WEBVTT 00:00:20.558 --> 00:00:22.614 So I've had the great privilege 00:00:22.638 --> 00:00:25.054 of traveling to some incredible places, 00:00:25.078 --> 00:00:29.164 photographing these distant landscapes and remote cultures 00:00:29.336 --> 00:00:30.762 all over the world. 00:00:30.786 --> 00:00:32.195 I love my job. 00:00:32.238 --> 00:00:33.198 I have a great job. 00:00:33.206 --> 00:00:35.118 I have the best job, I think, right? 00:00:35.863 --> 00:00:41.037 But people often get this inflated idea about what they think it is that I do. 00:00:41.620 --> 00:00:44.582 They think it's this string of epiphanies 00:00:44.661 --> 00:00:46.698 and sunrises and rainbows, 00:00:47.384 --> 00:00:50.293 when in reality, it looks more something like this. 00:00:50.642 --> 00:00:51.864 (Laughter) 00:00:51.889 --> 00:00:53.414 This is my office. 00:00:53.573 --> 00:00:56.204 We can't afford the fanciest places to stay at night, 00:00:56.228 --> 00:00:59.066 so we tend to sleep a lot outdoors. 00:00:59.465 --> 00:01:00.894 As long as we can stay dry, 00:01:00.894 --> 00:01:03.661 that's fine, that's a plus, that's a bonus. 00:01:03.743 --> 00:01:06.148 We also can't afford the fanciest restaurants. 00:01:06.172 --> 00:01:09.092 So we tend to eat whatever's on the local menu. 00:01:09.545 --> 00:01:12.545 And if you're in the Ecuadorian Páramo, 00:01:12.641 --> 00:01:15.403 you're going to eat a large rodent called a cuy. 00:01:15.427 --> 00:01:17.044 (Laughter) 00:01:17.077 --> 00:01:18.813 A lot worse than it looks. 00:01:19.449 --> 00:01:20.901 (Laughter) 00:01:21.872 --> 00:01:25.680 But what makes our experiences perhaps a little bit different 00:01:25.710 --> 00:01:28.432 and a little more unique than that of the average person 00:01:28.456 --> 00:01:31.456 is that we have this gnawing thing in the back of our mind 00:01:31.936 --> 00:01:35.708 that even in our darkest moments, and those times of despair, 00:01:35.877 --> 00:01:39.333 we think, "Hey, there might be an image to be made here, 00:01:39.803 --> 00:01:41.926 there might be a story to be told." 00:01:42.664 --> 00:01:44.581 And why is storytelling important? 00:01:45.009 --> 00:01:48.483 Well, it helps us to connect with our cultural and our natural heritage. 00:01:49.563 --> 00:01:50.722 And in the Southeast, 00:01:50.746 --> 00:01:53.746 there's an alarming disconnect between the public 00:01:53.828 --> 00:01:57.188 and the natural areas that allow us to be here in the first place. 00:01:58.270 --> 00:02:00.475 We're visual creatures, 00:02:00.499 --> 00:02:03.499 so we use what we see to teach us what we know. 00:02:04.273 --> 00:02:06.671 Now the majority of us aren't going to willingly go 00:02:06.695 --> 00:02:08.347 way down to a swamp. 00:02:09.138 --> 00:02:12.138 So how can we still expect those same people to then advocate 00:02:12.756 --> 00:02:14.474 on behalf of their protection? 00:02:14.910 --> 00:02:16.084 We can't. 00:02:16.108 --> 00:02:18.290 So my job, then, is to use my camera, 00:02:18.314 --> 00:02:21.069 to use photography as a communication tool, 00:02:21.351 --> 00:02:24.351 to help bridge the gap between the science and the aesthetics, 00:02:25.376 --> 00:02:26.994 to get people talking, 00:02:27.018 --> 00:02:28.387 to get them thinking, 00:02:28.411 --> 00:02:30.068 and to hopefully, ultimately, 00:02:30.092 --> 00:02:31.483 get them caring. 00:02:32.341 --> 00:02:35.251 I started doing this 15 years ago right here in Gainesville, 00:02:35.275 --> 00:02:37.150 right here in my backyard. 00:02:37.174 --> 00:02:40.022 And I fell in love with adventure and discovery, 00:02:40.046 --> 00:02:42.521 going to explore all these different places 00:02:42.576 --> 00:02:44.869 that were just minutes from my front doorstep. 00:02:44.890 --> 00:02:46.819 And there are a whole lot here, folks. 00:02:46.844 --> 00:02:49.432 There are a lot of beautiful places to find. 00:02:50.572 --> 00:02:52.874 Despite all these years that have passed, 00:02:52.895 --> 00:02:55.895 my child-like fascination with the natural world 00:02:55.990 --> 00:02:57.590 has never fully matured. 