5 ECO-FRIENDLY PEOPLE OF INTEREST
The
OCEAN
GUY
STORY AND PHOTO BY GREG GARDNER
Saving the St. Lucie Estuary from destruction is
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Mark Perry’s No. 1 mission in life.
And he uses his position as executive director
of the Florida Oceanographic Society to
help educate people on the importance of saving
our waterways from death by pollution.
“The St. Lucie Estuary is the most biodiverse ecosystem
in North America with 750 fish species and 4,300
plant and animal species,” said Perry. The 50-year Stuart
resident was smiling the day after the South Florida
Water Management District voted to purchase the U.S.
Sugar property for use in restoring the Everglades to its
original state.
“We have made a major decision to move forward
with the purchase of 180,000 acres to revive the river of
grass,” said Perry. “There’s been a lot of debate about the
$7,400 an acre. Those of us in the environmental community
see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity. We never
thought they U.S. Sugar would sell. Is it expensive?
Yes. Are we paying too much? Maybe. We could pick this
apart but the district has spent five months in negotiations.
You have to take advantage. Now is the time to
step up. Otherwise, saving the estuary is not going to
happen,” he said.
Releases from Lake Okeechobee are the major source
of distress for both the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.
The current plan calls for Lake Okeechobee water to
filter through the land to the south and into the Everglades,
taking away the need for harmful discharges that
have plagued the St. Lucie River.
“Oysters are being used as an indicator of water quality,”
Perry said. He has set up a program where 100 volunteers
with waterfront property grow oysters. Through the
efforts of Society members, there has been a push to restore
the oyster beds once found all over the St. Lucie River.
“We inoculated the reefs and we have grown 750,000
oysters,” Perry said. Adult oysters can only survive 28
days in total freshwater and juveniles only 14 days,
he said.
“The big challenge is how we can best manage the water.
1.7 billion gallons a day is being dumped into the Atlantic
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico – about the same amount of
water used by the 8 million people in South Florida.”
Perry said mandatory development rules have eased
urban runoff, but the rules are still voluntary for agriculture.
Baffle systems in the Warner and Haney Creeks
LIVING GREEN