WEBVTT 00:00:00.858 --> 00:00:02.938 So I've had the great privilege 00:00:02.938 --> 00:00:05.378 of traveling to some incredible places, 00:00:05.378 --> 00:00:09.636 photographing these distant landscapes and remote cultures 00:00:09.636 --> 00:00:11.086 all over the world. 00:00:11.086 --> 00:00:12.520 I love my job. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:12.520 --> 00:00:15.109 But people think it's this string of epiphanies 00:00:15.109 --> 00:00:17.647 and sunrises and rainbows. 00:00:17.647 --> 00:00:18.749 When in reality, 00:00:18.749 --> 00:00:20.435 it looks more something like this. 00:00:20.435 --> 00:00:21.656 (Laughter) 00:00:21.656 --> 00:00:23.769 This is my office. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:23.769 --> 00:00:26.328 We can't afford the fanciest places to stay at night, 00:00:26.328 --> 00:00:29.821 so we tend to sleep a lot outdoors, 00:00:29.821 --> 00:00:31.109 as long as we can stay dry, 00:00:31.109 --> 00:00:32.443 that's a bonus. 00:00:32.443 --> 00:00:34.872 We also can't afford the fanciest restaurants. 00:00:34.872 --> 00:00:38.466 So we tend to eat whatever's on the local menu. 00:00:38.466 --> 00:00:41.507 And if you're in the Ecuadorian Paramo, 00:00:41.507 --> 00:00:44.356 you're going to eat a large rodent called a Cuy. 00:00:44.356 --> 00:00:45.768 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:00:45.768 --> 00:00:48.517 What makes our experiences, perhaps, 00:00:48.517 --> 00:00:50.771 a little bit different and a little more unique 00:00:50.771 --> 00:00:52.318 than that of the average person 00:00:52.318 --> 00:00:55.636 is that we have this gnawing thing in the back of our mind 00:00:55.636 --> 00:00:59.577 that even in our darkest moments, and those times of despair, 00:00:59.577 --> 00:01:03.503 we think, "Hey, there might be an image to be made here, 00:01:03.503 --> 00:01:06.364 there might be a story to be told." NOTE Paragraph 00:01:06.364 --> 00:01:08.709 And why is storytelling important? 00:01:08.709 --> 00:01:13.385 It helps us to connect with our cultural and our natural heritage. 00:01:13.385 --> 00:01:14.611 And in the Southeast, 00:01:14.611 --> 00:01:17.528 there's an alarming disconnect between the public 00:01:17.528 --> 00:01:21.970 and the natural areas that allow us to be here in the first place. 00:01:21.970 --> 00:01:24.199 We're visual creatures, 00:01:24.199 --> 00:01:28.068 so we use what we see to teach us what we know. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:28.068 --> 00:01:30.700 Now the majority of us aren't going to willingly go 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:32.076 wade out into a swamp. 00:01:32.076 --> 00:01:36.456 So how can we expect those same people to advocate 00:01:36.456 --> 00:01:38.610 on behalf of their protection? 00:01:38.610 --> 00:01:39.808 We can't. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:39.808 --> 00:01:44.077 So my job, then, is to use photography as a communication tool 00:01:44.077 --> 00:01:48.076 to help bridge the gap between the science and the aesthetics 00:01:48.076 --> 00:01:49.718 to get people talking, 00:01:49.718 --> 00:01:51.111 to get them thinking, 00:01:51.111 --> 00:01:52.792 and to hopefully, ultimately, 00:01:52.792 --> 00:01:55.041 get them caring. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:55.041 --> 00:01:58.072 I started doing this 15 years ago right here in Gainesville, 00:01:58.072 --> 00:01:59.874 right here in my backyard, 00:01:59.874 --> 00:02:02.519 and I fell in love with adventure and discovery. 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:04.651 Going to explore all these different places 00:02:04.651 --> 00:02:07.144 that were just minutes from my front door step. 00:02:07.144 --> 00:02:10.072 There's a lot of beautiful places to find. 00:02:10.072 --> 00:02:12.292 Despite all these years that have passed, 00:02:12.292 --> 00:02:14.594 I still see the world through the eyes of a child 00:02:14.594 --> 00:02:17.555 and I try to incorporate that sense of wonderment 00:02:17.555 --> 00:02:22.298 and that sense of curiosity into my photography 00:02:22.298 --> 00:02:25.266 as often as I can. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:25.266 --> 00:02:27.528 And we're pretty lucky because here in the South, 00:02:27.528 --> 00:02:30.626 we're still blessed with a relatively blank canvas 00:02:30.626 --> 00:02:33.832 that we can fill with the most fanciful adventures 00:02:33.832 --> 00:02:36.303 and incredible experiences. 00:02:36.303 --> 00:02:40.247 It's just a matter of how far our imagination will take us. 00:02:40.247 --> 00:02:42.827 See, a lot of people look at this and they say, 00:02:42.827 --> 00:02:44.511 "Oh wow, that's a pretty tree." 00:02:44.511 --> 00:02:46.122 But I don't just see a tree, 00:02:46.122 --> 00:02:48.700 I look at this and I see opportunity. 00:02:48.700 --> 00:02:50.970 I see an entire weekend. 00:02:50.970 --> 00:02:52.303 Because when I was a kid, 00:02:52.303 --> 00:02:55.278 these were the types of images that got me off the sofa 00:02:55.278 --> 00:02:56.516 and dared me to explore, 00:02:56.516 --> 00:02:57.976 dared me to go find the woods 00:02:57.976 --> 00:03:01.633 and put my head underwater and see what we have. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:01.633 --> 00:03:04.458 And folks, I've been photographing all over the world 00:03:04.458 --> 00:03:05.823 and I promise you, 00:03:05.823 --> 00:03:07.633 what we we have here in the South 00:03:07.633 --> 00:03:09.515 what we have in the Sunshine State 00:03:09.515 --> 00:03:12.143 rivals anything else that I've seen. 00:03:12.143 --> 00:03:16.975 But yet our tourism industry is busy promoting all the wrong things. 00:03:16.975 --> 00:03:18.126 Before most kids are 12, 00:03:18.126 --> 00:03:19.453 they'll have been to Disney World 00:03:19.453 --> 00:03:21.755 more times than they've been in a canoe 00:03:21.755 --> 00:03:24.480 or camping under a starry sky. 00:03:24.480 --> 00:03:26.648 And I have nothing against Disney or Mickey, 00:03:26.648 --> 00:03:28.364 I used to go there, too. 00:03:28.364 --> 00:03:31.034 But they're missing out on those fundamental connections 00:03:31.034 --> 00:03:34.516 that create a real sense of pride and ownership 00:03:34.516 --> 00:03:37.451 for the place that they call home. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:37.451 --> 00:03:40.514 And this is compounded by the issue that the landscapes 00:03:40.514 --> 00:03:42.647 that define our natural heritage 00:03:42.647 --> 00:03:45.647 and fuel our aquifer for our drinking water 00:03:45.647 --> 00:03:50.090 have been deemed as scary and dangerous and spooky. 00:03:50.090 --> 00:03:52.306 When our ancestors first came here, 00:03:52.306 --> 00:03:54.966 they warned, "Stay out of these areas, they're haunted. 00:03:54.966 --> 00:03:58.087 They're full of evil spirits and ghosts." 00:03:58.087 --> 00:04:00.510 I don't know where they came up with that idea. 00:04:00.510 --> 00:04:03.660 But it's actually led to a very real disconnect, 00:04:03.660 --> 00:04:05.543 a very real negative mentality 00:04:05.543 --> 00:04:08.943 that has kept the public disinterested, silent, 00:04:08.943 --> 00:04:12.833 and ultimately, our environment at risk. 00:04:12.833 --> 00:04:16.113 We're a state that's surrounded and defined by water. 00:04:16.113 --> 00:04:17.499 And yet for centuries, 00:04:17.499 --> 00:04:19.416 swamps and wetlands have been regarded 00:04:19.416 --> 00:04:22.625 as these obstacles to overcome. 00:04:22.625 --> 00:04:26.647 And so we've treated them as second-class ecosystems 00:04:26.647 --> 00:04:28.861 because they have very little monetary value 00:04:28.861 --> 00:04:32.570 and of course, they're known to harbor alligators and snakes, 00:04:32.570 --> 00:04:35.773 which I'll admit, these aren't the most cuddly of ambassadors. 00:04:35.773 --> 00:04:37.090 (Laughter) 00:04:37.090 --> 00:04:39.827 So it became assumed, then, that the only good swamp 00:04:39.827 --> 00:04:41.564 was a drained swamp. 00:04:41.564 --> 00:04:43.510 And in fact, draining a swamp 00:04:43.510 --> 00:04:46.033 to make way for agriculture and development 00:04:46.033 --> 00:04:48.592 was considered the very essence of conservation 00:04:48.592 --> 00:04:50.795 not too long ago. