The state Department of Natural Resources is currently looking at a proposal to expand aquaculture in Maryland’s coastal bays. Aquaculture, meaning the “farming” of water organisms (in this case, mostly shellfish), is quite the hot topic lately. A lot of people are concerned that its environmental impact outweighs the possible benefits to the economy and local culture, hence the ongoing investigation by DNR.

One big advantage of aquaculture in the bays would be the chance to preserve the area’s unique “waterman” way of life. I’ve blogged here before, and will in the future, about the struggle to keep the tradition alive without further harming the Bay ecosystem. It’s a constant effort to balance the needs of the human community with the sustainability of the environment that makes our way of life possible in the first place. Controlled, sustainable aquaculture may be an answer to that puzzle. Maybe if we can “farm” crabs, clams and other local delicacies in a relatively low-impact way, it will become possible to maintain the industry without eventually running out of crabs, clams or other species.

To be honest, I’m not a scientist (just an amateur naturalist like my hero Gerald Durrell), and a lot of the controversy about aquaculture goes over my head. I’m working on understanding the science and the surrounding issues, though. Please keep an eye out for updates as I explain what’s being proposed, what the options are, and how the pros and cons weigh in.

I’ve blogged earlier about the issue of horse population control on Assateague island. It’s a tricky situation — overpopulation can be a huge problem for a small ecosystem like Assateague, but at the same time, the kind of population-control methods that are often used on animals like deer are not really applicable to the horses, who are a beloved local symbol as well as a major tourist attraction. Not that I’m really fond of the, er, direct approach, but there’s a big difference between upsetting a few people like me and possibly disrupting a huge tourist market and alienating just about everyone who loves Assateague.

So what to do? Well, so far the contraceptive-distribution (I know what you’re picturing in your head, and you can cut it out!) plan seems to be working alright, and some say it should be continued the way it is. Others are concerned that the population is still too high, though. The three proposed plans for further reducing the population are to remove a certain number of horses from the island and place them in mainland sanctuaries or shelters, to increase the use of contraceptives, or a combination of both.

Those who are responsible for the horse population have an awful lot of responsibility on their shoulders, and I don’t envy them the job. Honestly, I think that the contraceptive distribution is a good plan — it keeps the population down without the trauma of separating horses from their herd. But I’m not the expert, and I’m willing to give a lot of credit to those who are working to balance the well-being of the horses with that of the local environment as a whole.

I am super excited to hear that Ocean City may soon have its own off-shore “wind park,” or windmill farm. The idea was first proposed by the New Jersey-based development group Bluewater Wind, and has been discussed with the city council as well as the state, including governor Martin O’Mally. They’re currently working on long-term plans to see how wind power would effect the area within the next few decades, including its effects both on business and on the local wildlife and ecosystems. While the power might be more expensive at first, experts are saying that in the long run wind power is going to save a lot of money compared to conventional energy.

It’s great to see that Ocean City is going to become a home of alternative energy. Wind power isn’t perfect, but it’s a huge step away from all of the problems caused by oil dependency, which seem to be impacting our lives more and more in the last couple of years.

Ocean City Today story: http://oceancitytoday.net/HOME/tabid/36/ctl/Detail/mid/943/xmid/3225/xmfid/7/Default.aspx

Cleanpowernow.org story: http://cleanpowernow.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=659

So I took my mom with me to Ocean City this weekend. She’s the primary source of my amateur-naturalist tendencies, the sort of mom who, when you come in yelling that you saw a weird bug, asks you do describe it and finds it in the “Field Guide to Insects” for you. She’s also a better spotter than me, even with bifocals:

Just after crossing the bridge over the Chesapeake: “Oh… are those the peregrine falcons you were talking about?”

Along route 50: “wait, what is that… a badger?”

And my favorite, while enjoying the view from the hotel bar: “Bunny! Bunny!” Followed by maybe twenty minutes of the two of us raptly watching a cottontail rabbit scurry around in the sea grass.

This is how you get to be a Wildlife Blogger, people: you learn from the best.

and does not freak out. Why would anyone expect me to freak out? Seriously, just because they have baby red wolf cubs at the Salisbury zoo, and just because the cubs are now old enough, at a little over a month, to walk around their enclosure on their own, and just because Delmarva Now posted pictures of them….

OH MY GOODNESS WHO IS A FLUFFY LEETLE WOLF PUPPY? YOU ARE! OH YES YOU ARE! I WANT TO NIBBLE THEIR LITTLE EARSES!

