homeless to experience violence.

"The truth is homelessness is just a very, very dangerous way to live on so many different levels," said Claire Wagner of Home First. "I think this is one of the reasons why people gather in encampments. Some of them feel there really is safety in numbers."

Wagner also points out many people without housing are elderly and disabled like Lam.

Anyone with information can contact Cagney at 415-734-3831 or may do so via the anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411 with "SFPD" in the message.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

More than 2,400 homes were left without power Tuesday night in the area around Spring Valley.

SDG&E said on its website the unplanned outage started just before 9:30 p.m. for customers in Spring Valley, La Presa and Rancho San Diego.

The power was shut off "for safety reasons while repairs are being made," the utility's outage map says, though it's unclear what caused the failure.

While SDG&E initially reported power would not be back on until midnight, it was restored just half an hour later.

Two Toys for Tots donation bins were emptied by "unknown suspects" last week in Aptos and Santa Cruz, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

At least 100 gifts were lifted from the donation bins on Nov. 24 and Nov. 26, according to the Sentinel reports, adding there are no leads or suspects for police.

The Sentinel also reports it is possible the collection bins were emptied by impostors pretending to be collection drivers, who are generally off-duty firefighters or volunteers with "badges."

One person was injured as flames engulfed an attached garage in a South Bay community Tuesday night.

Firefighters saw smoke and fire leaping over the home's roof in the 700 block of Desty Street in Palm City at 8:45 p.m.

Three people were inside at the time, and while they all got out, one had minor injuries, according to San Diego Fire Battalion Chief Steve Salaz.

Neighbors were told to leave their homes, and engines from San Diego, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach blocked the road as they worked to put out the flames.

By 9:05 p.m., firefighters had the blaze knocked down, though they expected to extinguish hot spots for another two hours.

The garage was completely destroyed.

SDG&E and the Metro Arson Strike Team were called out to help investigate the cause, and the Red Cross will help find a place for the three displaced people to stay temporarily.

A Chula Vista mother of three killed by her ex-husband’s pickup truck is drawing attention to domestic violence in San Diego County.

In 2013, 17,000 domestic violence incidents were reported in the county. Nine of them were fatal.

“That could have been me run over and not there for my kids anymore,” said domestic violence survivor Carie Charlesworth.

Charlesworth looked over the restraining order Leonor Castillo filed against her husband Cesar Castillo in April. Charlesworth drew attention to Condition 14, which outlined Cesar was to have no contact with Leonor, even in dealing with their children.

However, it seems they did not follow that condition. Friends say Leonor agreed to help her ex-husband pick out Christmas gifts for their daughters the night she was killed.

Charlesworth noticed a theme she saw with her husband.

“That’s what my ex did,” she said. “He used every conversation to say it was for the children or it was about the children. He used it to his advantage.”

Police say Leonor died Friday after being run over twice by a pickup truck driven by her ex-husband. Cesar turned himself in to authorities at the U.S.-Mexico on Monday.

Prosecutors revealed Tuesday that more than marijuana was found at a dispensary operating illegally in Southern California.

The investigation into Market Greens at 4255 Market Avenue in Mt. Hope started when undercover San Diego police officers bought cocaine from dealers at the dispensary, according to SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman.

The buy gave investigators enough evidence to obtain a search warrant, which they served to the business on Oct. 14. Officers immediately zoned in on a locked door where the product was kept.

When an employee refused to let them in, they forced entry, only to be confronted by an armed man inside. The man reached for his gun in his waistband but soon stood down when police identified themselves, Zimmerman said.

Officers discovered cocaine, marijuana edibles and four handguns — one of which was reported stolen — in the product room.

Five people have since been arrested.

"Illegal dispensaries can be dangerous places, as evident by the fact that a convicted felon was found on the premises of Market Greens in possession of a weapon,” said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.

That felon will be prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office, while another will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office for possession of cocaine for sale, according to Goldsmith.

After identifying the illicit operation, it took a few months for investigators to discover who was operating it. In the meantime, prosecutors went after the property owners, as they do with any illegal marijuana dispensary — whether the owner was involved or not.

"It's a clear message,” said Goldsmith. “Don't rent to them, don't frequent them. Report them to law enforcement."

When investigators identified the operator as Nathan Schuh, they expanded the court order to include him as well as the property owners. Market Greens was shut down on Oct. 22.

Zimmerman said the SDPD is ramping up its efforts to identify and shut down illegal dispensaries, and they know of at least 40 others still operating in the city.

However, Goldsmith wanted to make one thing clear: his office is not attacking medical marijuana itself.