00:02:58.098 --> 00:03:00.918 I still see the world through the eyes of a child 00:03:01.016 --> 00:03:03.869 and I try to incorporate that sense of wonderment 00:03:03.893 --> 00:03:08.032 and that sense of curiosity into my photography 00:03:08.598 --> 00:03:10.348 as often as I can. 00:03:11.506 --> 00:03:13.804 And we're pretty lucky because here in the South, 00:03:13.828 --> 00:03:16.828 we're still blessed with a relatively blank canvas 00:03:16.924 --> 00:03:19.924 that we can fill with the most fanciful adventures 00:03:20.132 --> 00:03:22.579 and incredible experiences. 00:03:22.603 --> 00:03:25.603 It's just a matter of how far our imagination will take us. 00:03:26.758 --> 00:03:28.957 See, a lot of people look at this and they say, 00:03:28.982 --> 00:03:30.760 "Oh yeah, wow, that's a pretty tree." 00:03:30.785 --> 00:03:32.256 But I don't just see a tree... 00:03:32.281 --> 00:03:34.860 I look at this and I see opportunity. 00:03:35.025 --> 00:03:36.622 I see an entire weekend. 00:03:39.022 --> 00:03:41.659 Because when I was a kid, these were the types of images 00:03:41.673 --> 00:03:43.340 that peaked my curiosity, 00:03:43.483 --> 00:03:45.951 that got me off the sofa and dared me to explore, 00:03:45.975 --> 00:03:47.416 dared me to go find the woods 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:50.335 and put my head underwater and see what we have. 00:03:51.133 --> 00:03:53.934 And folks, I've been photographing all over the world 00:03:53.958 --> 00:03:55.299 and I promise you, 00:03:55.323 --> 00:03:56.818 what we have here in the South, 00:03:56.842 --> 00:03:58.523 what we have in the Sunshine State, 00:03:58.547 --> 00:04:00.842 rivals anything else that I've seen. 00:04:01.643 --> 00:04:04.871 But yet our tourism industry is busy promoting all the wrong things. 00:04:06.398 --> 00:04:09.129 Before most kids are 12, they'll have been to Disney World 00:04:09.153 --> 00:04:11.114 more times than they've been in a canoe 00:04:11.138 --> 00:04:13.980 or camping under a starry sky. 00:04:15.116 --> 00:04:18.496 And I have nothing against Disney or Mickey; I used to go there, too. 00:04:18.687 --> 00:04:21.346 But they're missing out on those fundamental connections 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:24.370 that create a real sense of pride and ownership 00:04:24.616 --> 00:04:26.719 for the place that they call home. 00:04:27.551 --> 00:04:30.551 And this is compounded by the issue that the landscapes 00:04:30.614 --> 00:04:32.723 that define our natural heritage 00:04:32.747 --> 00:04:35.723 and fuel our aquifer for our drinking water 00:04:35.747 --> 00:04:39.894 have been deemed as scary and dangerous and spooky. 00:04:40.629 --> 00:04:42.382 When our ancestors first came here, 00:04:42.406 --> 00:04:45.042 they warned, "Stay out of these areas, they're haunted. 00:04:45.592 --> 00:04:48.066 They're full of evil spirits and ghosts." 00:04:49.787 --> 00:04:52.133 I don't know where they came up with that idea. 00:04:52.704 --> 00:04:55.336 But it's actually led to a very real disconnect, 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.121 a very real negative mentality 00:04:57.145 --> 00:05:00.145 that has kept the public disinterested, silent, 00:05:00.747 --> 00:05:03.312 and ultimately, our environment at risk. 00:05:04.423 --> 00:05:07.423 We're a state that's surrounded and defined by water, 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:09.175 and yet for centuries, 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:11.092 swamps and wetlands have been regarded 00:05:11.116 --> 00:05:13.823 as these obstacles to overcome. 00:05:14.267 --> 00:05:17.267 And so we've treated them as these second-class ecosystems, 00:05:18.273 --> 00:05:20.537 because they have very little monetary value 00:05:20.561 --> 00:05:23.561 and of course, they're known to harbor alligators and snakes... 00:05:25.270 --> 00:05:28.270 Which, I'll admit, these aren't the most cuddly of ambassadors. 00:05:28.592 --> 00:05:29.728 (Laughter) 00:05:29.752 --> 00:05:32.530 So it became assumed, then, that the only good swamp 00:05:32.554 --> 00:05:33.872 was a drained swamp. 