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:50.795 --> 00:04:52.267 And now we're backpedaling, 00:04:52.267 --> 00:04:55.525 because the more we come to learn about these silent landscapes, 00:04:55.525 --> 00:04:57.577 the more secrets we're starting to unlock 00:04:57.577 --> 00:05:00.044 about interspecies relationships 00:05:00.044 --> 00:05:04.594 and the connectivity of habitats, watersheds and flyways. 00:05:04.594 --> 00:05:07.249 Take this bird, for example: 00:05:07.249 --> 00:05:09.237 This is the prothonotary warbler. 00:05:09.237 --> 00:05:11.346 I love this bird because it's a swamp bird, 00:05:11.346 --> 00:05:13.174 through and through, a swamp bird. 00:05:13.174 --> 00:05:16.801 They nest and they mate and they breed in these old grown swamps 00:05:16.801 --> 00:05:18.279 in these flooded forests. 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:20.964 And so after the spring, after they raise their young, 00:05:20.964 --> 00:05:23.660 they then fly thousand of miles over the Gulf of Mexico 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:26.041 into Central and South America. 00:05:26.041 --> 00:05:28.347 And then after the winter, spring rolls around 00:05:28.347 --> 00:05:29.321 and they come back. 00:05:29.321 --> 00:05:32.244 They fly thousands of miles over the Gulf of Mexico. 00:05:32.244 --> 00:05:35.729 And where do they go, where do they land?: 00:05:35.729 --> 00:05:38.918 Right back in the same tree. 00:05:38.918 --> 00:05:40.351 That's nuts. 00:05:40.351 --> 00:05:43.728 This is a bird the size of a tennis ball. 00:05:43.728 --> 00:05:45.423 I mean, that's crazy. 00:05:45.423 --> 00:05:48.085 I used a GPS to get here today, 00:05:48.085 --> 00:05:49.730 and this is my hometown. 00:05:49.730 --> 00:05:51.362 (Laughter) 00:05:51.362 --> 00:05:52.574 That's crazy. 00:05:52.574 --> 00:05:56.288 So what happens, then, when this bird flies over the Gulf of Mexico 00:05:56.288 --> 00:05:58.155 into Central America for the winter 00:05:58.155 --> 00:06:00.645 and then the spring rolls around and it flies back, 00:06:00.645 --> 00:06:03.436 and it comes back to this: 00:06:03.436 --> 00:06:06.193 A freshly salted golf course. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:06.193 --> 00:06:08.663 This is a narrative that's all too commonly unraveling 00:06:08.663 --> 00:06:09.555 here in this state. 00:06:09.555 --> 00:06:10.975 And this is a natural process 00:06:10.975 --> 00:06:12.850 that's occurred for thousands of years 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.055 and we're just now learning about it. 00:06:15.055 --> 00:06:18.245 So you can imagine all else we have to learn about these landscapes 00:06:18.245 --> 00:06:20.165 if we just preserve them first. 00:06:20.165 --> 00:06:24.655 now despite all this rich life that abounds in these swamps, 00:06:24.655 --> 00:06:27.028 they still have a bad name. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:27.028 --> 00:06:30.718 Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of wadding 00:06:30.718 --> 00:06:32.539 into Florida's blackwater. 00:06:32.539 --> 00:06:34.290 I can understand that. 00:06:34.290 --> 00:06:37.384 But what I loved about growing up in the Sunshine State 00:06:37.384 --> 00:06:38.690 is that for so many of us, 00:06:38.690 --> 00:06:42.503 we live with this latent, but very palpable fear 00:06:42.503 --> 00:06:44.868 that when we put our toes into the water, 00:06:44.868 --> 00:06:47.874 there might be something much more ancient 00:06:47.874 --> 00:06:50.864 and much more adapted than we are. 00:06:50.864 --> 00:06:56.405 Knowing that you're not top dog is a welcomed discomfort, I think. 00:06:56.405 --> 00:07:00.192 How often in this modern and urban and digital age 00:07:00.192 --> 00:07:03.860 do you actually get the chance to feel vulnerable, 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:08.050 or consider that the world may not have been made for just us? NOTE Paragraph 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:09.356 So for the last decade, 00:07:09.356 --> 00:07:12.720 I began seeking out these areas where the concrete yields to forest 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:14.977 and the pines turn to cyprus 00:07:14.977 --> 00:07:18.646 and I viewed all these mosquitos and reptiles 00:07:18.646 --> 00:07:20.169 all these discomforts, 00:07:20.169 --> 00:07:23.725 as affirmations that I'd found true wilderness, 00:07:23.725 --> 00:07:25.909 and I embraced them wholly. 