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Joy to the world All the boys and girls now Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea Joy to you and me From “Joy to the World," lyrics written by Hoyt Axton, recorded by Three Dog Night, 1971] A recent meeting of the local Audubon Society featured Dr. Grant Gilmore, a well-known aquatic scientist. I had heard him speak a few years ago when he was a research director at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. A veteran of over 300 manned submersible dives, his underwater research projects have been featured in over a dozen televised documentary specials on channels such as National Geographic and Discovery. Dr. Gilmore gave a fascinating presentation about the rich fish life in the Indian River Lagoon, which is the segment of the Intracoastal Waterway that spans “The Treasure Coast” (from West Palm Beach to Melbourne, Florida). With over 80 published research papers, he’s been observing the underwater world and discovering new species for over 30 years. Here are the points that got my attention: - Offshore, the continental shelf falls off to depths that average 12,000 feet. No one is sure what’s down there; the ocean depths are mostly unknown to us. Near West Palm Beach, that shelf comes very close to land, and the rich flow of sea life spills into the ecosystem of the Intracoastal Waterway. - It isn’t well known that the Indian River Lagoon has an unusually rich fish population—400 species. That’s 270 more species than exist in Florida Bay, and 300 more than in the waters of the Bahamas. Many of these species are unique to the Lagoon, and some are quite rare. It is a relatively unknown, priceless natural treasure. - Unique to this area is the vast matrix (600 miles) of man-made canals and ditches that channel rainwater off the mainland. This system causes runoff of chemicals and excessive fresh water discharge (both toxic to the fish that live in the Lagoon) to reach these waters in a matter of hours. Additionally, the Corps of Engineers periodically releases massive quantities of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee, which eventually empties into the Lagoon. - There are only three inlets along the entire Treasure Coast, so the enclosed waters of the Indian River Lagoon don’t exchange easily with the Atlantic Ocean. What flows into the Lagoon tends to stay there. - The Treasure Coast is presently experiencing a major “land rush.” Real estate developers are causing extreme pressure to build communities in former agricultural areas throughout this system. - There are 46 pesticide companies in Indian River County, but not a single agency responsible for monitoring or detecting pesticide levels in the water here. - So far, with one exception, efforts to get these rare species listed by the state of Florida as threatened or endangered have been unsuccessful. One of the reasons is that fish are politically handicapped. Unlike Florida’s bird population, fish aren’t “visible.” They live underwater, and it’s hard to find many of these species or physically see them. But research by Dr. Gilmore and many others has established that they are there, nevertheless. - If these fish species were to die off, it would happen quickly. During the past four years, 80% of the famous blue crabs of the Chesapeake Bay have disappeared, primarily because of runoff from upstream development. The ecology of the Indian River Lagoon is much more delicate than the Chesapeake Bay. The dying off of fish in the Indian River Lagoon would affect the food chain dramatically; the biggest impact would be on recreational fishermen, birds that feed on fish and the ocean life that uses the lagoon as a hatchery. This is a disaster in the making. In his own low-key way, Dr. Gilmore sounded a warning bell. He speaks the truth. He knows what he’s talking about. And he was talking to the right audience; some of these old-timers have relentless energy for making things happen. I have lived on the Treasure Coast one block from the Lagoon, so this situation means a lot to me. I’m aware that the people who visit this site live all over the world. So removed from my little corner the planet, I wonder how much joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea means to all the boys and girls now.
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Dennis E. Coates is CEO of Performance Support Systems, author of MindFrames, a brain-based personality assessment system (www.initforlife.com) and co-founder of the Train-to-Ingrain alliance (www.train-to-ingrain.com, info@train-to-ingrain.com, 800-488-6463), which delivers a reinforcement-centered approach to learning and development that achieves permanent, measurable improvements in workplace behavior and positive impacts on business results.
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