“Our office is focused only on zoning violations. That’s it. We’re not after shutting down marijuana, as far as medical marijuana is concerned,” he said.

The city now has a process to approve legally zoned operations, which must provide conditions like security guards, surveillance cameras and alarms, posting the name and number of an operator, employee background checks and fingerprinting.

Goldsmith said he hopes future dispensaries go through the proper channels to avoid prosecution and potential violence, since the cash-based businesses are targets for robberies.

In April, one person was killed when two suspects tried to hold up an illegal dispensary in North Park.

A.J. Cooper, a Ward 4 candidate for D.C. Council, died suddenly Wednesday morning. He was 34 and had gotten engaged less than a week ago.

Cooper had been running for the Council seat being vacated by Mayor-Elect Muriel Bowser.

Peggy Cooper Cafritz, A.J.'s aunt, confirmed Cooper's death to News4. She said he was at his mother's home when he died sometime before 9 a.m.

Cooper complained about chest pain and dizziness before he collapsed, according to his campaign's Facebook page. Cooper Cafritz said his mother attempted to perform CPR.

"He was a hell of a kid who was just coming into his own," Cooper Cafritz told News4's Mark Segraves.

Algernon "Jay" Cooper III had proposed to his girlfriend, Ryan Palmer, over the Thanksgiving holiday, according to a tribute on the Elect A.J. Cooper Facebook page. "He was excited about beginning a life with Ryan and being more involved in the life of the city," the post said.

Cooper also told News4 on Monday that he was looking forward to running in the special election.

That day, he attended a Ferguson protest outside the U.S. Department of Justice.

"We need to turn all of this energy, all of this passion, all of this pain, into power, into something positive, into real change that will improve outcomes in people's lives," he said.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Cooper graduated from Roosevelt High School and the University of Maryland, according to a biography on his website. He served as policy director for D.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and was once a host on BET's "Teen Summit."

Stay with NBCWashington.com and News4 for more.

Sources confirmed with NBC 7 Investigates the California Department of Justice is investigating local jewelry business Romano’s Jewelers, although details about the focus of the case could not be released.

Romano’s Jewelers has locations in upscale malls in Carlsbad, Downtown San Diego and National City.

In November, NBC 7 Investigates first reported concerns by military members and their families that the business is taking advantage of service members.

Click here to see the original investigation.

As a result of the story, the U.S. Navy warned all its sailors in the San Diego region about the company.

Click here to hear more about the warning from the U.S. Navy.

In addition, a person only wanting to be identified as a former Romano’s employee sent NBC 7 Investigates a 2012 “Order of Emergency Off-limits by Armed Forces.” It reveals earlier concerns the military had about the company.

The letter is written by a U.S. Marine Corp Colonel to Romano’s Jewelers on El Camino Real in Carlsbad.

In the letter the Colonel said, "this letter is to inform you that your establishment has been declared off-limits to service members attached to Marine Corps Installations West – Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton…This action is being taken on emergency basis because employees of Romano’s Jewelers reportedly have a scheme that manipulates electronic pay allotments from service member patrons.”

NBC 7 Investigates reached out to Romano’s Jewelers with these concerns and received this response from the business’ attorney:

“Romano’s welcomes any investigation of its sales practices by the Department of Justice, or otherwise, and looks forward to fully cooperating in the investigation. Romano’s stands by and supports our service members…As for the letter, it was arose from a misunderstanding that was cleared up years ago and Romano’s continues to sell to all members of the armed services community.”

A Marine Corps spokesman said the issue was not cleared up, and the off-limits status on Romano’s Jewelers is still in effect.

“[The purpose of the letter] is to warn them not to go there, and that’s a big thing. It’s a warning sign,” said Ed Olander, a personal finance counselor at the Fleet & Family Support Center on Naval Base San Diego.

Olander explained an allotment is an automatic deduction from a military member’s paycheck.

“A lot of stores will try and get service members to sign up for these automatic payments knowing they will get their payments,” he said. “Unfortunately it’s been abused by less reputable businesses nationwide and in San Diego.”

The problem of allotment abuse by businesses is so significant nationwide, the Department of Defense has announced starting January 1, 2015, troops will no longer be able to use allotments to buy items on credit.

Olander said this is significant because financial mismanagement is the number one reason why military members lose security clearance. Without that clearance, more often than not that person is unable to do his/her job meaning tens of thousands and even millions of taxpayer dollars wasted on training.

Investigative journalist Lynn Walsh contributed to this story.

A familiar San Diegan street is about to get a face lift.

A multi-million dollar project to beautify N. Harbor Drive in Point Loma kicked off Wednesday with a groundbreaking ceremony.