00:07:25.909 --> 00:07:28.975 Now as a conservation photographer obsessed with blackwater, 00:07:28.975 --> 00:07:31.207 it's only fitting that I'd eventually end up 00:07:31.207 --> 00:07:33.681 in the most famous swamp of all: 00:07:33.681 --> 00:07:35.204 The Evergaldes. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:35.204 --> 00:07:37.181 Growing up here in North-Central Florida, 00:07:37.181 --> 00:07:39.109 I'd always had these enchanted names, 00:07:39.109 --> 00:07:42.457 places like Loxahatchee and Fakahatchee, 00:07:42.457 --> 00:07:44.603 Corkscrew, Big Cypress. 00:07:44.603 --> 00:07:48.167 I started what turned into a five-year project 00:07:48.167 --> 00:07:52.281 to hopefully reintroduce the Everglades in a new light, 00:07:52.281 --> 00:07:53.856 in a more inspired light. 00:07:53.856 --> 00:07:56.055 But I knew this was going to be a tall order 00:07:56.055 --> 00:07:57.698 because here you have an area 00:07:57.698 --> 00:07:59.885 that's roughly a third the size the state of Florida, it's huge. 00:07:59.885 --> 00:08:01.736 And when I saw Everglades, 00:08:01.736 --> 00:08:04.399 people are like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah the national park." 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:05.700 But the Everglades is not just a park, 00:08:05.700 --> 00:08:08.227 it's a watershed, an entire watershed. 00:08:08.227 --> 00:08:11.788 It's started with the Kissimmee chain of lakes in the north 00:08:11.788 --> 00:08:15.102 and then as the rains would fall during the summer, these downpours, 00:08:15.102 --> 00:08:17.188 it would flow into Lake Okeechobee, 00:08:17.188 --> 00:08:20.532 and Lake Okeechobee would fill up and it would overflow its banks 00:08:20.532 --> 00:08:23.944 and spill southward, every slowly with the topography 00:08:23.944 --> 00:08:26.299 and get into the river of grass, the Sawgrass Prairies, 00:08:26.299 --> 00:08:28.446 before moving into the Cypress Slews 00:08:28.446 --> 00:08:30.998 until going further south into the Mangrove swamps 00:08:30.998 --> 00:08:35.021 until finally, finally reaching Florida Bay, 00:08:35.021 --> 00:08:36.728 the emerald gem of the Everglades, 00:08:36.728 --> 00:08:37.863 the great estuary, 00:08:37.863 --> 00:08:40.664 850 square-mile estuary. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:40.664 --> 00:08:45.021 So sure, the national park is the southern end of this system, 00:08:45.021 --> 00:08:48.348 but all the things that make it unique are these inputs that come in, 00:08:48.348 --> 00:08:51.084 the fresh water that starts 100 miles north. 00:08:51.084 --> 00:08:54.468 So no (longer) are these political or invisible boundaries 00:08:54.468 --> 00:08:59.531 protect the park from polluted water or insufficient water. 00:08:59.531 --> 00:09:02.424 And unfortunately, that's precisely what we've done. 00:09:02.424 --> 00:09:04.516 Over the last 60 years, 00:09:04.516 --> 00:09:07.982 we have drained, we have dammed, we have dredged the Everglades 00:09:07.982 --> 00:09:12.574 to where now only one third of the water that used to reach the bay 00:09:12.574 --> 00:09:14.786 now reaches the bay today. 00:09:14.786 --> 00:09:17.700 So this story is not all sunshine and rainbows, unfortunately. 00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:20.160 For better or for worse, 00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:24.479 the story of the Everglades is intrinsically tied 00:09:24.479 --> 00:09:27.790 to the peaks and the valleys of mankind's relationship 00:09:27.790 --> 00:09:29.015 with the natural world. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:29.015 --> 00:09:31.024 But I'll show you these beautiful pictures 00:09:31.024 --> 00:09:32.632 because it gets you onboard. 