Man and His Environment

    Every year millions of people flock to the sandy beaches of Florida in hopes of surf, sun and fun.  The things that one can do at the beach are almost unlimited: picnicking, touring the ocean on a motor boat, fishing, snorkeling, or just playing games on the beach. Amidst all the fun it is hard to think about the effects this has on the environment.  Even the simplest picnic is problematic to the ecosystem; there is almost always litter left behind, either accidentally or purposely.  With a high gust of wind a sandwich bag could fall into the water and pose a threat to wildlife.  Eighty percent of all marine pollution comes from human activities on land.  According to Scholastic Update, five major sources of ocean pollution are: runoff from land 44%, air pollution 33%, shipping 12%, dumping wastes 10%, offshore oil production 1%.

    A prime example of this would be human impact on the loggerhead sea turtle which may mistake a sandwich bag for a jellyfish, one of their primary sources of food, and try to eat it.  Upon ingestion, however, the turtle may choke and die.  The mere presence of all the people found on the beach provides another problem for the turtle.  In reproduction the sea turtle lays it's eggs deep in the sand of the beach, however with all the millions of people walking on the beach, a nest of eggs is likely to be destroyed either by a person walking by or an umbrella pole placed into the sand.  Another threat to the sea turtle is the bright lights from lamp poles and buildings.  When the new turtles hatch at night they mistake the bright lights for the moon and head away from the water towards the city.  In this case death is inevitable; in order for the sea turtles to survive they must make it to the water before the gulls can have them for a meal.

    In 1968 Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Program which helps people pay for damages caused by wind and water.  This allowed more people to move closer to the coast and take up residence rather than just visiting for a few weeks out of the year.  Due to the massive influx of people wanting beach front property, miles of beach are being destroyed and billions of dollars are spent to rebuild the homes that are destroyed every year due to hurricanes and floods.  The Clean Water Act and Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act were passed in 1972, regulating the discharge and dumping of wastes into marine waters, putting limits on certain kinds of pollutants, and set standards for sewage treatment.  The clean water act of 1969 led to the improvement in 60% of American rivers lakes and coastlines

    In undisturbed conditions Southern Florida would mostly be wetlands but because of the demand for land most of the wetlands have been drained with the use of canals and other areas filled in with dirt.  The use of canals alters the ecosystem in so many ways.  An apparent one is the prevention of water that overflows from Lake Okeechobe southward into the Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico; the water is redirected towards the cities for use by those who live there.  Construction of canals began in 1882 with the Caloosahatchee Canal which altered the the water levels in the Everglades by ten feet.  There are four main canals in Southern Florida; Miami, Northnew River, Hillsborough, and West Palm Beach.  The entire southern rim of Lake Okeechobee was diked making the canals the only way for water to travel.  All the canals are fitted with gates to control the flow of water out of Lake Okeechobee.  The lack of water in the Everglades causes many species of animals to find other habitats to live and breed and in some cases the lack of wetlands can cause extinction.  Today there are several water conservation areas (WCAs) with huge pump stations that move water into or out of the WCAs, bringing water back to the Everglades during times of drought.

     While in Florida many people try to explore another aspect of the world--life under water.  Whether you are swimming, snorkeling, or for the more adventurous SCUBA diving, there are plenty of opportunities to see how vast man's effect has been on the environment as a whole.  If one were to snorkel at John PenneKamp Coral Reef State Park one would find in several places old lobster traps, ship wrecks, and lots of wood planks.  There are several sites off the coast of Florida where one can find sunken ships. Some of these ships are there as a result of accidents but a large portion of these ships are placed there to help build coral reefs.  In parks like John PenneKamp one would be informed that the coral reefs you are about to visit are protected and it is illegal to touch or stand on the coral.  There is very good reason for this; the coral is made up of tiny organisms called polyps which are very sensitive to the oils on human skin and when touched the polyps in that area die.  Due to these oils the polyps defense mechanisms take effect and produce a large amount of mucus which attracts hordes of other bacteria that normally do not live on the mucus.  This other bacteria engulfs the mucus and polyps and eats everything.  However the effect does not stop there.   It also reduces the reproduction capabilities of the surrounding polyps making recolonization difficult.

   Every year thousands of people pay money to be taken through different parts of Florida by way of boat tours.  Many of these tours are a threat to the ecosystems and the wild life.  For instance, air boats are designed to cut across the marshes; this causes the sawgrass to die and thus changes the course of water flow that would normally be determined by alligator activities.  Under natural conditions alligators would swim from their nest to other locations in search of food during which they would wear down the grass, creating paths that will control where the water goes and how fast the water travels.  Many tourists want to see the aquatic animal life and so take boat tours such as the glass bottom boat tours which can pose a small threat to the ecosystem.  If one were to look carefully at the back end of one of these boats while it is docked one would notice oil leaking out of the engine, which is highly toxic to any organism that ingests it.  The most environmentally friendly type of boat tour is via canoe.  There is no motor involved, so the canoe can only go as fast as your arms can take you.  Without the motor there are no propellers so manatee and other aquatic life are less likely to get injured.

    Propellers on motor boats are a big threat to manatee.  Manatee can not hear low frequency noises and move at a very slow pace.  Because of this, manatee can not hear the boats coming ahead of time nor can they move fast enough to get out of the way.  Many manatee die from propellers hitting them but others survive with huge gashes on their backs.  Manatee are endangered and there have been many efforts to save the manatee; organizations such as Walt Disney World are working to track manatee migration and  have made a device that would alert boaters that a manatee was in the area.  This device would be attached around the tail of the manatee by a rubber loop (this in no way was permanently attached to the manatee), coming off the loop is a rather long cable which is attached to it a long plastic buoy like object.  The purpose of this device was to float above the manatee and as the manatee came closer to the surface of the water the buoy would pop up before the manatee surfaced for air and would warn boaters to avoid that area.  Also when the buoy surfaced it had a tracking device in it that would send signals to a satellite which would then be transmitted back to a computer.  Unfortunately this device was not taken seriously by boaters and a new device is in the works.  This new device is a whistle on the propellers of the boat, it has a high enough frequency that a manatee should hear it and is currently being tested in Florida.

    The environment is a very fragile system and man has the biggest effect on it.  There is a saying that states the Earth is something we are borrowing from our children.  This is very true, for what we do with the environment today effects the environment tomorrow.  There are those that think we as a whole are doing nothing wrong to the environment and that the pollution and the extinction of animals is all a cycle of life and everything is balanced.  This however can clearly be seen as an untruth for there were unspoiled places on this earth at many different points in time but this all changed when man thought that he could make it better for himself.