00:05:34.264 --> 00:05:35.415 And in fact, 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:38.439 draining a swamp to make way for agriculture and development 00:05:38.874 --> 00:05:42.105 was considered the very essence of conservation not too long ago. 00:05:43.422 --> 00:05:44.968 But now we're backpedaling, 00:05:44.992 --> 00:05:47.992 because the more we come to learn about these sodden landscapes, 00:05:48.367 --> 00:05:50.333 the more secrets we're starting to unlock 00:05:50.357 --> 00:05:52.720 about interspecies relationships 00:05:52.744 --> 00:05:56.155 and the connectivity of habitats, watersheds and flyways. 00:05:57.940 --> 00:05:59.925 Take this bird, for example: 00:05:59.949 --> 00:06:01.837 this is the prothonotary warbler. 00:06:01.861 --> 00:06:04.047 I love this bird because it's a swamp bird, 00:06:04.071 --> 00:06:05.775 through and through, a swamp bird. 00:06:05.799 --> 00:06:09.446 They nest and they mate and they breed in these old-growth swamps 00:06:09.871 --> 00:06:11.335 in these flooded forests. 00:06:11.359 --> 00:06:14.122 And so after the spring, after they raise their young, 00:06:14.331 --> 00:06:17.136 they then fly thousand of miles over the Gulf of Mexico 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:19.509 into Central and South America. 00:06:19.906 --> 00:06:21.158 And then after the winter, 00:06:21.182 --> 00:06:23.197 the spring rolls around and they come back. 00:06:23.221 --> 00:06:26.120 They fly thousands of miles over the Gulf of Mexico. 00:06:26.144 --> 00:06:29.050 And where do they go? Where do they land? 00:06:29.574 --> 00:06:32.090 Right back in the same tree. 00:06:32.786 --> 00:06:33.936 That's nuts. 00:06:34.251 --> 00:06:37.251 This is a bird the size of a tennis ball... 00:06:37.622 --> 00:06:39.299 I mean, that's crazy! 00:06:39.323 --> 00:06:41.873 I used a GPS to get here today, 00:06:41.897 --> 00:06:43.564 and this is my hometown. 00:06:43.588 --> 00:06:44.859 (Laughter) 00:06:44.884 --> 00:06:46.041 It's crazy. 00:06:46.368 --> 00:06:49.368 It probably says something more about me than about the bird. 00:06:50.274 --> 00:06:53.274 So what happens, then, when this bird flies over the Gulf of Mexico 00:06:53.988 --> 00:06:55.856 into Central America for the winter 00:06:55.880 --> 00:06:58.321 and then the spring rolls around and it flies back, 00:06:58.345 --> 00:07:00.452 and it comes back to this: 00:07:01.136 --> 00:07:03.030 a freshly sodded golf course? 00:07:03.842 --> 00:07:06.431 This is a narrative that's all too commonly unraveling 00:07:06.455 --> 00:07:07.642 here in this state. 00:07:07.666 --> 00:07:10.956 And this is a natural process that's occurred for thousands of years 00:07:10.956 --> 00:07:12.789 and we're just now learning about it. 00:07:12.789 --> 00:07:15.958 So you can imagine all else we have to learn about these landscapes 00:07:15.958 --> 00:07:17.578 if we just preserve them first. 00:07:18.022 --> 00:07:21.893 Now despite all this rich life that abounds in these swamps, 00:07:22.355 --> 00:07:24.179 they still have a bad name. 00:07:24.728 --> 00:07:27.728 Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of wading 00:07:28.418 --> 00:07:30.082 into Florida's blackwater. 00:07:30.106 --> 00:07:31.895 I can understand that. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:33.253 I can understand it. 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:36.319 But what I loved about growing up in the Sunshine State 00:07:36.484 --> 00:07:37.766 is that for so many of us, 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:40.790 we live with this latent but very palpable fear 00:07:41.603 --> 00:07:43.944 that when we put our toes into the water, 00:07:43.968 --> 00:07:46.950 there might be something much more ancient 00:07:46.974 --> 00:07:49.111 and much more adapted than we are. 00:07:49.964 --> 00:07:53.465 Knowing that you're not top dog is a welcomed discomfort, I think. 