Surfers and bodyboarders, longboarders and shortboarders, kayakers, volleyball players, horseshoe throwers, stand-up paddlers, skimboarders and those who simply enjoy a stroll through the soft white sand—beach lovers of various ilk are being encouraged to join hands Saturday to say no to offshore drilling and yes to clean energy.

The global event, known as Hands Across the Sand, will take place at more than 90 beaches in California, said Stefanie Sekich, a coastal campaign specialist for the Surfrider Foundation.

Locally, there will be gatherings at Malibu’s Surfrider Beach, Sunset Beach off the Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica Pier and C Street in Ventura.

Participants are being asked to dress in black and congregate at designated beach locations beginning at 11 a.m.—the website www.handsacrossthesand.com provides detailed maps. At noon, the masses will unite and join hands in solidarity for 15 minutes.

“We’re not trying to make this a political issue,” Sekich said. “We’re having it as a general awareness issue that, hey, as Americans—me, you, your neighbor, everyone—we need to start thinking forward about clean energy, and that involves saying no to offshore oil drilling.”

The initial Hands Across the Sand event occurred Feb. 13 in Florida and was organized by Dave Rauschkolb, a surfer and restaurant owner. At the time, more than 10,000 people came together at various points along the Florida coast to protest offshore drilling expansion.

Today, Hands Across the Sand has national sponsorships from the Sierra Club, Oceana, National Audubon Society, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife and Surfrider Foundation, among others.

Like many Americans, Nancy Smith, a volunteer organizer for the weekend’s events in Santa Monica and Malibu, said she was drawn to Hands Across the Sand after the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

With a nonstop flow of heartbreaking images appearing in national media on a daily basis, Smith, a former Malibu resident who fell in love with the sport of surfing about a year ago, said the time is now to stand up and demand action to save the world’s oceans.

“If you love your baby, would you risk something so volatile being built next to something you love?” Smith asked.

“No. I love the ocean, and I don’t want to watch it being destroyed.”

Jesse Mota, owner of Revolution Surf Co. in Newbury Park and Camarillo, said he’s noticed changes in local waters during the two and a half decades he’s been surfing.

“When I was younger, I wasn’t concerned about much as long as the waves were good,” said the Newbury Park High grad and Oxnard resident.

“Now you see more things happening out there. There are less fish, less marine life. It’s definitely noticeable, even in my short lifetime.”

Mota cringes at the thought of a major oil spill off the California coast.

“If something like the (Gulf spill) happens on this coast,” he said, “it would be completely detrimental to so many of us. It’s a huge concern, for sure.”