00:09:32.632 --> 00:09:34.200 And while I have your attention, 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.141 I can tell you the real story, 00:09:36.141 --> 00:09:38.247 is that we're taking this, 00:09:38.247 --> 00:09:41.187 and we're trading it for this, 00:09:41.187 --> 00:09:43.595 at an alarming rate. 00:09:43.595 --> 00:09:45.292 And what's lost on so many people 00:09:45.292 --> 00:09:47.671 is the sheer scale of what we're discussing. 00:09:47.671 --> 00:09:49.875 Because the Everglades is not just responsible 00:09:49.875 --> 00:09:53.507 for the drinking water for 7 million Floridians, 00:09:53.507 --> 00:09:56.069 today it also provide agricultural fields 00:09:56.069 --> 00:09:59.591 for the year-round tomatoes and oranges 00:09:59.591 --> 00:10:02.591 for over 300 million Americans. 00:10:02.591 --> 00:10:05.929 And it's that same seasonal pulse of water in the summer 00:10:05.929 --> 00:10:10.484 that built the river of grass 6,000 years ago. 00:10:10.484 --> 00:10:14.886 Ironically, today, is also responsible for the over half a million acres 00:10:14.886 --> 00:10:18.185 of endless river of sugarcane. 00:10:18.185 --> 00:10:20.243 These same fields that are responsible 00:10:20.243 --> 00:10:24.442 for dumping exceedingly high levels of fertilizers into the watershed, 00:10:24.442 --> 00:10:26.503 forever changing the system. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:26.503 --> 00:10:29.960 But in order for you guys not just to understand how this system works, 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.333 but to also get personally connected to it, 00:10:32.333 --> 00:10:35.662 I decided to break the story down into several different narratives. 00:10:35.662 --> 00:10:38.383 and I wanted that story to start in Lake Okeechobee, 00:10:38.383 --> 00:10:41.195 the beating heart of the Everglade system. 00:10:41.195 --> 00:10:42.045 And to do that, 00:10:42.045 --> 00:10:43.641 I picked an ambassador, 00:10:43.641 --> 00:10:45.579 an iconic speices. 00:10:45.579 --> 00:10:48.043 Now, this is the Everglade Snail Kite. 00:10:48.043 --> 00:10:49.029 It's a great bird, 00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:51.023 and they used to nest in the thousands, 00:10:51.023 --> 00:10:52.887 thousands in the northern Everglades. 00:10:52.887 --> 00:10:56.443 And then they've gone down to about 400 nesting pairs today. 00:10:56.443 --> 00:10:57.812 And why is that? 00:10:57.812 --> 00:11:00.068 Well, it's because they eat one source of food, 00:11:00.068 --> 00:11:00.960 an Apple Snail, 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.463 about the size of a ping-pong ball, an aquatic gastropod. 00:11:04.463 --> 00:11:07.591 So as we starting damming up the Everglades, 00:11:07.591 --> 00:11:09.726 as we started diking Lake Okeechobee 00:11:09.726 --> 00:11:11.135 and draining the wetlands, 00:11:11.135 --> 00:11:13.271 we lost the habitat for the snail. 00:11:13.271 --> 00:11:16.654 And thus, the population of the Kites declined. 00:11:16.654 --> 00:11:20.122 And so, I wanted a photo that would not only communicate this relationship 00:11:20.122 --> 00:11:23.287 between wetland, snail and bird, 00:11:23.287 --> 00:11:25.535 but I also wanted a photo that would communicate 00:11:25.535 --> 00:11:28.378 how incredible this relationship was 00:11:28.378 --> 00:11:30.561 and how very important it is 00:11:30.561 --> 00:11:32.884 that they've come to depend on each other, 00:11:32.884 --> 00:11:34.225 this healthy wetland and this bird. 00:11:34.225 --> 00:11:36.639 And to do that, I brainstormed this idea 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.319 I started sketching out these plans to make a photo. 00:11:39.319 --> 00:11:42.094 And I sent it to a wildlife biologist down in Okeechobee -- 00:11:42.094 --> 00:11:43.604 and this is an endangered bird, 00:11:43.604 --> 00:11:45.394 so it takes special permission to do. 00:11:45.394 --> 00:11:47.297 And so I built this submerged platform 00:11:47.297 --> 00:11:49.753 that would hold snails just right under the water. 