00:07:55.699 --> 00:07:59.477 How often in this modern and urban and digital age 00:07:59.692 --> 00:08:02.692 do you actually get the chance to feel vulnerable, 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.360 or consider that the world may not have been made for just us? 00:08:07.550 --> 00:08:08.832 So for the last decade, 00:08:08.856 --> 00:08:12.102 I began seeking out these areas where the concrete yields to forest 00:08:12.275 --> 00:08:14.453 and the pines turn to cypress, 00:08:14.477 --> 00:08:17.477 and I viewed all these mosquitoes and reptiles, 00:08:18.146 --> 00:08:19.645 all these discomforts, 00:08:19.669 --> 00:08:22.669 as affirmations that I'd found true wilderness, 00:08:23.618 --> 00:08:25.384 and I embrace them wholly. 00:08:25.811 --> 00:08:28.811 Now as a conservation photographer obsessed with blackwater, 00:08:29.436 --> 00:08:31.556 it's only fitting that I'd eventually end up 00:08:31.580 --> 00:08:33.756 in the most famous swamp of all: 00:08:33.780 --> 00:08:35.030 the Everglades. 00:08:35.443 --> 00:08:37.413 Growing up here in North Central Florida, 00:08:37.437 --> 00:08:39.167 it always had these enchanted names, 00:08:39.191 --> 00:08:42.191 places like Loxahatchee and Fakahatchee, 00:08:42.557 --> 00:08:44.679 Corkscrew, Big Cypress. 00:08:44.768 --> 00:08:48.061 These places that had tugged at my adolescent heart strings, 00:08:48.144 --> 00:08:49.632 and dared me to go explore. 00:08:50.188 --> 00:08:51.388 And explore I did. 00:08:51.413 --> 00:08:52.396 I headed down south, 00:08:52.421 --> 00:08:55.421 and I started what turned into a five-year project 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:57.767 to document, to explain 00:08:58.067 --> 00:09:02.284 and to hopefully reintroduce the Everglades in a new light, 00:09:02.323 --> 00:09:04.004 in a more inspired light. 00:09:04.447 --> 00:09:07.727 But I knew this would be a tall order, because here you have an area 00:09:07.727 --> 00:09:10.817 that's roughly a third the size the state of Florida, it's huge. 00:09:11.724 --> 00:09:13.001 And when I say Everglades, 00:09:13.025 --> 00:09:15.493 most people are like, "Oh, yeah, the national park." 00:09:15.517 --> 00:09:18.517 But the Everglades is not just a park; it's an entire watershed, 00:09:19.332 --> 00:09:20.529 entire watershed 00:09:20.554 --> 00:09:23.554 starting with the Kissimmee chain of lakes in the north, 00:09:23.583 --> 00:09:25.808 and then as the rains would fall in the summer, 00:09:25.832 --> 00:09:28.464 these downpours would flow into Lake Okeechobee, 00:09:28.488 --> 00:09:31.658 and Lake Okeechobee would fill up and it would overflow its banks 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:34.759 and spill southward, ever slowly, with the topography, 00:09:35.057 --> 00:09:37.653 and get into the river of grass, the Sawgrass Prairies, 00:09:37.677 --> 00:09:39.722 before meting into the cypress slews, 00:09:39.746 --> 00:09:42.433 until going further south into the mangrove swamps, 00:09:42.457 --> 00:09:45.457 and then finally... finally... Reaching Florida Bay, 00:09:46.231 --> 00:09:48.004 the emerald gem of the Everglades, 00:09:48.028 --> 00:09:49.211 the great estuary, 00:09:49.235 --> 00:09:51.488 the 850 square-mile estuary. 00:09:51.964 --> 00:09:55.556 So sure, the national park is the southern end of this system, 00:09:56.321 --> 00:09:58.425 but all the things that make it unique 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:01.320 are these inputs that come in, 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.127 the fresh water that starts 100 miles north. 00:10:04.175 --> 00:10:07.175 So no manner of these political or invisible boundaries 00:10:07.568 --> 00:10:11.496 protect the park from polluted water or insufficient water. 00:10:12.542 --> 00:10:15.368 And unfortunately, that's precisely what we've done. 00:10:15.930 --> 00:10:17.463 Over the last 60 years, 00:10:17.487 --> 00:10:20.487 we have drained, we have dammed, we have dredged the Everglades 00:10:20.868 --> 00:10:24.350 to where now only one third of the water that used to reach the bay 00:10:24.873 --> 00:10:26.880 now reaches the bay today. 00:10:27.886 --> 00:10:30.886 So this story is not all sunshine and rainbows, unfortunately. 00:10:32.253 --> 00:10:34.139 For better or for worse, 00:10:34.163 --> 00:10:37.163 the story of the Everglades is intrinsically tied 00:10:37.604 --> 00:10:40.604 to the peaks and the valleys of mankind's relationship 00:10:40.824 --> 00:10:42.461 with the natural world. 