Weekly Water Watch
The soul of the earth lay not in the land, but in the heave and fetch of a pristine ocean. Our oceans should be revered, and above all, inviolate. The week’s worst affronts:
• In Panama City, Florida, boat captains and anglers are attacking bottlenose dolphin with guns and pipe bombs, to keep them from taking fish right off the hook, and from feeding off the undersized fish that by law must be thrown back into the ocean. A federal agent who has investigated reported attacks on dolphins said no one really knows the extent of the problem because so many confrontations likely occur 20 to 30 miles offshore in deep waters. ”That far out the bodies are never going to wash up on shore,” said Allan Coker, who works with NOAA’s fisheries law enforcement office in Niceville, Fla.
• A huge algae bloom in Tampa Bay now stretches more than 14 miles and could soon start killing fish, as it did last year when a similar bloom killed puffer fish, stingrays, blue crab and other species. Algae blooms like this one are usually caused by pollutants washed into the bay during rains, then jump-started by a heat wave.
• In Halifax, in sewage treament plant has shut down, causing untreated sewage to flow into the harbor. The beach is now strewn with Tampon applicators, condoms, and diapers, causing the Halifax Water Commission to launch a radio advertising campaign urging people to stop flushing these items down the toilet – a lesson for all of us.
• Justice Served: The manager of the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park known for its world-famous mermaid shows has been fired after employees complained that he had sexually harassed a mermaid.