What are we doing to planet earth?

[RIJIMMY]

do you think there is any correlation with the lack of garbage cans? Most, maybe all, RI beaches no longer have trash cans. I know its no excuse, but it may make casual litter easier for people? Just a thought.

[nightprowler]

"For more than a decade, teams led by Richard Feely, a chemical oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, have traveled from Antarctica to the Aleutian Islands, taking tens of thousands of water samples to gauge how the ocean's acidity is changing.
In April, Feely returned from a cruise to the North Pacific, where he took pH measurements at locations the team first sampled in 1991. This time, Feely's group found that the average pH in surface waters had dropped an additional 0.025 units in 15 years -- a relatively large change for such a short time."

I was taking the water samples for Dr. Feely and other researchers on the southern leg of this cruise.....the information gathered is pretty impressive and convincing, we have essentially destroyed our planet and the chances of restoring it are slim.
great post fisheye, i hope more people are conservation minded and take actions into their own hands. unfortunately i don't see it happening. rhode island is a good start, but with the trash and destruction inland its a long road ahead.
we need to each do our part, and try to pass on to the next generation. but will a small group of fishermen help in the long run?

[NIB]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

do you think there is any correlation with the lack of garbage cans? Most, maybe all, RI beaches no longer have trash cans. I know its no excuse, but it may make casual litter easier for people? Just a thought.

Something I am noticing more of.Convience stores,Fast food lots,gas stations, garbage cans are dissapearing.I guess with the increase of hauling rates nobody wants to be responsible for refuse anymore.So it gets tossed an goes down a drain----That leads to the ocean.

[gone fishin]

All that has been said is true, even after the clubs have their conservation dates and clean up the beaches. I for one am constantly amazed at the trash picked up on the beaches the MBBA cleans every spring. Dumpsters overflowing! Maybe it would help if we as fisherman or conservationists pick up some trash everytime we leave the beach. After all I am sure that all who are reading this do follow carry in and carry out!

Regarding the lobsta traps, I think they should be hauled up to the dunes or high banks and allow motha nature to rebuild the sand areas around them. Leaving them in place simply creates a hazard. Anyone ever stumble over one in the dark in waist high water? Frightening at the least. I don't think I have ever seen anyone claim a trap in my many years on the beach.

[ronfish]

Originally Posted by NIB

Something I am noticing more of.Convience stores,Fast food lots,gas stations, garbage cans are dissapearing.I guess with the increase of hauling rates nobody wants to be responsible for refuse anymore.So it gets tossed an goes down a drain----That leads to the ocean.

You're partly correct about the increased hauling costs, but many places are tired of paying to haul trash that John Q Public throws into the business' trash container. It happens more than you think. Ron

[MotoXcowboy]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

do you think there is any correlation with the lack of garbage cans? Most, maybe all, RI beaches no longer have trash cans. I know its no excuse, but it may make casual litter easier for people? Just a thought.

I do..but then again....one spot I fish every once in a while, has a huge dumpster no more than 50ft away from the shoreline which is constantly littered with empty squid boxes, plastic bags, diapers, monofilament and other random stupid chit. ignorant lazy mtfers! plain and simple

[Surfcastinglife]

everytime i go fishin with my dad we bring along one of those large garbage bags you use for the yard barrels. fill it up each time and when we go back the trash situation is worse then before....those who do this aren't people they are savages. and on the walk back from the breakwater there are 3-4 trash cans

people suck.

[MotoXcowboy]

has anyone seen the Discovery Channel "Global Warming" show Tom Brokaw did? Some downright scary facts in there. I highly recommend you watch the next re-run.

The Apocalypse is coming. They say if we keep living (humans) the way we do that by 21-2200 half of all species will be wiped out, what will remain will be insects..which will carry diseases, which will probably wipe out whatever is left. Not to mention all the inevitable storms and wars over hunger, farm land..ect...scary F#$%^&*( S#$%

We need to go back to 2-300 yrs ago when everthing was powered by horses and tall ships ect...that means computers and internet gotta go too..

but we all know this is never gonna happen..i think its just gonna get worse and worse and worse and.....

[Raider Ronnie]

[QUOTE=MotoXcowboy]has anyone seen the Discovery Channel "Global Warming" show Tom Brokaw did? Some downright scary facts in there. I highly recommend you watch the next re-run.


I've seen it a few times.
Seems like we are seing more & more warmer water species of fish up my way, that it won't be too many years till we have albies and bonito Quincy bay!
Maybe when my 2 boys are my age, we might be fishing for marlin in Boston harbor !!!

[justplugit]

The thing that will help cleaning up the litter is education. Back in the early 60s they had the "litter bug" TV, school and magazine campaign,which over time really worked. People were scorned if they littered.

Looks like there needs to be some re-education, but i don't think most people now a days would really care if they were scorned.

[CANAL RAT]

[QUOTE=Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by MotoXcowboy

has anyone seen the Discovery Channel "Global Warming" show Tom Brokaw did? Some downright scary facts in there. I highly recommend you watch the next re-run.


