Scott Atwell, communications manager for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the sanctuary.
Last week, a boat sank in Key Largo and spilled diesel fuel.
Atwell said, “We’d like the listeners to know that it’s kind of a one stop shop for anything that you think is a violation or an incident, which is our website. You go to it on the right hand side of the navigation pane, it says contact, says report a violation, and just about anything that you can imagine, that you would think is an incident that someone needs to know about, there’s a phone number and a place where you can contact somebody. So whether it’s a violation, which maybe you see someone fishing in a sanctuary preservation area where that’s not allowed. You could dial that in, or the environmental hazards, just like the one that we saw last week in Key Largo, whether it’s an oil spill or an algal bloom, fish kills, missing or damaged waterway markers, groundings, derelict vessels, even instances of nuisance wildlife can be reported, just about anything you can imagine, on the water, there is a phone number and a contact person. Don’t assume someone has already called. Go online, get the website under contact, report a violation, see who you might need to reach out to and make that phone call and help us do the work that we do at the sanctuary.”
There are some new NOAA divers.
Atwell said, “It’s one staff member and two volunteers. This trio recently completed the NOAA diver certification, which I tell you, is very robust. It’s way above and beyond what you would normally have to do to get a dive certification. It’s very rigorous. It includes a physical test and also a three week course, classroom course. This trio has one small step to go, but once they’re done, it will bring to 30 the number of NOAA divers that we have on staff, and of those, 33 are volunteers. The sanctuary had well over 1500 dives in the course of the last year. So it’s great that we have 30 divers on staff, and it’s great that we have some volunteers who also get out there and help with our buoy team and in other assignments as we get out of the water.”
A meeting about the water quality protection program is coming up.
Atwell said, “The drinking water that we’re concerned about here at the sanctuary, we are concerned about drinking water, but in this context, it’s about the water that’s there in the ocean and the role that it plays in so many aspects of our life here in the Florida Keys. We have a water quality protection program, which actually it was part of the designation of the sanctuary back in 1990, an actual requirement in the legislation. So we manage this water quality protection program steering committee, and we do have a meeting this morning. One of the agenda items, for instance, is an update on canal restoration, which is, of course, something that everyone of the Keys cares about. George Garrett, who’s from the city of Marathon, will be giving that that update. I’m actually going to be giving an update as well.”
There are also retirements coming up.
Atwell said, “The longest tenured member of our team is retiring at the end of the month. His name is Bill Goodwin, and he’s on our science team. And when he joined the sanctuary back in 1992 he actually joined the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, the full sanctuary that we know today had been designated, but it wasn’t totally operational. So we had the Key Largo sanctuary, which had been around since 1975 and that was the organization that he joined and as assistant manager back then, and then he transitioned into a different role and that’s called damage assessment. And so for years and years, he has been the first guy out on site if a boat grounds and damages the sea floor, he’s the one who’s on site figuring out how much damage was done. How can we repair it? Of course, a lot of times it has to do with coral, right? So repairing the coral, cementing it back in place and making sure it’s part of the ecosystem. So after 33 years, I think he has earned the right to to ride off into the sunset, and Bill will do that at the end of the year. Wish him well and thank him for all the services he has provided the Florida Keys over the last 33 years. And the other one that you were mentioning, of course, is me. I’ve been with the sanctuary for five years, and my last day will be in January. So the next time we have this call in January, I suspect you’ll be speaking to someone else. My successor has been selected, not yet publicly named. I’ll be working with her to help the transition, and look forward to her taking over and promoting all the great things that the Sanctuary does.”
The holidays are a busy time.
Atwell said, “It’s a very busy place during the holidays for a lot of reasons, it’s the one free attraction that you can enjoy in Key West but because there’s so many visitors, the locals like to take their friends and relatives to the Eco Discovery Center. The kids are off school, right? So it’s a great place to take the kids, but we do have a holiday schedule to follow, and so for planning purposes, the Eco Discovery Center will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as you might expect, and it’s also going to be closed on New Year’s Day, but otherwise, Wednesday through Saturday, it will be open during the holidays, except for those three days from 9am to 4pm Wednesday through Thursdays. The other thing I’d like to mention about the Eco Discovery Center is that it has been designated by Monroe County is one of the places that you can drop off and responsibly recycle old or broken holidays spring lights. So through January the 10th, if you have some old lights, you want to make sure they go to a place that is going to properly dispose of them. The Eco Discovery Center and the Truman Waterfront in Key West is one of the places through January the 10th that you can do that. Happy Holidays from the sanctuary to all of the listeners. Thanks to our staff, who has had a really an interesting year, I guess, to say the least, we had the furlough and a lot of challenges to overcome, but they did great work, kept their heads above water, so to speak, and have great attitudes to do the work. I want to wish all of them happy holidays, and the listeners as well, all those people who enjoy the sanctuary, these waters, the 4,500 square miles that we manage were never meant to be a museum piece. It has meant to be a place we go out and we enjoy, but we protect it, because we protect the things that we love. And so Happy Holidays to everyone who gets out on the water and enjoys the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.”
For more information, click here: https://floridakeys.noaa.gov