00:11:49.753 --> 00:11:54.261 And I spent months planning this crazy idea. 00:11:54.261 --> 00:11:57.235 And I took this platform down to Lake Okeechobee 00:11:57.235 --> 00:11:59.341 and I spent a week in the water, 00:11:59.341 --> 00:12:00.861 waiting waist-deep, 00:12:00.861 --> 00:12:03.071 9-hour shifts from dawn until dusk, 00:12:03.071 --> 00:12:06.662 waiting to get one image that I thought might communicate this. 00:12:06.662 --> 00:12:08.936 And here's the day that I finally worked: NOTE Paragraph 00:12:08.936 --> 00:12:11.333 [Video: "After setting up the platform, 00:12:11.333 --> 00:12:13.936 I look off and I see a Kite coming off of the cattails. 00:12:13.936 --> 00:12:15.882 And I see him scanning and searching. 00:12:15.882 --> 00:12:17.511 And he gets right over the trap, 00:12:17.511 --> 00:12:19.056 and I see that he's seen it. 00:12:19.056 --> 00:12:21.803 And he beelines, he goes straight for the trap. 00:12:21.803 --> 00:12:25.519 And in that moment, all those months of planning, waiting, 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.117 all the sunburn, mosquito bites, 00:12:27.117 --> 00:12:29.795 suddenly, they're all worth it. 00:12:29.795 --> 00:12:31.143 'Oh my gosh, 00:12:31.143 --> 00:12:33.382 I can't believe it'."] NOTE Paragraph 00:12:33.382 --> 00:12:36.516 You can believe how excited I was when that happened. 00:12:36.516 --> 00:12:40.103 But what the idea was is that for someone whose never seen this bird 00:12:40.103 --> 00:12:42.147 and has no reason to care about it, 00:12:42.147 --> 00:12:44.846 the idea is that these photos, these new perspectives 00:12:44.846 --> 00:12:46.766 will help shed a little new light on 00:12:46.766 --> 00:12:50.079 just one species that makes this watershed so incredible, 00:12:50.079 --> 00:12:52.815 so valuable, so important. 00:12:52.815 --> 00:12:55.152 Now, I know I can't come here to Gainesville 00:12:55.152 --> 00:12:57.530 and talk to you about animals in the Everglades 00:12:57.530 --> 00:12:59.844 without talking to you about gators. 00:12:59.844 --> 00:13:02.561 I love gators, I grew up loving gators. 00:13:02.561 --> 00:13:06.001 My parents always said that I had an unhealthy relationship with gators. 00:13:06.001 --> 00:13:07.720 But what I like about them is that 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.121 they're like the fresh water equivalent to sharks. 00:13:10.121 --> 00:13:12.015 They're feared, they're hated, 00:13:12.015 --> 00:13:14.440 and they're tragically misunderstood. 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.290 Because these are a unique species, 00:13:16.290 --> 00:13:18.349 they're not just apex predators. 00:13:18.349 --> 00:13:19.419 In the Everglades, 00:13:19.419 --> 00:13:22.206 they are the very architects of the Everglades, 00:13:22.206 --> 00:13:24.373 because as the water drops down in the winter 00:13:24.373 --> 00:13:25.515 during the dry season, 00:13:25.515 --> 00:13:28.363 they start excavating these holes called gator holes. 00:13:28.363 --> 00:13:30.935 And they do this because as the water drops down, 00:13:30.935 --> 00:13:34.845 they'll be able to stay wet and they'll be able to forge. 00:13:34.845 --> 00:13:37.188 And now this isn't just affecting them, 00:13:37.188 --> 00:13:39.445 other animals also depend on this relationship, 00:13:39.445 --> 00:13:42.877 so they become a keystone species as well. 00:13:42.877 --> 00:13:46.257 So how do you make an apex predator, and ancient reptile, 00:13:46.257 --> 00:13:50.694 at once look like it dominates the system, 00:13:50.694 --> 00:13:53.224 but at the same time, look vulnerable? 00:13:53.224 --> 00:13:56.462 Well, you wade into a pit of about 120 of them, 00:13:56.462 --> 00:13:58.900 then you hope that you've made the right decision. 00:13:58.900 --> 00:14:02.065 (Laughter) 00:14:02.065 --> 00:14:03.999 I still have all my fingers, it's cool. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:03.999 --> 00:14:05.467 But I understand, 00:14:05.467 --> 00:14:07.603 I know I'm not going to rally you guys, 00:14:07.603 --> 00:14:11.306 I'm not going to rally the troops to, "Save the Everglades for the gators!" 