00:10:42.680 --> 00:10:45.148 But I do that, I'll show you these beautiful pictures, 00:10:45.165 --> 00:10:46.577 these stunning vistas, 00:10:46.604 --> 00:10:48.065 because it gets you on board. 00:10:48.083 --> 00:10:50.832 Because it gets your attention, it gets you into the tent. 00:10:50.832 --> 00:10:53.839 And while I have your attention, I can tell you the real story. 00:10:53.841 --> 00:10:55.792 It's that we're taking this, 00:10:55.817 --> 00:10:58.268 and we're trading it for this, 00:10:58.803 --> 00:11:00.298 at an alarming rate. 00:11:01.258 --> 00:11:02.968 And what's lost on so many people 00:11:02.992 --> 00:11:05.503 is the sheer scale of which we're discussing. 00:11:05.528 --> 00:11:08.955 Because the Everglades is not just responsible for the drinking water 00:11:08.979 --> 00:11:11.183 for 7 million Floridians; 00:11:11.207 --> 00:11:13.745 today it also provides the agricultural fields 00:11:13.769 --> 00:11:16.328 for the year-round tomatoes and oranges 00:11:16.352 --> 00:11:19.183 for over 300 million Americans. 00:11:20.291 --> 00:11:23.291 And it's that same seasonal pulse of water in the summer 00:11:23.629 --> 00:11:26.629 that built the river of grass 6,000 years ago. 00:11:28.184 --> 00:11:32.335 Ironically, today, it's also responsible for the over half a million acres 00:11:32.586 --> 00:11:35.041 of the endless river of sugarcane. 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:37.968 These are the same fields that are responsible 00:11:37.992 --> 00:11:41.358 for dumping exceedingly high levels of fertilizers into the watershed, 00:11:42.040 --> 00:11:44.203 forever changing the system. 00:11:45.449 --> 00:11:48.652 But in order for you to not just understand how this system works, 00:11:48.685 --> 00:11:51.538 but to also get personally connected to it, 00:11:51.572 --> 00:11:54.792 I decided to break the story down into several different narratives. 00:11:54.871 --> 00:11:57.659 And I wanted that story to start in Lake Okeechobee, 00:11:57.683 --> 00:12:00.430 the beating heart of the Everglade system. 00:12:00.454 --> 00:12:02.917 And to do that, I picked an ambassador, 00:12:02.941 --> 00:12:04.190 an iconic species. 00:12:04.704 --> 00:12:06.696 This is the Everglade snail kite. 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:08.466 It's a great bird, 00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:10.364 and they used to nest in the thousands, 00:12:10.388 --> 00:12:12.191 thousands in the northern Everglades. 00:12:12.215 --> 00:12:15.215 And then they've gone down to about 400 nesting pairs today. 00:12:15.743 --> 00:12:17.088 And why is that? 00:12:17.112 --> 00:12:20.112 Well, it's because they eat one source of food, an apple snail, 00:12:20.260 --> 00:12:23.260 about the size of a ping-pong ball, an aquatic gastropod. 00:12:23.685 --> 00:12:26.685 So as we started damming up the Everglades, 00:12:26.934 --> 00:12:29.934 as we started diking Lake Okeechobee and draining the wetlands, 00:12:30.435 --> 00:12:32.547 we lost the habitat for the snail. 00:12:32.571 --> 00:12:35.363 And thus, the population of the kites declined. 00:12:35.954 --> 00:12:39.474 And so, I wanted a photo that would not only communicate this relationship 00:12:39.474 --> 00:12:42.160 between wetland, snail and bird, 00:12:42.587 --> 00:12:44.836 but I also wanted a photo that would communicate 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.654 how incredible this relationship was, 00:12:47.678 --> 00:12:51.348 and how very important it is that they've come to depend on each other, 00:12:51.858 --> 00:12:53.525 this healthy wetland and this bird. 00:12:53.549 --> 00:12:55.521 And to do that, I brainstormed this idea. 00:12:55.545 --> 00:12:58.545 I started sketching out these plans to make a photo, 00:12:58.807 --> 00:13:01.694 and I sent it to the wildlife biologist down in Okeechobee... 00:13:01.718 --> 00:13:04.858 This is an endangered bird, so it takes special permission to do. 00:13:04.858 --> 00:13:06.523 So I built this submerged platform 00:13:06.547 --> 00:13:09.029 that would hold snails just right under the water. 