By Sarah Neal

Who knew the ocean directly affected humans!? If you didn’t already know this, now you do. The marine environment actually affects the daily life of humans. Think about the resources that we take from the oceans. Food– including all the snapper, grouper, lobster, crab, shrimp, etc. Medicines from the exotic plant and animal life Minerals Oxygen How about the Transportation that it provides? Boat and freights use the ocean to transport items all around the world

What about our local watershed? Our local watershed would be the Caloosahatchee. It runs through Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Henry, and Lee counties, affecting a great number of individuals. Water of our watershed originally comes from the other watersheds of Lake Okeechobee and Charlotte Harbor down into the Caloosahatchee. This water is a valuable resource for the community. It is a body of water that provides a habitat for many organisms, a water supply for the many occupants of the area, not to mention an area for enjoyable times.

Is human activity proving to be too much? Now that the Caloosahatchee has become known as a valuable resource in the eyes of many it is becoming more and more in danger as time passes. Humans are now creating machines and equipment that harm the precious environment. Oils, pollutants, trash, and other debris litters the water killing, harming, and hurting our environment. If we hurt our environment, we are hurting ourselves.

How can we stop these problems in our community? The first thing that can be done to reverse these harmful affects is to educate the public. If we teach them and make them aware of the problems that they are causing then there may be a way to allow the environment to recover and return to the way it is meant to be.

Let’s start at the High School level! Thanks to the Wolf on the Watershed Grant, South Fort Myers High School students get in on this education needed to better the environment. With this grant they are able to get a first hand experience in the local watershed and hopefully become inspired to save what is left of our environment.

Bettering Our Local Watershed South Fort Myers students plant and grow mangrove propagules to later transplant to the local watershed.

FGCU Marine Lab FGCU student takes time from busy schedule to give South Fort Myers Students a up close look at the FGCU Marin Lab in Bonita Springs Florida. She also provides a quick and dirty explanation of the Southwest Florida area watershed.