I've seen it a few times.
Seems like we are seing more & more warmer water species of fish up my way, that it won't be too many years till we have albies and bonito Quincy bay!
Maybe when my 2 boys are my age, we might be fishing for marlin in Boston harbor !!!

it really depends on how close the gulf stream is to the coast or how far warm water fingers shoot off of the stream. when my grandpa( 74yrs old) was a kid he remembers a guy catching a tarpon in p-town so Exotics
are nothing new.

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

do you think there is any correlation with the lack of garbage cans? Most, maybe all, RI beaches no longer have trash cans. I know its no excuse, but it may make casual litter easier for people? Just a thought.

Absolutely, even at the state beaches where most folks do try and dispose of their garbage properly. They even have food concessions there and no place to dispose of the napkins/wrappers/bottles etc. RI definately went down the wrong track in removing all of those trash containers.

[CANAL RAT]

I m kind of ashamed of my generation because nobody loves the outdoors and nature anymore ,we are just of bunch of driggies and drunks who play videos games. i dont think these littler bugs have ever heard of putting trash in there pockets and walking off the beach and throwing it away in a container or taking it home.

im in my seinor year of high school and only have 3 friends who love the outdoors like me,its sad im scared what the future leaders of this country will be like. we cant keep putting all this junk into the air and expect nothing bad to happen. we have the technogly to have clean energy but nobody wants to apply it and stand up to the big polluting oil companys.

[Bill L]

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

[Raven]

toonoc has been invaded by a body snatcher....and is no longer human...pass the word

[Mr. Sandman]

I hate litter of anykind.

There is just NO excuse to litter, trash can or not IMO. Take it with you. Yes there should be more cans and the cans need to be emptied on a regular basis but you need to not litter ever.
Trash in the water is an outright sin. I hate seeing a plastic bag in the water.

As for run off, and nitrite build up has a big impact on marine life, it is time to mandate (regardless of cost) that water front homes be on a sewer systems. If you want to play you have to pay. It is navie to think that the dump you just took is not going to find its way into the water when your septic system leaching field is feet from the waters edge. Moreover, towns should never allow street run off to go directly into the water, there needs to be some filtering system between the runoff and the sea. In a heavy rain the sh*t that comes out of those pipes is foul.

The reason that most of the east coast bay scallop population has declinded and disappeard in some areas, is directly related to water quality. One bad rainstorm and you can be screwed for years. (Bay scallops are very water quality sensitve)

Lets talk eel grass. While you may not like it on your prop it is the key element to a healthy bay, if you treat the water poorly and wipe out eel grass, the entire microcosim of creatures up the food chanin suffer.

Also, even if you don't flush your head, but take or clean a shower on board, and you are in a sensitive place(s) (like Katama Bay) a single cup of clorox bleach in the water is actually worse then a lot of people flushing poop into the water. All large boats should have "gray-water" tanks discharge them way offshore or in designated sites.

IMO the keys are:

1) don't litter at all
2) put sewer systems in on all waterfront homes
3) Stop backfilling our marshlands
4) no direct street runoff
5) re-establish eel grass in bays


If we did this I thin we would be a hell of a lot better off. But it will not be cheap.

[Mr. Sandman]

I hate litter of anykind.

There is just NO excuse to litter, trash can or not IMO. Take it with you. Yes there should be more cans and the cans need to be emptied on a regular basis but you need to not litter ever.
Trash in the water is an outright sin. I hate seeing a plastic bag in the water.

As for run off, and nitrite build up has a big impact on marine life, it is time to mandate (regardless of cost) that water front homes be on a sewer systems. If you want to play you have to pay. It is navie to think that the dump you just took is not going to find its way into the water when your septic system leaching field is feet from the waters edge. Moreover, towns should never allow street run off to go directly into the water, there needs to be some filtering system between the runoff and the sea. In a heavy rain the sh*t that comes out of those pipes is foul.

The reason that most of the east coast bay scallop population has declinded and disappeard in some areas, is directly related to water quality. One bad rainstorm and you can be screwed for years. (Bay scallops are very water quality sensitve)

Lets talk eel grass. While you may not like it on your prop it is the key element to a healthy bay, if you treat the water poorly and wipe out eel grass, the entire microcosim of creatures up the food chanin suffer.

Also, even if you don't flush your head, but take or clean a shower on board, and you are in a sensitive place(s) (like Katama Bay) a single cup of clorox bleach in the water is actually worse then a lot of people flushing poop into the water. All large boats should have "gray-water" tanks discharge them way offshore or in designated sites.

IMO the keys are:

1) don't litter at all
2) put sewer systems in on all waterfront homes
3) Stop backfilling our marshlands
4) no direct street runoff
5) re-establish eel grass in bays


If we did this I thin we would be a hell of a lot better off. But it will not be cheap.

[JohnR]

Rhode Island has initiatives to (slowly) bring along waterfront communities to the sewer system though my understanding is that they don't have the overall capacity to hook everyone up.

There are Eelgrass restoration projects happening but I don't think it was a lot and I'm not sure how successful

And unless you have connections to senior politicians or CRMC people then you will be unlikely to backfill a marsh - though I'm sure greasing the right palms and connections will get you there

[Skitterpop]

Originally Posted by toonoc

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

Viral? Maybe fungal. Many moons ago on a vision quest in the mountains I had a similar revelation

We are a flesh eating bacteria to this planet.