Hello, my friends! You all know me as a musician, an actor, a composer, an artist. But you might not know me as an athlete and, in particular, an ultra-marathon long-distance swimmer. On September 24th I am going to swim the twenty-one miles – the same distance as the fabled English Channel swim – between Catalina Island and the California mainland.

This swim is being sponsored by the Ojai Turtle Conservancy, an Ojai, California organization dedicated to protecting threatened turtles and tortoises and their habitats worldwide. Climate change affects us all, but fragile species like these turtles are frequently the first victims of ecological collapse.

As a marathon swimmer, I am intimately connected to the sea and its inhabitants. As such, this is an extremely important cause for me; raising awareness about it is, in fact, the principal reason that I am undertaking this challenge.

I am asking for donations; any amount possible will be greatly appreciated and the money raised by this campaign will finance the swim and a portion will be donated to the Ojai Turtle Conservancy.

(More information can be obtained at www.turtleconservancy.org ; tours of the organization headquarters can be arranged.)

Special thanks to Jennifer Goode, Eric Goode, Maximillian Maurer and Jeremy McBride.

IG: @virgelviersetjoel

www.joelvirgelmusic.com

Cheers,

joel

Cover Photo: Maximillian Maurer

Photo 1: Angela Lee

Photo 2: Scott Smith