00:13:09.053 --> 00:13:12.053 And I spent months planning this crazy idea. 00:13:13.535 --> 00:13:16.511 And I took this platform down to Lake Okeechobee 00:13:16.535 --> 00:13:18.607 and I spent over a week in the water, 00:13:18.631 --> 00:13:21.631 wading waist-deep, 9-hour shifts from dawn until dusk, 00:13:22.371 --> 00:13:25.371 to get one image that I thought might communicate this. 00:13:25.555 --> 00:13:27.770 And here's the day that it finally worked: 00:13:29.236 --> 00:13:31.704 [Video: (Mac Stone narrating) Unlike other raptors, 00:13:31.728 --> 00:13:33.918 the snail kite feeds on one source of food: 00:13:33.934 --> 00:13:35.394 the apple snail. 00:13:35.468 --> 00:13:37.453 After setting up the platform, 00:13:37.478 --> 00:13:40.302 I look off and I see a kite coming over the cattails. 00:13:40.327 --> 00:13:42.249 And I see him scanning and searching. 00:13:42.279 --> 00:13:43.835 And he gets right over the trap, 00:13:43.835 --> 00:13:45.281 and I see that he's seen it. 00:13:45.306 --> 00:13:48.029 And he beelines, he goes straight for the trap. 00:13:48.054 --> 00:13:51.054 And in that moment, all those months of planning, waiting, 00:13:51.079 --> 00:13:53.189 all the sunburn, mosquito bites... 00:13:53.214 --> 00:13:55.752 Suddenly, they're all worth it. 00:13:55.777 --> 00:13:59.482 [(Mac Stone in film) Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!] 00:14:00.395 --> 00:14:02.966 You can believe how excited I was when that happened. 00:14:02.990 --> 00:14:04.765 Finally happened, oh my God! 00:14:05.400 --> 00:14:07.590 Too many mosquitoes, too much sun. 00:14:07.616 --> 00:14:08.956 But what the idea was, 00:14:08.980 --> 00:14:11.179 is that for someone who's never seen this bird 00:14:11.203 --> 00:14:13.273 and has no reason to care about it, 00:14:13.297 --> 00:14:15.922 these photos, these new perspectives, 00:14:15.946 --> 00:14:18.946 will help shed a little new light on just one species 00:14:19.092 --> 00:14:22.536 that makes this watershed so incredible, so valuable, so important. 00:14:23.915 --> 00:14:26.838 Now, I know I can't come here to Gainesville 00:14:26.862 --> 00:14:29.108 and talk to you about animals in the Everglades 00:14:29.132 --> 00:14:30.920 without talking about gators. 00:14:31.344 --> 00:14:33.634 I love gators, I grew up loving gators. 00:14:34.061 --> 00:14:37.405 My parents always said I had an unhealthy relationship with gators 00:14:37.630 --> 00:14:38.637 growing up. 00:14:39.101 --> 00:14:40.569 But what I like about them is, 00:14:40.593 --> 00:14:43.197 they're like the freshwater equivalent of sharks. 00:14:43.221 --> 00:14:44.869 They're feared, they're hated, 00:14:44.893 --> 00:14:47.257 and they are tragically misunderstood. 00:14:47.686 --> 00:14:51.101 Because these are a unique species, they're not just apex predators. 00:14:51.474 --> 00:14:52.764 In the Everglades, 00:14:52.788 --> 00:14:55.282 they are the very architects of the Everglades, 00:14:55.306 --> 00:14:57.449 because as the water drops down in the winter 00:14:57.473 --> 00:14:58.631 during the dry season, 00:14:58.655 --> 00:15:01.655 they start excavating these holes called gator holes. 00:15:01.701 --> 00:15:04.011 And they do this because as the water drops down, 00:15:04.035 --> 00:15:07.035 they'll be able to stay wet and they'll be able to forage. 00:15:07.945 --> 00:15:10.264 And now this isn't just affecting them, 00:15:11.288 --> 00:15:13.521 other animals also depend on this relationship, 00:15:13.545 --> 00:15:16.223 so they become a keystone species as well. 00:15:16.977 --> 00:15:19.977 So how do you make an apex predator, an ancient reptile, 00:15:21.236 --> 00:15:23.714 at once look like it dominates the system, 00:15:23.738 --> 00:15:26.181 but at the same time, look vulnerable? 00:15:27.006 --> 00:15:30.006 Well, you wade into a pit of about 120 of them, 00:15:31.073 --> 00:15:33.479 then you hope that you've made the right decision. 