The Poisoned Waters of Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound are so polluted that they should be "put in the intensive care unit," according to a recent Frontline episode.
Poisoned Waters reveals that immense amounts of pollution have affected the ecosystems of both estuaries in their most basic capacities. On the surface, Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay may look pristine and beautiful — but underneath, the effects of toxic waters are visible and disturbing.
In Chesapeake Bay, the once-thriving oyster industry has practically disappeared, although the state government recently developed a plan to revitalize the oyster population. Frontline reports that the crab industry is headed towards the same fate. David Kirwar, a Chesapeake Bay crabber, says that he only catches about half of what he did 25 years ago, describing the situation as a "tragedy." Local journalist Tom Horton said that overall "you're talking about billions of dollars of economic impact with oysters, crabs, shad, striped bass; the decline in the fisheries have just been dramatic."
Frontline says pollution caused by urban sprawl, agriculture, animal farms, and industrial sites are just some of many factors that are "slowly eating away" the bay. Jay Manning, Director of Ecology for Washington State, tells Frontline, "It's about the way we all live. And unfortunately, we are all polluters. I am; you are; all of us are."
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The Sea Star & The Chesapeake Bay
The pollution that has been "caused by urban sprawl, agriculture, animal farms, and industrial sites" are indeed some factors to this cultivating issue. However, one significant detail to consider is the concept that was created by Robert Paine in 1969 about the "keystone predator." Paine created this theory while studying The Chesapeake Bay and its downfall, due to attempts made to harvest sea stars. At the time sea stars were the "keystone predators," which means that it is the top predator in a particular ecosystem. When you hunt this animal and their numbers decrease, one would be quick to assume that the population of the animals that it feeds on would decrease, however it is quite the opposite. This adds to the problem that we see today.
The sea star fed on 13 species of animals, when it was removed from its bio-network we saw a high amount of competition among the remaining species, and since resources were limited, only the strongest survived.
After the ecological extinction of the sea star, 3/5 of the food sources that we gathered for economic profit were lost. Again, this was due to the population dramatically increasing (an overabundance of prey) and thus, mass amounts of death among those creatures due to competitive exclusion, which were once maintained by the keystone predator, the sea star.
Poisoned Water
This is a fantastic, good job. Please, keep it up. Humanity shall be saved with prudent commitment and actions for environmental sustainability. This is one of the most insightful environmental videos I have watched. Most encouraging is that came out of the US. I am taken.
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