The project, which will cost $3.9 million, kicked off with a ceremony at noon to celebrate the nearly year-long project.

The Port of San Diego's Capital Improvement Program will improve a section of the drive by adding 130 parking spaces, a bike lane, median and landscape improvements and a mid-block pedestrian crossing. Public parking and new LED street lighting will also be added near America’s Cup Harbor section of Point Loma.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Councilmember Lorie Zapf, Port Chairman Bob Nelson and President and CEO of the Board of Port Commissioners Richard Bartell attended the ceremony.

The project will improve the section of the drive near Scott Street and is anticipated to be completed in October 2015.

A Southern California mall has apologized to a 7-year-old girl with autism whose Christmas wish was crushed after Santa Claus and elf impersonators rejected her because of her service pit bull named Pup-Cake.

Abcde Santos, whose name is pronounced ab-suh-dee, and her family waited in line for 30 minutes at The Shops in Mission Viejo on Sunday to meet Santa. When it was her turn, Santa turned her away because he was afraid of Pup-Cake, family spokeswoman Julie Marie Miller said via Facebook.

"Autism is accompanied by many sensory issues, included self-harm behaviors and feeling overwhelmed at times by lights, sounds, especially when waiting," Miller said. "Pup-Cake the service dog’s job is to intervene in those moments."

A post on the Pup-Cake the Service Dog Facebook page showed a picture of the girl upset after the incident and described Santa saying that he wouldn't see her because "those dogs eat people."

Santa then said he had allergies after learning that it was illegal to deny the girl under the Americans with Disabilites Act, the post read. But he refused again to see the girl despite the family's offer to remove 5-year-old Pup-Cake, described as a sweet dog with a patient disposition, from the mall.

"Santa still refused to see the child; sending her away heartbroken leaving a family to comfort a child instead of celebrating her accomplishments," Miller said.

Abcde wanted to ask Santa what he wanted for Christmas so she could make it for him, the post stated.

Mall management and the company behind "The Santa Photo Experience" issued a public apology and has offered the family a private visit with Santa — Pup-Cake included.

"The entire team at The Noerr Programs sincerely apologizes for any distress caused by this situation, and truly regrets the incident," Noerr Programs CEO Judy Noerr said in a statement. "We have reached out to the girl's family, in an effort to extend a private Santa visit with complimentary photos of both the child and her service dog."

Miller said the Santos family's "goal is primarily and always to educate and inform those ignorant of the American Disabilities Act to ensure there are no more victims."

The Santa and elf have been reassigned to a different mall, mall spokesman Charles Russell told NBC4 on Wednesday.

As most locals know, one of the worst times to go into the ocean is after a storm.

The rain washes oil, grease, pesticides, metals, and bacteria into San Diego coasts, creating urban runoff. Swimming through it can cause gastrointestinal sicknesses, and our region has had plenty of time between big rainfalls to build up pollutants.

So San Diego Coastkeeper, a water conservation and protection group, listed the top ten places their volunteers see the most urban runoff.

The organization says it listed the sites from the most visually compelling to the most basic, though in no scientific order:

1. Dairy Mart Road: The Tijuana River overruns a wastewater treatment plant, through the estuary and onto beaches in the winter, bringing binational polluted runoff, Coastkeeper says.

2. 3001 Harbor Drive bridge: The spot over looks Chollas Creek, which is filled with trash.

3. Dog Beach in Ocean Beach: The San Diego River brings pollution from as far away as Julian.

4. Tecolote Shore in Mission Beach: Tecolote Creek, which has a high bacteria count, drains into Mission Bay here, closing that section of Mission Bay for swimming even when it isn’t raining.

5. San Dieguito River Park Stormwater Treatment Lagoon: A pipe drops urban runoff from a nearby development into ponds, which sometimes contain stagnant water and algae. However, the ponds prevent the contaminated water from reaching the actual lagoon.

6. Cottonwood Creek at Moonlight State Beach: The favorite spot for swimming and surfing is also a prime location for urban runoff because the Cottonwood Creek feeds in pollutants.

7. Coast Boulevard Park: A cement pipe carries storm drain water straight into the ocean, causing a large algae plume.

8. Tourmaline Surf Park: A paved stormwater channel runs to the beach and into the surf zone.

9. 300 Forward Street in La Jolla: A storm drain that orginates in a neighborhood juts out into the ocean.

10. 2306 S. Coast Highway: An open channel feeds water from a parking lot and highway directly into the water.

Many coastal storm drains have permanent warning signs, advising swimmers to stay out of the water at least 72 hours after a rain storm.

Coastkeeper also listed the top ten ways to prevent urban runoff on its website.