00:15:33.503 --> 00:15:35.267 (Laughter) 00:15:36.255 --> 00:15:38.215 I still have all my fingers, it's cool. 00:15:38.977 --> 00:15:41.679 But I understand, I know I'm not going to rally you guys, 00:15:41.703 --> 00:15:45.327 I'm not going to rally the troops to "Save the Everglades for the gators!" 00:15:45.337 --> 00:15:47.535 It won't happen because they're so ubiquitous, 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:48.710 we see them now, 00:15:48.734 --> 00:15:51.734 they're one of the great conservation success stories of the US. 00:15:51.932 --> 00:15:55.326 But there is one species in the Everglades that no matter who you are, 00:15:55.326 --> 00:15:58.381 you can't help but love, too, and that's the roseate spoonbill. 00:15:58.381 --> 00:16:02.011 These birds are great, but they've had a really tough time in the Everglades, 00:16:02.011 --> 00:16:05.420 because they started out with thousands of nesting pairs in Florida Bay, 00:16:05.554 --> 00:16:07.617 and at the turn of the 20th century, 00:16:07.785 --> 00:16:10.785 they got down to two... two nesting pairs. 00:16:11.401 --> 00:16:12.565 And why? 00:16:12.981 --> 00:16:15.877 That's because women thought they looked better on their hats 00:16:15.901 --> 00:16:17.914 then they did flying in the sky. 00:16:18.624 --> 00:16:21.033 Then we banned the plume trade, 00:16:21.057 --> 00:16:23.175 and their numbers started rebounding. 00:16:23.199 --> 00:16:25.224 And as their numbers started rebounding, 00:16:25.248 --> 00:16:26.987 scientists began to pay attention, 00:16:27.011 --> 00:16:28.724 they started studying these birds. 00:16:28.748 --> 00:16:30.233 And what they found out 00:16:30.257 --> 00:16:32.725 is that these birds' behavior is intrinsically tied 00:16:32.725 --> 00:16:35.477 to the annual draw-down cycle of water in the Everglades, 00:16:35.477 --> 00:16:38.279 the thing that defines the Everglades watershed. 00:16:38.591 --> 00:16:40.128 What they found out is that 00:16:40.152 --> 00:16:43.222 these birds started nesting in the winter as the water drew down, 00:16:43.244 --> 00:16:46.734 because they're tactile feeders, so they have to touch whatever they eat. 00:16:46.848 --> 00:16:49.848 And so they wait for these concentrated pools of fish 00:16:49.970 --> 00:16:52.367 to be able to feed enough to feed their young. 00:16:53.177 --> 00:16:56.824 So these birds became the very icon of the Everglades... 00:16:56.990 --> 00:16:59.990 An indicator species of the overall health of the system. 00:17:00.506 --> 00:17:03.746 And just as their numbers were rebounding in the mid-20th century... 00:17:03.746 --> 00:17:06.998 Shooting up to 900, 1,000, 1,100, 1,200... 00:17:08.410 --> 00:17:09.970 Just as that started happening, 00:17:09.970 --> 00:17:12.190 we started draining the southern Everglades. 00:17:12.190 --> 00:17:15.190 And we stopped two-thirds of that water from moving south. 00:17:15.718 --> 00:17:18.217 And it had drastic consequences. 00:17:18.684 --> 00:17:21.298 And just as those numbers started reaching their peak, 00:17:21.722 --> 00:17:24.722 unfortunately, today, the real spoonbill story, 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:29.574 the real photo of what it looks like is more something like this. 00:17:31.507 --> 00:17:34.764 And we're down to less than 70 nesting pairs in Florida Bay today, 00:17:36.147 --> 00:17:38.691 because we've disrupted the system so much. 00:17:38.715 --> 00:17:42.005 So all these different organizations are shouting, they're screaming, 00:17:42.005 --> 00:17:44.075 "The Everglades is fragile! It's fragile!" 00:17:44.075 --> 00:17:44.957 It is not. 00:17:44.990 --> 00:17:46.540 It is resilient. 00:17:46.778 --> 00:17:50.243 Because despite all we've taken, despite all we've done and we've drained 00:17:50.294 --> 00:17:52.133 and we've dammed and we've dredged it, 00:17:52.157 --> 00:17:53.819 pieces of it still remain, 00:17:54.379 --> 00:17:57.379 pieces of it are still here, waiting to be put back together. 00:17:57.677 --> 00:17:59.930 And this is what I've loved about South Florida, 00:17:59.955 --> 00:18:03.372 that in one place, you have this unstoppable force of mankind 00:18:03.753 --> 00:18:06.753 meeting the immovable object of tropical nature. 