Sam Malone Pitches In For Oceans

From actor to activist, Ted Danson is making a surprising transition.

"I'm still Sam Malone, I'm still the least-qualified person to be doing this, but here I am," said the former star of Cheers during his visit to Dominican University earlier this week. Danson sat down with fellow actor Peter Coyote, a Tam Valley resident, for a friendly conversation about Danson's latest project: Oceana.

Danson might not have the college credentials, but his passion for saving the oceans makes him as qualified as anyone else to talk about the subject.

When Mill Valley resident Bob Burton asked how it would be possible to educate children on the need for change, Danson said we can't wait that long.

"If we believe our science, the clock is ticking much faster than allowing our kids to grow up and take the reins and solve this. ... It could be too late," Danson said. "I am a huge believer that if you overwhelm people and you're full of fear, nothing will get done. I truly believe that this is something we can solve. This can be solved in our lifetime or our children's lifetimes."

Coyote directed pointed questions at his friend and Danson rambled his way through the evening with personal stories and images of the dangers facing the oceans. When the questions were too hard, Danson simply responded, "I'm just an actor."

The crowd, which filled the auditorium for the lecture, was packed with Danson's fans, although some were too young to remember his work on Cheers, except in late-night reruns. Few knew of his work as an activist. While Coyote has become a major celebrity in the arena of conservation, Danson is a relative and unexpected newcomer.

He is on the board of directors of Oceana, a nonprofit group focused on protecting the oceans. Several fans asked the celebrity duo to sign copies of Danson's new book Oceana: Our endangered oceans and what we can do to save them," which was on sale through  as part of the lecture.

Danson is touring the Bay Area to promote his book, co-authored by Michael D'Orso, and the organization's cause.

"It seems strange to me even. I'm signing a book, going 'What am I doing signing a book?' It seems so strange," Danson said.

Then again, maybe it's not so strange.

"Flash forward middle of Cheers, they're paying me too much money, I'm guilty, what do I do with it?" Danson said. "I'm walking with my daughters Kate and Katrina and they're like 8 and 4 and we come across the sign 'Beach closed. Water's Polluted.' And I'm trying to explain to them how or why it can be and I had no idea. And this was a gorgeous day, just crystal clear.

"Also, around that time I ran into a guy named Bob Sulnick, who was the head of No Oil Inc., which was trying to keep Occidental Petroleum from digging about 60 oil wells right off Will Rogers State Beach in Santa Monica Bay. And we won that battle and we enjoyed each other's company and we thought 'This was fun.' It was almost 'My father has a barn, let's put on a play.' Let's do this. Let's start an organization. … So we talked to my marine biologist brother-in-law and we're off and running."

Danson found a ready audience at Dominican. As he said, he was "preaching to the choir" about stopping pollution and saving fish populations. Several of the audience members could have recited the numbers to Danson without looking in his book:

• Ten species of fish account for more than one-quarter of all commercial fishery production.*

• Nine of those 10 species are on the verge of collapse (meaning that catches have dropped below 10 percent of the highest catch on record).*

• Catches in nearly one-third of the world's fisheries have collapsed to less than 10 percent of their peak levels.*

Though the numbers seem daunting it's not too late, according to Danson, who said even small changes on the local level could have an international impact. His advice: write to your representatives to encourage them to create laws protecting the oceans; seek out ways to reduce your carbon footprint; and when you go to a fine local seafood restaurant, demand to know where the fish is from and how it was caught.

* These numbers were quoted from Oceana.