Saving Our Reefs
Coral Reef southeast Florida showing diseased Sea Fan
AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO OUR REEFS THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CRUISE SHIPS OR DREDGING…
Years ago Dr. Brian LaPointe was the primary scientist instrumental in forcing our Federal and State governments to admit that land based pollutants affect marine ecosystems and can kill corals… it’s a no brainer but it took years for our local and national governments to admit this and to stop flooding Florida Bay with dirty water…
As a result of this flooding, we saw a proliferation of coral diseases (Black-band, Red-band, Dark Spots, White-band, White Plague, White Pox, Yellow Blotch — just to name a few) that devastated corals on reefs throughout the Keys … Since the flow was reduced, our corals have recovered somewhat. The ugly point about the articles linked below is that there is a huge push to have the dirty water that has polluted and decimated Indian River Lagoon re-released into, you guessed it, Florida Bay. The sad fact is, the resultant flows, if they are allowed, will make any damage that would have been done by widening our shipping channel and resultant harm by increased shipping and larger cruise ships seem like child’s play in comparison.
When Key West stopped the cruise ship industry from widening our shipping channel, we won by a vote of 74%, despite being heavily outspent by the opposition. Although most of us in Key West, rightly so, were concerned about the channel widening, the effects of too many one-day tourists clogging our streets, and bigger cruise ships, that’s not what that whole issue was about. The channel widening in reality was of minor concern to the cruise ship industry (and also to the farm industries and the oil industry that watched this issue closely)… It was about the next step that would bring the issue of our marine sanctuaries from Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas, Monterey, and Alaska, and, ultimately, all our parks: their charters, rules, scientific research, funding, etc. before this hideous Congress we have now — so our parks and marine sanctuaries could be gutted and exploited for short term gain. We stopped this when we stopped the widening. We did this together. And for this we should be proud.
Now we have the issue of flooding Florida Bay with dirty water. This must go before the public. We have the voice. We used it recently. And if we gather together, perhaps we can stop this all this insane madness once and for all…. it’s a story worth telling… for when it comes to water coming from the mainland, we, all of us in the Keys, live downstream. For all our sakes, let’s make sure that the water is clean.
Joel Biddle
Educational Director, of Reef Relief when it was under the direction of Craig and DeeVon Quirolo
http://www.npr.org/2013/09/26/
http://www.wired.com/