00:18:08.073 --> 00:18:09.346 And it's at this border, 00:18:09.371 --> 00:18:12.392 it's at this frontier that we are forced with a new appraisal. 00:18:12.537 --> 00:18:14.692 What is wilderness worth? 00:18:15.819 --> 00:18:18.819 What is the value of biodiversity, or our drinking water? 00:18:20.095 --> 00:18:22.528 And fortunately, after decades of debate, 00:18:22.552 --> 00:18:25.519 we're finally starting to act on those questions. 00:18:25.543 --> 00:18:27.900 We're slowly undertaking these projects 00:18:27.924 --> 00:18:30.420 to bring more freshwater back to the bay. 00:18:30.444 --> 00:18:33.975 But it's up to us as citizens, as residents, as stewards 00:18:34.123 --> 00:18:37.078 to hold our elected officials to their promises. 00:18:38.054 --> 00:18:39.887 What can you do to help? 00:18:39.911 --> 00:18:41.166 It's so easy. 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:43.158 Just get outside, get out there. 00:18:43.182 --> 00:18:45.213 Take your friends out, take your kids out, 00:18:45.237 --> 00:18:46.812 take your family out. 00:18:46.836 --> 00:18:48.498 Hire a fishing guide. 00:18:48.522 --> 00:18:50.505 Show the state that protecting wilderness 00:18:50.529 --> 00:18:53.529 not only makes ecological sense, but economic sense as well. 00:18:55.188 --> 00:18:58.188 It's a lot of fun, just do it... Put your feet in the water. 00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:01.053 The swamp will change you, I promise. 00:19:02.251 --> 00:19:04.123 Over the years, we've been so generous 00:19:04.147 --> 00:19:07.147 with these other landscapes around the country, 00:19:07.241 --> 00:19:10.062 cloaking them with this American pride, 00:19:10.086 --> 00:19:12.457 places that we now consider to define us: 00:19:12.481 --> 00:19:15.481 Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone. 00:19:15.630 --> 00:19:18.039 And we use these parks and these natural areas 00:19:18.063 --> 00:19:21.063 as beacons and as cultural compasses. 00:19:22.084 --> 00:19:24.129 And sadly, the Everglades is very commonly 00:19:24.153 --> 00:19:26.069 left out of that conversation. 00:19:26.500 --> 00:19:29.008 But I believe it's every bit as iconic and emblematic 00:19:29.032 --> 00:19:30.905 of who we are as a country 00:19:30.929 --> 00:19:33.430 as any of these other wildernesses. 00:19:33.454 --> 00:19:35.732 It's just a different kind of wild. 00:19:36.957 --> 00:19:38.284 But I'm encouraged, 00:19:38.308 --> 00:19:41.002 because maybe we're finally starting to come around, 00:19:41.026 --> 00:19:43.613 because what was once deemed this swampy wasteland, 00:19:43.637 --> 00:19:45.700 today is a World Heritage site. 00:19:46.304 --> 00:19:49.058 It's a wetland of international importance. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.402 And we've come a long way in the last 60 years. 00:19:52.426 --> 00:19:56.441 And as the world's largest and most ambitious wetland restoration project, 00:19:56.844 --> 00:20:00.180 the international spotlight is on us in the Sunshine State. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:02.315 Don't you forget it. 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:03.756 They're watching. 00:20:04.409 --> 00:20:06.142 Because if we can heal this system, 00:20:06.166 --> 00:20:09.166 it's going to become an icon for wetland restoration 00:20:09.639 --> 00:20:11.004 all over the world. 00:20:12.336 --> 00:20:16.242 But it's up to us to decide which legacy we want to attach our flag to. 00:20:19.008 --> 00:20:22.008 They say that the Everglades is our greatest test. 00:20:23.484 --> 00:20:26.154 If we pass it, we get to keep the planet. 00:20:27.065 --> 00:20:28.468 I love that quote, 00:20:28.492 --> 00:20:30.525 because it's a challenge, it's a prod. 00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:32.428 Can we do it? Will we do it? 00:20:32.452 --> 00:20:34.191 We have to, we must. 00:20:35.007 --> 00:20:36.972 But the Everglades is not just a test. 00:20:37.416 --> 00:20:39.035 It's also a gift, 00:20:39.059 --> 00:20:41.926 and ultimately, our responsibility. 00:20:42.459 --> 00:20:43.610 Thank you. 00:20:43.634 --> 00:20:46.634 (Applause)