More Red Tide and Nutrient Load for Florida? HB 421

I find it pretty "mind-boggling" that under consideration are potential changes to allow for an increase of nutrients into the water-ways of Florida after what we have had to endure with the likes of the BP disaster and the effects on tourism, fishing and sports fishing industry etc, etc.

After all of the extensive pro-active measures that Sarasota County implemented; Florida on a State level is actually considering removing the local ability to address these issues, then I guess as we have to remedy the ramifications on a local basis and get landed with the costs too.

Do we really need to take a chance of exasperating the situation let alone the remedial costs incurred by a severe out break of Red Tide or waterway pollution, be it travel industry or on a local basis? The incalculable cost to wild life and health associated to polluted algae laden waters. What I'm I missing here? Common sense?

Article below...

House committee delays vote on fertilizer bill amid questions, opposition | The Florida Current

Persistant Red Tide in SW Florida

Regrettably it seems we're back to a persistent Red Tide again and its not going to help the tourism industry with the respiratory irritation factor. 


Whats changed to cause this? Heavy nutrient loads again?


latest sampling report via the FWC

The Karenia brevis bloom present in southwest Florida has been documented so far this week in waters between southern Lee County and Collier County. Low to high concentrations of K. brevis have been detected alongshore of Sanibel Island and low to medium concentrations have been detected alongshore of Marco Island. The bloom most likely continues south to northern Monroe County as detected by last weeks samples, although no samples have been processed so far this week from that area. Fish kills and respiratory irritation have been reported in conjunction with this bloom in multiple locations this week including Marco Island and Naples.

Karenia brevis was not detected in water samples analyzed so far this week alongshore of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties or offshore of Palm Beach County.

 

Sampling will continue this week, and complete results will be available in the next scheduled status report on Friday, December 16.

Red Tide update

Southwest CoastThe Karenia brevis bloom present in southwest Florida currently extends from southern Lee County through northern Monroe County. The highest concentrations of K. brevis have been reported alongshore and offshore of Sanibel Island south to Naples Bay.  Very low to medium concentrations have been reported alongshore and offshore of southern Collier County south to Pavilion Key (Monroe County). In inshore waters, samples confirm up to high concentrations of K. brevis in southern Pine Island Sound and San Carlos Bay (Lee County) and up to medium concentrations inshore of Marco Island (southern Collier County). Multiple fish kills (alongshore and offshore) and respiratory irritation have been reported in the bloom areas of southern Lee through Collier counties.

Karenia brevis was not detected in water samples analyzed this week alongshore of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties

 

Bloom Boundary: Recent satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Lab at the University of South Florida show that the bloom extends alongshore for at least 75 miles from southern Lee County through northern Monroe County and offshore for approximately 30 miles. This imagery is consistent with sample results processed by FWC. 

 

Northwest CoastKarenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in waters sample collected this week alongshore of Escambia, Dixie and Citrus counties or offshore of Taylor County.

 

East Coast

Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in a water sample collected this week in the Indian River Lagoon system (Brevard County) or offshore of Palm Beach County.

 

You can access this week’s interactive Google Map in the attached file.

 

To learn more about other organisms that have been known to cause algal blooms in Florida waters, see our flickr page at (http://www.flickr.com/photos/myfwc) and click on “Harmful Algal Bloom Species”.

A Kemp Ridley Turtle Truly Incredible Journey

Time at last... tis the season...
Neat story to kick off a Monday morning via Mote Marine

An endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle rehabilitated in Portugal after stranding in the Netherlands arrived at Mote Nov. 29 for the last stop in its journey back to the wild.

The Kemp’s ridley turtle was rescued in November 2008 in the Netherlands, where it probably drifted on ocean currents after becoming cold-stunned. The turtle was stabilized at the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands and sent to the aquarium Oceanário de Lisboa in Portugal the following summer, and then transferred to the theme park Zoomarine for rehab.

Zoomarine staff identified the turtle as a juvenile Kemp's ridley — a highly endangered species that spends this part of its life feeding in relatively shallow, warm waters of the western North Atlantic, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, which is thousands of miles from where it was rescued. 

It took an international team effort to get the turtle back to Florida. Zoomarine staff worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, The U.S. Embassy in Portugal, the Portuguese airline TAP and Mote Marine Laboratory to obtain all the special permits and arrange for the animal’s travel and care once in the U.S.

