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In today's episode, we discuss the overlooked ecosystem of seagrass beds and their importance to the coast. You'll hear about how these grasses have been depleted and restored along with how freshwater inflow comes into play.
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In today's episode, we dive into current restoration efforts for Baffin Bay, Texas. You'll hear more about the work being done to fix the bay's water quality issues as well as restore Baffin's unique serpulid worm reefs. Worms!
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This is Part Two of our look into Baffin Bay water quality. As we learned last time, this Texas bay is known for its trophy trout, but many of the longtime anglers and guides had witnessed the decline of the bay over the last few decades. In Baffin, poor water quality affected seagrasses, shrimp and crabs, and of course those gigantic seatrout. What’s even more interesting was that one of the longtime fisherman, Scott Murray, became determined to do something about it. So we’re going to hear more about the citizen science project they created and the scientific discoveries they found. These citizen scientists are a great example of watershed citizenship.
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In this episode, we're traveling down the coast to Baffin Bay, Texas, and hearing about the lived experiences of trophy trout anglers from the Baffin Bay Oral History Project. This fishing community bears witness to a fishery that has declined over many years. But their special ties to the bay, as we’ll see, prompted many to get involved in restoration efforts.
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Longtime Baffin Bay fishing guide Cliff Webb talks about his father, who was the first game warden in Baffin Bay and the Laguna Madre, and the illegal gill netting that took place. He recalls sight casting into the clear waters and the uniqueness of the serpulid reefs, and recounts some excellent days catching big trout. Webb describes in detail the changes that have occurred over time in the bay, including the size of the big trout, the decline in water quality, the loss of shrimp and crabs, and the long road to restoring Baffin Bay. He also discusses promoting catch-and-release among his clients and tells some fish stories.
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A former professional golfer, golf coach, and currently a television golf announcer, Phil Blackmar is also an avid angler and fly fishermen who has been fishing Baffin Bay since the early 1980s. He talks about growing up fishing and golfing, getting into the PGA, fishing on tour, and his children growing up fishing. He recalls the big trout of Baffin Bay, memorable fishing experiences, the freezes and changes to the fishery over time, bad encounters with fishing guides, and his thoughts on restoration success. The interview ends with some fish stories and final thoughts about water quality.
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Reese Hunt, Jr., talks about fishing the Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay with his father; growing up hunting and fishing in Corpus Christi, Texas; the remoteness of Baffin Bay; his love for boats and the evolution of boats and fishing technology; getting into fly fishing and fishing with his wife Cheryl; illegal gill netters; memorable fishing experiences; and taking kids fishing.
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Bo Kratz grew up in Iowa fishing and attended college at Texas A&I University-Kingsville (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville). In this interview, he talks about finding a friend at Kingsville with a boat and fishing Baffin Bay for the first time. He shares his experiences navigating Baffin Bay before GPS navigation, using various fishing lures and tackle, seeing the bay after the freeze of 1983, the growing number of guides and anglers on Baffin Bay, teaching kids to fish and fostering stewardship among younger people, and his conservation ethic based on the Christian faith.
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Dr. David McKee grew up in Sinton hunting and fishing. He later received his doctorate from Texas A&M University-College Station and taught at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi for twenty-eight years. He first started fishing Baffin Bay in the 1970s, and in this oral history interview, he fondly recalls some of his many memories from Baffin, discusses cabin life and fishing contests among friends, talks about the Redfish Wars and his work with GCCA (later CCA). He also recounts many of the changes to the bay including growing numbers of boats, the decline of the serpulid reefs, brown tide, freezes in the 1980s, his involvement in the Ananias Fishing Club, and his substantial fishing tackle collection.
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Today on The Gulf Podcast, whooping cranes go to court! We live on the coast so we are downstream from everything. That also means that we’re downstream from many of the water management decisions that affect us. These decisions can impact everyone who relies on estuaries and freshwater inflow, including whooping cranes. And in times of drought, things can get bad. In this episode, we’re going to dive into a court case that’s about a decade old called The Aransas Project v. Bryan Shaw, et al. It’s an interesting case that connected water and whooping crane populations—and showed how many people on the coast stepped up to help the cranes.
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On this episode of The Gulf Podcast, I've enlisted Dr. Dale Gawlik, Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity at the Harte Research Institute, so we can learn more about one of North America's largest and rarest birds, the whooping crane. These unique and beautiful birds spend the winter in the bays and estuaries of the mid-Texas Coast and rely on fresh water coming to the coast.
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In the first episode of the new season, I'll explain why Texas is currently in a watershed moment for reexamining coastal water issues. The episode gives a brief overview of Texas water policy and science and provides a background for the rest of the "Watersheds" series. Our guide in this episode is Dr. Paul Montagna, Chair for HydroEcology at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. Paul has spent his career working on coastal issues and is currently finishing a new book entitled Freshwater Inflow to Texas Bays and Estuaries.
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In season two, we have a new series--Watersheds--devoted entirely to exploring the master variable for coastal ecosystems: freshwater inflow. New episodes out monthly, starting in mid-March!
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Our third episode explores a sense of place by focusing on a Gulf Coast favorite, Padre Island National Seashore. And we’re going hear from folks who work really hard to keep it trash free. The episode will cover a brief history of the creation of the seashore as well as scenes from the 25th annual Billy Sandifer Big Shell Beach Cleanup, one of the largest and longest running beach cleanups in North America. This episode originally aired in March 2020 and was reproduced in February 2023.
