Human Activities Threaten Resource-Rich Casco Bay
The Casco Bay watershed is prime real estate. It’s home to a quarter of Maine’s total population, houses 42 of its fastest-growing communities, accounts for a major slice of Maine commerce, and is a premier recreational destination for millions of tourists each year. But what price progress? What does a larger human “footprint” mean for marine and other wildlife that rely on the Bay and its watershed for survival?
Dr. Curtis Bohlen, director of the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, is the guest speaker at MERI’s Fall 2011 Ocean Environment Lecture Series on Thursday, November 17, in Blue Hill. His lecture, Looking Uphill: A Casco Bay Perspective on the Impact of Human Activities on the Coastal Environment, will address the trends along the Maine coast that concern him as urban growth accelerates. Bohlen’s lecture begins at 7 p.m., preceded by a reception at 6 p.m. honoring the speaker. All lectures in the series are free and open to the public.
In 2010, the Partnership released its 5-year State of the Bay report on the condition of Casco Bay. Based on 18 environmental indicators, Bohlen sees some troubling trends. He cautions that “issues of emerging concern – climate change, invasive species, nutrient pollution and emerging contaminants” – are showing up in coastal monitoring today.
Human activities contribute to these trends:
We’re driving more cars and building more roads—climate-changing carbon dioxide from automobile traffic settles in the ocean causing acidification that dissolves larval clams in acid mud and stunts the ability of shellfish to grow shells that protect them from predators.
We’re extending urban sprawl into the countryside—suburbanization is destroying wildlife habitats and forested lands; storm runoff from surfaced areas discharge pollutants into our streams, rivers and bays.
We’re using more chemicals around the house—chemicals and pharmaceutical byproducts go down the drain with every rinse; herbicides and insecticides in lawns and gardens leach into soils and waterways, eventually ending up in coastal sediments and the ocean.
Downstream from all these activities, Maine’s coastal and marine environment is placed at risk. Plant and marine invasive species brought into Casco Bay from ships and boats smother shellfish beds and threaten to displace native plant and marine species. And, as indicated in MERI research data, the persistent toxic chemicals that saturate our household goods are ending up in the tissues of marine mammals and in the fish we pull from our waters – endangering not only our food supply but our health as well.
The ongoing research in Casco Bay is instructive for the future of Blue Hill Bay and its watershed because similar trends may be on the horizon. As Bohlen points out, in the long-term, changing our behaviors is still the only way we will reverse these trends.
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