The turtle's travels earned it the nickname "Johnny Vasco da Gama" for the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who opened the sea route from Europe to India. The turtle was named "Johnny" in the Netherlands and gained its explorer name in Portugal.
Johnny was flown from Portugal to Miami in cabin space donated by TAP, accompanied by caregivers from Zoomarine. "This was an amazing journey on every level," said Élio A. Vicente, Director of Science and Education at Zoomarine.  "After two and a half years, this is a perfect ending."

• Click to watch the story on CNN

First benefits from the Littoral Zone discussions in Sarasota County

One of the first benefits to emerge for the initial Littoral Zone discussions is the new consolidated website for Resource Protection. User friendly with a wealth of knowledge just a click away. 

Still more steps in this process and for those who have the passion to become involved and enjoy Social interaction the NEST program is a great place to start. Lots of good advice and good people which I would highly recommend. From the new site...

The Sarasota County Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Team, or NEST, promotes neighborhood involvement in environmentally friendly projects to protect and restore our shared water resources. The NEST program operates at the neighborhood-level to improve watershed-scale resources, and no matter where you are in Sarasota County, you are in one of the County's watersheds.

One of the NEST goals is to help citizens take an active role in evaluating the appearance and functionality of ponds and lakes by planting or maintaining appropriate watershed-friendly vegetation and trees along the banks or in the water.  Shoreline restorations will help to minimize bank erosion, improve water quality and provide wildlife, bird and fish habitat.  Shoreline restoration is an easy way to add beauty to your yard and neighborhood and help improve the health of the water bodies your stormwater impacts.  Remember that water from your pond may find its way downstream into our creeks, rivers, or bays so what you do can help to restore and protect our bays

To learn more about the NEST Program or to participate click here

Jobs and Dollars in Wetland Conservation

When it comes to hot topics Jobs would certainly be a the top at the list. What better form of self investment than the jobs created by Coastal and Wetland Restoration projects. In a recent report by Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) titled "Jobs & Dollars: Big Returns from Coastal Habitat Restoration," the benefits detailed are numerous. Not to forget the overall impact to tourism and its related jobs. Where would we be if we couldn't even enjoy some fishing or even go to the beach! A taste of that was when... the Red Tide made an extensive appearance on our West Coast Florida shoreline. Its since then I've been actively involved in conservation and preservation of our oceans. I wonder why!!

The article...


WASHINGTON--A landmark report released today by Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) shows that coasts and estuaries are not only essential to the nation's economy, but that investments in coastal habitat restoration produce jobs in a cash-strapped, job-starved economy at a higher rate than many other sectors, including oil and gas, road-infrastructure, and green building projects.

Download the report here

The report by Jeff Benoit, "Jobs & Dollars: Big Returns from Coastal Habitat Restoration," lays out a powerful case for government and private investment in the nation's coasts and estuaries, drawing on national and regional studies of coastal and estuarine  restoration projects and setting out its findings in restoration case studies.

Among "Jobs and Dollars" key findings:

Coastal habitat restoration--including wetland reconstruction and improvement; rebuilding depleted oyster beds; removal of obsolete dams, culverts, and other obstacles to fish passage; tree planting and floodplain restoration; and invasive species removal--typically create between 20 and 32 jobs for every $1 million invested. In comparison, road infrastructure projects on average create seven jobs per million, oil and gas return just five jobs, and green building retrofits produce 17 jobs per $1 million invested.

Habitat restoration not only creates local jobs, it brings dollar to local businesses. In one of the report's case studies, a watershed restoration project in Oregon, 80% of monies invested in the project stayed in county; 90% stayed in state.

Restoration not only creates direct jobs, people using their skills and equipment to restore damaged wetlands and other similar projects, but also helps stimulate indirect jobs in industries that supply project materials such as lumber, concrete, and plant materials, and supports induced jobs in businesses that provide local goods and services, such as clothing and food, to restoration workers.

Finally, restoration projects are a sure bet, boasting enviable returns on investment to local and regional economies in the form of new jobs, increased tourism and tourist dollars, hunting and fishing revenues, tax revenues, and property values.