The five pups are super adorable, but they are also part of a serious effort to rehabilitate a species that is now very endangered in the US. Efforts to reintroduce the red wolf, Canis rufus, to the American Southeast are centered in North Carolina, but zoos around the country are working on breeding the wolves in captivity. The Salisbury pups are, of course, great news for those who want to see the wolf population restored. Unfortunately, conservationists have their work cut out for them thanks to excessive hunting and predator control by those who see wolves as a threat to livestock — which, of course, they wouldn’t be if it weren’t for rampant habitat destruction. Conservationists believe that we can create a nation where native wild species live alongside agriculture and development with less conflict. Programs like Salisbury’s are helping to prepare us to live in that future.

An adult red wolf, image courtesy of wikipedia.

But Ocean City Today ran a truly adorable photo of a black racer snaksqueezing between two planks of the Assateague boardwalk, apparently trying to speed up the process of shedding his skin. Kind of makes me wonder if shedding feels itchy, like he’s just trying to get at that one spot he can’t reach.

Photo by Nancy Powell, courtesy of Ocean City Today.

I will admit that this article (http://delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/NEWS01/805290397) in Delmarva Now made me a little bit emotional. As well as warning you that if you’re a native Marylander, you’ll probably have the same reaction. I am glad to see action being taken to preserve the bay for the long-term, and I really support Governor O’Malley in his optimism about the bay’s chances for recovery. But still, hearing that the president of the Maryland Waterman’s Association “has been telling his members to lobby for federal disaster funds and look for a part-time job on the side”? That really brings home just how bad things are for the people of the bay these days.

Meanwhile, at least things have been going well for bay conservation funding. Remember back in March, when we were worried that the state might cut funding for Bay cleanup projects by 50%? Since the passage of the Farm Bill this month, it looks like we’re going to be receiving plenty of federal aid to help us out of that jam. Count me among those praying that the environmental issues can be mitigated without driving people out of the Eastern Shore’s beloved fishing culture.

Here at oceancity.com we’re working on a survey of local businesses, asking questions about what they’re doing to convert their companies to a more “green” (environmentally friendly) mode of operations. We want to know who’s using energy-saver lightbulbs, who’s cut down on air conditioning, and who’s switching to natural cleaning products. Not all the data is in yet, but I’m really excited about the project. Here in Ocean City we get so much enjoyment out of our local environment, and I think it’s really important to give back and try to make a difference in how we interact with the planet. This information will helpfully help tourists and locals make informed decisions about where to spend their vacation money to get the most environmental bang for their buck.

So keep checking oceancity.com, because we’re planning to have a writeup of the results go online this week! Of course, you should always be checking the site, because we have lots of great new content all the time, plus *my* blog posts. But just in case, make a note to check it out. Personally, I’d love it if I could find this kind of information for every city I visit!

Delmarva Now reports that Ocean City is doing a great job recovering from the recent Noreaster that swept the peninsula unexpectedly. What beach was lost to erosion, caused by the high winds, has already been replenished, and the boardwalk has been cleared of windblown sand.

How about this crazy weather, though? It’s been hot, cold, hot, cold, randomly stormy way before storm season is supposed to start… and still people are saying that climate change is a myth. I tell you, for a mythical being, that storm sure left a lot of mess to clean up!

I know I say this a lot, but this is like the coolest thing ever. That’s the homepage for the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative, or MARI, a plan to help nourish fish and other sea life populations off the Maryland coast by creating artificial reefs. Artificial reefs work by forming a structure for sea plants and animals to grow on in places where natural reefs have been depleted. Eventually, a natural structure forms around the artificial reef, so it’s kind of like giving fish and plants their own hotel rooms to stay in while their new homes are being built!

But what’s extra cool about the project is the kind of material that they’re using to make the reefs. The reefs are going to be made out of urban debris donated by cities including Washington, DC, which donated parts of the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and NYC, which is donating old abandoned subway cars to the effort. Seriously, how great is it that Ocean City fish are going to be making their homes in old NY subway cars? That’s pretty awesome, if you ask me.

Anyway, so I’ve been reading up on artificial reefs on the very informative wiki page, and it seems like they have pluses and minuses, and there have been some kind of unpleasant incidents in the past where tires and other reef parts have gotten loose. It seems like a pretty complicated issue. I’m just hoping that this works out well for the animal populations off the coast that could be doing a lot better than they have been lately.