00:14:11.306 --> 00:14:13.574 It won't happen because they're so ubiquitous, 00:14:13.574 --> 00:14:14.766 we see them now, 00:14:14.766 --> 00:14:17.795 they're one of the great conservation success stories of the US. 00:14:17.795 --> 00:14:21.164 But there is one species in the Everglades that no matter who you are, 00:14:21.164 --> 00:14:22.601 you can't help but love to, 00:14:22.601 --> 00:14:24.453 and that's the Roseate Spoonbill. 00:14:24.453 --> 00:14:25.520 These birds are great, 00:14:25.520 --> 00:14:28.053 but they've had a really tough time in the Everglades 00:14:28.053 --> 00:14:31.579 because they started out with thousands of nesting pairs in Florida Bay. 00:14:31.579 --> 00:14:33.685 And at the turn of the 20th century, 00:14:33.685 --> 00:14:37.301 they got down to two -- two nesting pairs. 00:14:37.301 --> 00:14:38.613 And why? 00:14:38.613 --> 00:14:41.668 That's because women thought they looked better on their hats 00:14:41.668 --> 00:14:44.524 then they did flying in the sky. 00:14:44.524 --> 00:14:46.957 Then we banned the plume trade, we banned it, 00:14:46.957 --> 00:14:49.099 and their numbers started rebounding. 00:14:49.099 --> 00:14:51.148 And as their numbers started rebounding, 00:14:51.148 --> 00:14:53.008 scientists began to pay attention, 00:14:53.008 --> 00:14:54.652 they started studying these birds. 00:14:54.652 --> 00:14:57.211 And what they found out is that these birds' behavior 00:14:57.211 --> 00:15:01.383 is intrinsically tied to the annual draw-down cycle of water in the Evergaldes, 00:15:01.383 --> 00:15:04.034 the thing that defines the Everglades watershed. 00:15:04.034 --> 00:15:07.240 What they found out is that these birds started nesting in the winter 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:08.610 as the water drew down 00:15:08.610 --> 00:15:10.202 because they're tactile feeders, 00:15:10.202 --> 00:15:12.748 so they have to touch whatever they eat. 00:15:12.748 --> 00:15:15.870 And so they wait for these concentrated pools of fish 00:15:15.870 --> 00:15:19.246 to be able to feed enough to feed their young. 00:15:19.246 --> 00:15:22.090 So these birds became the very icon of the Everglades, 00:15:22.090 --> 00:15:25.222 an indicator species of the overall health of the system. 00:15:25.222 --> 00:15:28.812 And just as their numbers were rebounding in the mid-20th century, 00:15:28.812 --> 00:15:32.934 shooting up to 900, 1,000, 11,000, 12,000. 00:15:32.934 --> 00:15:34.746 Just as that started happening, 00:15:34.746 --> 00:15:37.195 we started draining the southern Everglades. 00:15:37.195 --> 00:15:40.818 And we stopped two thirds of that water from moving south. 00:15:40.818 --> 00:15:43.317 And it had drastic consequences. 00:15:43.317 --> 00:15:46.141 And just as those numbers started reaching their peak, 00:15:46.141 --> 00:15:49.519 unfortunately, today, the real Spoonbill story, 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:55.207 the real photo of what it looks like is more something like this. 00:15:55.207 --> 00:15:59.847 And we're down to less than 70 nesting pairs in Florida Bay today 00:15:59.847 --> 00:16:01.963 because we've disrupted the system so much. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:01.963 --> 00:16:05.209 So all these different organizations are shouting, they're screaming, 00:16:05.209 --> 00:16:07.422 "The Everglades is fragile, it's fragile." 00:16:07.422 --> 00:16:08.825 It is not. 00:16:08.825 --> 00:16:10.218 It is resilient. 00:16:10.218 --> 00:16:11.978 Because despite all we've taken, 00:16:11.978 --> 00:16:14.441 despite all we've done and we've drained 00:16:14.441 --> 00:16:16.402 and we've dammed and we've dredged it, 00:16:16.402 --> 00:16:18.970 pieces of it are still here, waiting to be put back together. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:18.970 --> 00:16:21.648 And this is what I've loved about South Florida is that 00:16:21.648 --> 00:16:24.853 in one place, you have this unstoppable force of mankind 00:16:24.853 --> 00:16:29.173 meeting the immovable object of tropical nature. 00:16:29.173 --> 00:16:33.037 And it's at this new frontier that we are forced with this new appraisal: 00:16:33.037 --> 00:16:35.319 What is wilderness worth? 