This section features updates from the many organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting the ocean, both locally and globally, and information about how you can take action!
By Bill Lucey, Long Island Soundkeeper Talk to Kaye Williams, founder of Captain’s Cove Seaport at Black Rock Harbor in Bridgeport, CT, and you’ll soon learn a few history lessons. Black Rock was the port used by George Washington’s spies as they rowed across Long Island Sound to Setauket, New York and back, bringing information…
Especially in marine water, the unwanted accumulation of microorganisms, algae and animals on wetted surfaces can be costly if not attended to regularly. For recreational or commercial boaters, the danger of transferring non-native species is added to the increase in fuel consumption and maintenance cost. The navies of the world are not immune to this plague either. One study roughly calculated the cost of coating, cleaning and fouling on the United States Navy’s destroyers (class DDG-51) to reach $1 billion over 15 years!
Conservation efforts to protect marine mammals, especially large whales, continue to face great difficulties and, in some cases, have managed only marginal improvements. Most notably, only around 450 North Atlantic right whales survive today. Those that remain face serious human-induced threats such as vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear and habitat degradation.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) kicked off its Give a Sip campaign in May to support a bill introduced by Councilman Rafael Espinal that will eliminate the use of most single-use plastic straws in New York, NY.
That’s why New York State and the Mid-Atlantic region are moving full steam ahead with ocean planning. In 2013, the New York Department of State (DOS) finalized the Offshore Atlantic Ocean Study. Spanning from inshore waters to the edge of the continental shelf, this study compiled the most comprehensive dataset of physical, biological, geographic, and socioeconomic information available for the Atlantic Ocean waters offshore New York State.
Soundkeeper Bill Lucey at the helm of his patrol boat last year with Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and CFE/Save the Sound board member Kiki Kennedy, MD
“We are thrilled to support the Newport Bermuda Race in their efforts to educate participants on environmental protection by serving as a model for responsible sailing,” said Robyn Albritton, Sustainability Director for Sailors for the Sea. “Working with the race and its approximately 1,500 sailors competing, Sailors for the Sea will help to formalize conservation efforts and foster ocean-friendly behavior.”
Under the leadership of Save the Sound, the new Unified Water Study brings together citizen groups to consistently measure the ecological health of bays and harbors around Long Island Sound.
On March 23, President Trump signed a budget that includes historic funding for Long Island Sound programs. The Fiscal Year 2018 package includes $12 million for the Sound under the National Estuary Program, a 50 percent increase over last year’s $8 million. Fishing, shipping, tourism, and other Long Island Sound industries generate over $9 billion in economic benefits for the region every year.
Last year, the first offshore wind farm in the United States began producing power in the waters just off of Rhode Island in a historic moment for New England and for the country. Deepwater Wind’s 30-megawatt, five-turbine farm now powers more than 17,000 Rhode Island homes.
