Moirs Environmental Dialogues

David Helvarg, founder and Executive Director of Blue Frontier, spoke with Rob about what is happening in Washington and about his latest book: Saved by the Sea, Hope, Heartbreak, and Wonder in the Blue World. The Blue Vision Summit 5 was held in Washington DC with Peter Benchley Ocean Awards for excellence in stewardship, science, policy, marine exploration and youth activism. More than 200 ocean conservation advocates met with 163 legislators on the Hill. Rob talks of his New England delegation meeting with Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, as well as staff members of 7 other NE legislators. Issues of concern included support of the Illegal International Unregulated, Unreported Fishing Bill; opposition to Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans; Bristol Bay Alaska fishermen and tribal groups’ effort to stop a 4 mile in diameter copper pit mine called Pebble Mine; and a Climate Change Education Bill involving families and adult decision-makers.

Today Rob Moir is back, hosting Captain Nancy Beaver of Sunshine Wildlife Tours and his intern Noa Randall, to talk about what’s happening in Indian River Lagoon and learn more about the special wildlife that inhabits this area. Captain Beaver tells us about how Bird Island was recently designated as a Critical Wildlife Habitat, which is super important in helping to inform the public about the importance of this region. In addition, the work ORI was helping with down along the lagoon has continued and finally all the counties lining this body of water have passed fertilizer ordinances! Great progress! Nancy explains more about some of the unique animals that call this lagoon, and Bird Island, home including the Roseate Spoonbill, the Magnificent Frigatebird, and the Bottlenose Dolphins. Though lots of good work has been done already, there is always more we can do to help protect and preserve our environment. Keep up your support!

Rob Moir’s guests are Noa Randall and Ryan Czekanski-Moir of the Ocean River Institute. They talk about proposing sanctuary for sharks in the Straits of Florida. Ryan covers the geology of the area and explains how to the east is the Oculina Reef with coral thickets and in deeper water the Blake Plateau, where a host of organisms live. Noa talks about the Lemon and Sandbar Sharks, as well as less abundant sharks. Recently, 40-50 sharks were seen off Jupiter and all were caught by long-liners. We are working with local communities to build a nomination for a National Marine Sanctuary and invite listeners to join with us.

Ocean River Institute’s spring intern, Noa Randall, talks with Rob about kelp forests and sailing on a tall ship in Pacific Ocean. Noa discusses her experience snorkeling along the coast of Catalina Island. She spotted a sea lion gliding between kelp fronds, wanting to play but just as easily ready to attack. She found on the rocky wall tube snails with their plumed crowns swaying in the water attempting to catch zooplankton. As she swam back towards shore, Noa floated over congregating Leopard Sharks and some Shovelnose Guitarfish. We also talk about the giant black sea bass, their history and presence in that ecosystem as a popular sport fish. The program finishes up by telling listeners what campaigns ORI is currently working on and what they can do to help. Tune in!

Sturgeons and lampreys are truly ocean river dwellers. My understanding and awe of anadromous fish was forever altered by lamprey nest building behavior and what the behavior of two sturgeon told Dr Boyd Kynard last month. Many years ago, he discovered in his neighborhood the only Massachusetts tributary river of the Connecticut River watershed that is not dammed, the Fort River. We talk about an amazing fish, the lamprey, which stops feeding in Long Island Sound to travel to the Pelham Hills transporting carbon and ocean chemicals including boron to endow ecosystems far from the sea. Discover the many ways lamprey leave an environment better off than found. Don’t miss Dr. Kynard’s remarkable research findings of Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon populations in the CT and Merrimack Rivers. Both sturgeon and lamprey are resilient, long-lived fish, ocean wanderers with life histories and survival strategies very different from the well-studied salmon.

Live from Cape Cod, Rob will speak with the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies including Richard Delaney, Dr. Stormy Mayo and Tanya about what is being done and what you can do to save whales and to better the ocean environment that whales depend on. Ocean Champions will update on a bipartisan bill on Capital Hill for research and mediation of harmful algal blooms that includes red tide.

Randy Olson, marine biologist and filmmaker talks about “shifting baselines” for ecosystems and his newest film Sizzle to premier in NYC on Oct 23. Shifting baselines are the chronic, slow changes to an ecosystem or place that one is not apt to notice until. It is more difficult to appreciate and understand what has been lost in a degraded system if a baseline of what is there had not been established in the past. Sizzle, the documentary, addresses climate change without the graphs, but with disagreeable scientists and with sophisticated humor. Randy Olson explains the distinctions and advantages to “mockumentaries” versus documentaries, where media respects the better understandings that listeners have in order to get the parody. www.sizzlethemovie.com Dave Wilmot tells of marking-up a bill in DC for tackling harmful algal blooms and ocean hypoxia. www.oceanchampions.org Chukchi Sea hairy blob days are numbered.