00:16:35.319 --> 00:16:39.395 What is the value of biodiversity or our drinking water? 00:16:39.395 --> 00:16:41.852 And fortunately, after decades of debate, 00:16:41.852 --> 00:16:44.912 we're finally starting to act on those questions. 00:16:44.912 --> 00:16:47.479 We're slowly undertaking these projects 00:16:47.479 --> 00:16:49.791 to bring more freshwater back to the bay. 00:16:49.791 --> 00:16:53.423 But it's up to us as citizens, as residents, as stewards 00:16:53.423 --> 00:16:57.443 to hold our elected officials to their promises. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:57.443 --> 00:16:59.211 What can you do to help? 00:16:59.211 --> 00:17:00.490 It's so easy. 00:17:00.490 --> 00:17:02.095 Just go outside, get out there. 00:17:02.095 --> 00:17:04.168 Take your friends out, take your kids out, 00:17:04.168 --> 00:17:06.136 take your family out. 00:17:06.136 --> 00:17:07.612 Hire a fishing guide. 00:17:07.612 --> 00:17:09.668 Show the state that protecting wilderness 00:17:09.668 --> 00:17:14.455 not only makes ecological sense, but economic sense as well. 00:17:14.455 --> 00:17:17.839 It's a lot of fun, just do it -- put your feet in the water. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:21.576 The swamp will change you, I promise. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:21.576 --> 00:17:23.447 Over the years, we've been so generous 00:17:23.447 --> 00:17:26.541 with these other landscapes around the country, 00:17:26.541 --> 00:17:29.386 cloaking them with this American pride, 00:17:29.386 --> 00:17:31.915 places that we now consider to define us: 00:17:31.915 --> 00:17:34.930 The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone. 00:17:34.930 --> 00:17:37.363 And we use these parks and these natural areas 00:17:37.363 --> 00:17:41.173 as these beacons and as cultural compasses. 00:17:41.173 --> 00:17:43.343 And sadly, the Everglades is very commonly 00:17:43.343 --> 00:17:45.369 left out of that conversation. 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.390 But I believe it's every bit as iconic and emblematic 00:17:48.390 --> 00:17:50.229 of who we are as a country 00:17:50.229 --> 00:17:52.729 as any of these other wildernesses. 00:17:52.729 --> 00:17:56.257 It's just a different kind of wild. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:56.257 --> 00:17:57.608 But I'm encouraged, 00:17:57.608 --> 00:18:00.326 because maybe we're finally starting to come around. 00:18:00.326 --> 00:18:02.937 Because what was once deemed this swampy wasteland, 00:18:02.937 --> 00:18:05.604 today is a World Heritage site. 00:18:05.604 --> 00:18:08.899 It's a wetland of international importance. 00:18:08.899 --> 00:18:11.452 And we've come a long way in the last 60 years. 00:18:11.452 --> 00:18:13.978 And as the world's largest and most ambitious 00:18:13.978 --> 00:18:16.144 wetland restoration project, 00:18:16.144 --> 00:18:20.509 the international spotlight is on us in the Sunshine State. 00:18:20.509 --> 00:18:22.266 Because if we can heal this system, 00:18:22.266 --> 00:18:25.665 it's going to become an icon for wetland restoration 00:18:25.665 --> 00:18:28.436 all over the world. 00:18:28.436 --> 00:18:30.880 But it's up to us to decide which legacy 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:33.708 we want to attach our flag to. 00:18:33.708 --> 00:18:38.184 They say that the Everglades is our greatest test. 00:18:38.184 --> 00:18:41.765 If we pass it, we get to keep the planet. 00:18:41.765 --> 00:18:43.192 I love that quote, 00:18:43.192 --> 00:18:45.150 because it's a challenge, it's a prod: NOTE Paragraph 00:18:45.150 --> 00:18:47.152 Can we do it, will we do it? 00:18:47.152 --> 00:18:49.707 We have to, we must. 00:18:49.707 --> 00:18:52.071 But the Everglades is not just a test, 00:18:52.071 --> 00:18:53.759 it's also a gift, 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.626 and ultimately, our responsibility. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:56.626 --> 00:18:57.557 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:57.557 --> 00:19:00.453 (Applause)