[Coral-List] Bring back the Gulf
Steve Mussman
sealab at earthlink.net
Sat Aug 23 12:06:39 EDT 2014
Come on Gene, talk about false equivalency. Are you really attempting to
compare the potential hazards and environmental impacts of a handful of old
lighthouses to the thousands of offshore oil rigs scattered throughout the
GOM? One would have to be more than flawed and half-baked to buy into that
line of reasoning.
-----Original Message-----
>From: Eugene Shinn
>Sent: Aug 22, 2014 5:35 PM
>To: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov"
>Subject: [Coral-List] Bring back the Gulf
>
>Before attending an offshore drilling debate/hearing in Key West over
>30 years ago I to took my friend (Dr. Jim Ray) diving at Looe Key reef.
>On the way out Jim pointed to the distance and said, "what is that." I
>replied that it was American Shoal lighthouse. He replied, "I didn't
>think you had any drill rigs down here." His comment struck a nerve,
>especially later that evening when a lady testifying against offshore
>drilling proudly announced that her grandfather was in charge of
>constructing the iron lighthouses on Florida reefs. When Jim testified
>in favor of offshore drilling he was of course roundly booed and hissed.
>Later I read about how lighthouses are constructed and also a report
>about the need for lighthouses to protect ships and cargoes from coral
>reefs.The later report also stimulated the beginning of coral reef
>research. The author was geologist Alexander Agassiz reporting his
>observations to the head of the lighthouse service.
> I read how reef lighthouses were constructed and that it required
>scarifying and flattening the reef to allow access of large barges and
>heavy equipment needed to drive iron lighthouse legs into the reef.
>After reading this material I concluded we are fortunate that
>installation of offshore oil rigs in the muddy Gulf of Mexico bottom is
>far less damaging than installation of a lighthouse on a coral reef. In
>retrospect it seems ironic that oil rigs are considered ugly and
>damaging to the environment while rusty lighthouses are seen as cultural
>icons. If we really need to remove iron from the ocean why not remove
>these antiquated iron lighthouses from the relatively more sensitive
>coral reef environments? GPS has made them obsolete and most in the Keys
>are no longer functioning. They are being replaced with smaller
>automatic light towers. Should we not remove all that rusty idle iron
>along with the tons of old batteries and other junk that litters the
>surrounding area? If one thinks rig removal will bring back the Gulf
>then maybe lighthouse removal will bring back the coral reefs? Or is
>that just being too logical. Maybe Jimmy Buffet's Fruit Cakes Song said
>it all. "We are flawed individuals, The cosmic baker took us out of the
>oven too soon." Gene
>
>--
>
>
>No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
>------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
>E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
>University of South Florida
>College of Marine Science Room 221A
>140 Seventh Avenue South
>St. Petersburg, FL 33701
>
>Tel 727 553-1158
>---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
>
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