Help Stop Toxic Harmful Algae in Florida to Save Dolphins

60,000 people ask commissioners to pass a fertilizer ordinance

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — County Commissioners last week got another reminder about the need to do more to protect the Indian River Lagoon when they were presented with a petition signed by 60,000 people in Indian River County, across the state of Florida, around the country and in many nations throughout the world asking them to pass a fertilizer regulation ordinance to reduce the flow of deadly chemicals into the estuary.

"The Indian River Lagoon has the greatest variety of wildlife of any body of water in the country," says Rob Moir, the renowned environmentalist who presented the neatly-bound  750-page "Petition to Protect Dolphins from Lawn Nitrogen Pollution" to the commission.

Solari continued to lead opposition to a county ordinance, saying fertilizer regulation would be ineffective and undermine human liberty.

When a group of middle school children researched the issue and asked the commission to pass an ordinance banning phosphorous fertilizer, Solari warned them against starting down the path to totalitarianism.

"Hopefully there comes a time when the commissioners feel there are enough constituents and tourists who want the lagoon protected that they will take effective action," says Moir.

Rob on Vero Beach in Indian River Lagoon with slime

I am standing beside Indian River Lagoon with my polar fleece jacket zipped up, holding your 60,000 signatures and comments. The Lagoon straddles two climates: tropical and temperate.  Guess which portion I'm standing in. Different animals and plants live in different climates.  Two biomes combined into one Board results in the most diverse estuary in North America.  

Death in these waters results when there is too much nitrogen flowing into the Lagoon.  A totally unnecessary source of pollution is the summer fertilizing of lawns precisely when red tides and harmful algal bloom are most hungry for nutrients (nitrogen).  We are asking lawn owners to do nothing less than what golf courses are already doing.  We can have green lawns of golf course quality and clean water by taking 3 steps:

1.  Respect the setbacks or natural buffer of ten feet from water.

2.  Use at least 50% slow release timed nitrogen and fertilize in the spring.

3.  Do not spread fertilizer June 1 to Sept 30. You may instead use grass clippings.

I am asking you to please make a donation to ORI's campaign to Protect Florida Dolphins from Nitrogen Pollution.  Your support enables us to get the word out to more Florida communities, build coalitions, and work with County Commissioners to save the dolphins.  

Recently Brevard County voted down a responsible lawn care ordinance.  We now have one year to raise more signers, print bigger binders and build stronger coalitions.  Please contribute, dolphins and turtles will benefit.  Sport fishing will also benefit when the die-off of Seagrasses is reversed and fish nurseries restored.  

Here is the video:

I am writing to thank the seventeen individuals who donated to our save the dolphins of Indian River Lagoon Florida campaign. Your thoughtful support has raised sufficient funds so that I may go to Florida early next week to meet with colleagues and experts. The problem we are challenged to solve –nitrogen pollution of the ocean- is so complex and fraught with misinformation shrapnel put up by the industry that it takes a pride of individuals to save a dolphin and to save an ecosystem of unsurpassed wildlife diversity. Fortunately there are a good number of excellent experts and advocates in the communities of Indian River Lagoon.

Leesa Souto, Ph.D. is first on my list because she recently became Executive Director of the Marine Resources Council (MRC). MRC has been combining good science with local volunteers to restore the Indian River Lagoon for 27 years. With ten scientists and over 800 volunteers who are active every week, MRC restores over eight million square feet of fish habitat and plants over fifty thousand native plants every year. MRC works to create a consensus with the local community and businesses and has stopped the discharge of billions of gallons of sewage and industrial wastewater into the Lagoon and raised millions of dollars to preserve sensitive fish nursery habitats.

Leesa comes to the Marine Resources Council with a Ph.D. in stormwater management and pollution abatement from the University of Central Florida. Leesa was Director of Public Education at the University of Central Florida Stormwater Management Academy and served on the Brevard County Natural Resources Council. Last summer fewer dolphins died in Indian River Lagoon. However much of the seagrass, especially in Brevard County, died during the hot sunny summer months. Loss of the base of the lagoon's food pyramid has got everyone concerned and researchers at the Marine Resources Council are looking for answers to perplexing questions that relate back to surface run-off and pollution.

As of September 2012, Marty Baum is the Indian Riverkeeper. Marty is deeply connected to Indian River lagoon. Marty writes: "My family has been living along its shores, trading and fishing upon its waters since 1866. The Indian River gives to us all. The estimated annual economic value of the Indian River lagoon is $3,725,900,000. That is a staggering economic impact that affects both the communities and economies from Titusville all the way down to Jupiter. Everyone along Indian River lagoon is directly dependant upon the health and vigor of the ecosystem. We must demand clean water. Every single one of us via our property values, wages, tax bases, services, recreation or our direct livelihoods, benefits from our association with the lagoon. Essentially, everything about our way of life here is enhanced and given greater value due to the influence of the Indian River lagoon."

I will also meet with Captain Nan Beaver of Sunshine Wildlife in Stuart. Capt Nan first introduced me to the wonders of Indian River wildlife taking me out on her education boat into the lagoon. A certified Coastal Master Naturalist by Florida Atlantic University, Nan has been directing on-water education programs since 2000 on the natural history of bottlenose dolphins, manatees, turtles, wood storks, ibises and magnificent frigate birds of the Indian River Lagoon. You may listen to my conversation with Nan at http://www.oceanriver.org/Nan36.php

Your donation to the Ocean River Institute makes it possible for me to listen and learn from the people of this place. Your support enables ORI to get their words out, "surface truth" what is happening to Indian River Lagoon and what we may do to improve conditions for wildlife and people, and to restore clean waters by stopping nitrogen pollution. Thank you for helping out.

"I am so grateful for ORI's efforts to clean up our coasts and to restore healthy oceans. Living on Tampa Bay where I regularly see the dolphins, I am that much aware of what a terrible loss if there weren't organizations to advocate for them".
- Carol from St. Petersburg, FL, on 12/7/12

For people like Carol to observe healthy dolphins and experience clean beaches are quality of life issues. For most of us including me, just knowing dolphins are swimming free unencumbered by disease and stress is reassuring. Your contribution to save dolphins from nitrogen pollution will benefit us all. I believe there will come a tipping point when enough counties practice responsible stewardship that saves lawn-owners time and money, at that fulcrum point all Florida counties will follow like crocuses blooming in the spring.

I am writing to ask you to reach into your pocket to help us save dolphins, clean water and see beaches without algal slime in Florida's Indian River Lagoon. Let me explain why $10 will go far to achieve these objectives. We are asking of lawn-owners to save money by fertilizing at the same times that agricultural businesses and golf courses fertilize – not during the summer months when heavy rains wash it all into the waterways. Any dollars lost by fertilizer companies are dollars saved in the pockets of lawn owners.

We'll gather in Stuart, Florida, on January 29th for ORI's annual dinner honoring educational and advocacy programming in Indian River Lagoon. Last year we honored a Martin County Commissioner as a blue green hero for enacting responsible stewardship regulations during the summer months. Martin County Commissioners approved unanimously three steps to reduce the nitrogen pollution killing dolphins. First is respect the setback from waterways and do not fertilize within that boundary area. Second, use at least 50% slow release nitrogen. Third take a holiday from spreading fertilizer on healthy lawns June 1 to Sept 30.

Please take a moment and give $10, the value of one bill with Hamilton on it. Help us save suffering marine life and to reduce harmful algal blooms. Thank you for joining with us in this noble endeavor. Please also spread the word and invite others to join with us by signing the petition.