Bristol Bay Alaska fishermen Katherine Carscallen and Brett Veerhusen talk with Rob about the world’s finest salmon fishery for indigenous people, for commercial fishermen and for recreational anglers. This is breathtakingly beautiful, awesomely wild country and a way of life that most of us assume no longer exists. Katherine and Brett want us all to care passionately for Bristol Bay and for the salmon known as “Alaska’s red gold.” Only then can we comprehend the problem with building the ginormous Pebble Mine at the head of all of Bristol Bay rivers. Will you care if Katherine’s and Brett’s livelihood is forever lost? Care if the land of walrus, seal, fish and eagle destroyed by a mining waste accident?

Alison Chase and Sarah Chasis (pictured) of the Natural Resources Defense Council talk with Rob about what Sarah calls “a recipe for smart ocean management that could set our oceans on track to long term health.” With so many American jobs and communities dependent on oceans, this is a most opportune time for ocean planning. Let's dive in. Recently President Obama issued the final plan for managing our oceans, a call for collaborative communications and management across 27 federal agencies and departments in concert with state agencies, municipal, local groups and tribal nations. The National Ocean Policy directs federal agencies to use their authority under existing law to protect, maintain, and restore the health of marine ecosystems.

Carl Safina talks about, and reads from, his book The View from Lazy Point. A year of observations is presented in gripping details from the tip of the swallowtail that is Eastern Long Island. Carl takes us beyond the mysteries of fishing into deep connections with place and fish. Discover the compatible yet distinctive natural history of the Common Tern and its close relative the Roseate Tern. Three things that we need to understand are: that life is a fully networked community; we ought to act with reverence and caution; and “that the story we write with our lives affects those living near and far, and not just now but in the distant future.” To sail these complex and opaque waters with treacherous shores looming large to leeward, we must be more nibble in our steering and find our way with a “compass of compassion.” Carl’s television series on PBS is “Saving the Ocean.” His next book is Sea of Flames. For more info visit http://carlsafina.org

Rob’s guest is Radio Host, Actress and Singer, Christine Larkin. Christine reports on ocean life and storm changes to Long Island. In a reversal of roles, Christine interviews Rob about 7 animals of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Cod and stockfish brought people long ago to Stellwagen. Declining cod stocks in 1639 alarmed the Pilgrims to pass a law protecting cod. It has been downhill for cod since 1620, until 2008 when a natural phenomenon on Stellwagen misled scientists to overestimate cod numbers. Rob describes what makes tuna a Boston Bluefin commanding high market prices, bubble netting by humpback whales, redfish of muddy bottom, haddock of gravel bottoms, goosefish or monkfish of sandy bottoms and the wolffish of boulder reefs. Christine and Rob suggest what one can do to save marine life and enjoy a more vibrant Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. For more information visit Ocean River

Darren Saletta has caught Striped Bass by hook & line for 20 years. The Striped Bass fishery is a well managed, clean, environmentally sound operation with plenty of fish. Industrial fishing operations are destroying the striper’s food base. Herring, Mackerel, & Menhaden are caught in massive nets that can kill tons of by-catch, including Striped Bass. Water quality is an issue for Striped Bass in the Chesapeake. Burgeoning Gray Seal populations are fouling inshore waters with excessive waste and decimating inshore forage, forcing Striped Bass to feed much further offshore to the dismay of surf fishermen. Seals are also cleaning out fishing weirs, another environmentally favorable method of commercial fishing. Striped Bass fishermen are under attack by a special interest group attempting to close the fishery, stripping us of the ability to buy Striped Bass at fish markets or restaurants. Discover what you can do to protect Striped Bass and this culturally significant fishery.

Richard Charter a senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation talks with Rob. A House Committee passed yesterday a measure to boost oil production off of California and leases for drilling off of the U.S. Southeast. Known for protecting CA shores, Richard also raises concerns for living in Virginia, New England, and the NW. He calls for expanding National Marine Sanctuaries. Methane gas hydrate is gas locked in an ice-like lattice of water molecules. There’s more of it to be had than natural gas. Extraction is very risky as there is evidence that a great release of gas hydrates, called the clathrate gun hypothesis, caused an ice age. There is stronger evidence that this methane “gun” caused the Permian extinction event 251 million years ago, when 96% of all marine species became extinct. Despite our destructive tendencies, Richard explains how he still finds hope for humanity.