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This episode brings you into the world of Henry "Hank" Compton. After working as a marine biologist in the Gulf of Mexico, Hank's life slowly spiraled into tragedy. He died alone in his apartment. After his death, there was a chance discovery of his artwork and writings on the deep sea. This work was brought to life by Dr. David McKee, a retired marine biology professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the author of the book Fire in the Sea: Bioluminescence and Henry Compton's Art of the Deep. This episode originally aired in April 2020 and was revised and reproduced in February 2023.
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This is a brief update from The Gulf Podcast team about events that took place at the Corpus Christi city hall yesterday, Tuesday, January 10, in case you didn't attend the press conference held by local environmental groups or city council meeting. Oil is still being found in Corpus Christi Bay and the city is rethinking their approach to oil spills.
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As part of the Baffin Bay Oral History Project, Cookie Cooper talks about his background, how he started saltwater fishing in Texas in the 1970s, the allure of Baffin Bay, some memorable stories, the changes he has seen to the bay over time, and his thoughts on conservation and restoration of the bay.
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As of January 6, 2023, oil from the Christmas oil spill by Flint Hills Resources is still washing up in Corpus Christi Bay along North Beach, University Beach, and elsewhere. If you see yellowish gloops of oil, please do not touch it with your bare hands and instead call the Texas multiagency hotline at 800-832-8224. If you see dead birds or fish, call the Kills and Spills Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at 512-389-4848. After giving a brief update, the rest of the episode is an unedited interview with Andy Saenz, the Public Affairs Director at Flint Hills Resources. If you have any more questions for him next time, please reach out via The Gulf Podcast social media channels on Facebook and Instagram.
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Ed Bradley was born in Arkansas and grew up in Texas. He moved to Corpus Christi in fourth grade and later attended University of Corpus Christi, studying marine biology under Dr. Henry Hildebrand. Starting in the 1960s, he worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and eventually worked on the R/V Western Gulf. He discusses his work in the Gulf of Mexico, his coworker and friend Henry "Hank" Compton, his work after leaving TPWD, and a touching story about his friend David Rhew.
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"The obligation to endure gives us the right to know." This episode covers the lack of public knowledge and transparency about the oil spill and the cleanup efforts in Corpus Christi Bay in late 2022 and early 2023. Workers have been cleaning up oil from University Beach on the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, but its spread across the bay hasn't been covered by the local news media or discussed in official press releases.
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Jim Blackburn talks about growing up hunting and fishing in the Rio Grande Valley and in Central Louisiana. He started law school in 1969 at the University of Texas at Austin, a time when federal environmental legislation just started to be passed. Blackburn then went on to Rice University to earn a master’s degree in environmental science and started his career as an environmental lawyer. He reflects on some of his most memorable cases over the years. He then discusses the case The Aransas Project v. Bryan Shaw et al. (TAP v. Shaw), which dealt with the deaths of twenty-three whooping cranes due to the lack of freshwater inflow into San Antonio Bay. The case eventually made it to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where they lost the case. Afterwards, however, they reached a settlement with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. Blackburn also brings up the concept of the radical center and its importance for dealing with environmental issues. The interview ends with Blackburn reading a couple poems he wrote during TAP v. Shaw.
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Mike Blackwood held the longtime Texas state record for spotted seatrout by catching a 13-pound, 9-ounce fish from Baffin Bay in 1975. As part of the Baffin Bay Oral History Project, Blackwood talks about growing up hunting and fishing in Corpus Christi; fishing Baffin Bay for the first time in the late 1950s; the uniqueness of the bay; catching the state record trout and getting it weighed; a fish story he wrote about the one that got away; the changes that he has seen to the bay over time; his involvement in conservation efforts; and the importance of preserving the bay for future generations.
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In this oral history interview, longtime Executive Director of the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP) Ray Allen talks about growing up and falling in love with the coast; studying marine science and earning a bachelor’s degree then a master’s degree at Texas A&I University-Corpus Christi (which became Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi); working in the environmental department at Central Power and Light Company; his work on freshwater inflow issues with the Coalition about Restoration of Estuaries (CARE); and the creation of the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation and of the CBBEP. He also discusses his work at CBBEP in creating the Nueces Delta Preserve and its focus on environmental education.
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In this interview, Regents Professor and Texas State Climatologist Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon talks about his background and becoming interested in weather as a child, studying meteorology as an undergraduate and graduate student, and taking a position at Texas A&M University-College Station. He discusses a variety of topics about his work on Texas weather and climate including extreme weather events, state weather patterns, using climate models, aridification, drought, air pollution, rainfall, freshwater inflow, and hurricanes.
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In this oral history interview, Dr. Andrew Sansom reflects on his long career in land and water conservation. He discusses his early life in Lake Jackson, Texas, the influence of the environmental movement on his career path, and getting his first conservation job at the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C. Sansom talks about his role in preserving Matagorda Island as well as his later land acquisition work at The Nature Conservancy and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, including the creation of Big Bend Ranch State Park. He explains how his career shifted to water conservation and the creation of what became the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University-San Marcos. Sansom also shares his experiences and thoughts on various water issues including environmental flows, the problematic implementation of Senate Bill 3 (2007), and the continued problems with the groundwater in Texas.