Originally published on NBC-2 by Rachel Whelan on July 26, 2024
Participants who complete the academy will graduate as Rangers, equipped to conduct water and air quality testing as certified citizen scientists. They will also serve as ambassadors of Calusa Waterkeeper, advocating for the clean water movement in our community.
“We are serving a community of 1.2 million people now, so we need all the help we can get,” said Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce.
NBC2 tagged along with the Waterkeeper and rangers to sample sea grass in Matlacha Pass. However, once we arrived, there was filamentous algae everywhere, and Peirce did not feel comfortable putting his crew in the water.
“This is a textbook example of an area that was a fully operating, very diverse ecosystem that is now unfortunately starting to collapse,” said Pierce.
Pierce says it’s a problem that has only gotten worse since the Red Tide Event of 2017 and Hurricane Ian. The Matlacha Pass is also unique because it’s where tow tides from the North and South meet, meaning there is a lot of nutrients for algae to grow.
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