"Investing to restore our nation's bays and estuaries is a win-win-win situation. It's good for the environment, creates jobs, and it boosts sagging local economies," said Jeff Benoit, President and CEO of Restore America's Estuaries.

How valuable are our coasts and estuaries?

While coastal-estuarine counties make up only 13% of the U.S. land area, they generate half the nation's GDP, and provide 40% of all American employment. More than three-quarters of all U.S. trade-some $850 billion total-passes through U.S. ports annually. Further, over 75% of all commercial fishing, 80-90% of recreational fishing, and 85% of waterfowl and migratory birds depend on estuaries. Combined, the hunting and fishing industry alone generates $80 billion a year.

But despite their obvious value, both ecologically and economically, America's coasts and estuaries are in trouble. Historic losses alone are staggering. The report documents that 97% of Columbia River salmon are gone. Likewise, 95% of all San Francisco Bay wetlands have vanished, sacrificed to development and commerce. The once great Chesapeake Bay oyster is down to one percent of historic levels. Half of the Great Lakes wetlands are gone.

Louisiana's wetlands are in a class by themselves. Louisiana's coastal wetlands are receding at an astounding rate of one football field an hour. Loss of the state's wetlands not only threatens lucrative industries like shrimping and crabbing, but also puts 45% of our national oil and gas refining capacity, and 43% of our strategic petroleum reserves at risk, as well.

"It is critical for our nation to invest in coastal habitat restoration," said Benoit. "Not only to address many of these problems, but to provide jobs for out-of-work commercial fishermen, work for marinas and boat captains and barge operators, and commerce for seaside businesses, ranging from bait and tackle shops to hotels and restaurants."

Founded in 1995, Restore America's Estuaries is a national alliance of 11 regional, coastal conservation organizations with more than 250,000 volunteer-members dedicated to preserving our nation's estuaries. RAE members include: American Littoral Society, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Conservation Law Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Galveston Bay Foundation, North Carolina Coastal Federation, People For Puget Sound, Save The Bay-Narragansett Bay, Save The Bay-San Francisco, Save the Sound, a program of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and Tampa Bay Watch.

in the news...Mote Marine Aquaculture Park

I took a walkabout around the facilities at Mote Marine Aquaculture Park (time to dig out some pics, me thinks) at a year ago and the closed-loop system they have created is really quite impressive let alone the future potential for emulation. 

From a recent article from Mote marine: The aquaculture focus at Mote, with  both saltwater and fresh water species, is on sustainably growing fish inland using recirculating technologies that maximize the use of water resources.

In the photo above, Dr. Kevan Main works on a Sarasota Bay Estuary Program wetlands restoration site on Lido Key in July. Some of the plants used in the restoration project were grown at Mote Aquaculture Park in eastern Sarasota County. Working with Aquatic Plants of Florida, Mote grows plants using solid waste from saltwater fish species or effluent water from freshwater species. The plants filter excess nutrients and can then be used to restore wetlands in other locations. Photo provided by Sara Kane, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

Who says Smart Meters don't work?

Despite the Florida heat and humidity we received our latest power bill from FPL (Florida Power and Light) our Energy usage dropped once again, I was hoping it might get to in the $70's range and we did! It was actually $79 not bad for 2,000 sq ft under air and considering we had guests in during August ramping up the usage too. I was continually shutting outside doors left open and they probably thought I was miserly or nuts!
Oh I also forgot we work a considerable amount from our Home Office too.

Learning from our eMonitor Smart Meter where our Phantom Power loss was coming from, we kept fine-tuning our energy bleed as I call it, "a lot of crumbs can make a nice size piece of cake" and here's the proof. We weren't being overly frugal either, just using commonsense and its within easy reach of almost anyone with the will to save some money and help the environment at the same time. In these economic times whats not to like? For those who are inclined towards Energy Efficiency, Sustainability or just plain being Green just look at the carbon footprint...


Next on the agenda as we work towards the dry season is more Water Conservation. We've tested out a rain barrel system that we created with a Rain Chain for aesthetics and this season we'll up the ante despite being on a Recycled Water system which magically keeps going up in cost every year... it use to be FREE. Being right beside a lake no water catchment system is needed, but pumps use a fair bit of energy and there will be a fair bit of elbow grease, we'll see...