Name of Presenter/Organizer/Institution: Chesapeake Bay Program
Title of Presentation/Talk/Event: Bay 101 - Wetlands, Restoring the Chesapeake Watershed, Monitoring and Modelling the Chesapeake Bay, Fish Food, Striped Bass, Ospreys, Oysters, Emerald Ash Borers
Name of Series (if this is part of a longer series): Bay 101 (The Natural World)
URL of Online Presentation/Lecture OR Production Company of Documentary:
Summarize the major points/concepts of the presentation, talk, performance or other event:
In the Bay 101 series, a variety of topics regarding the Chesapeake Bay are explored. In the set of videos above, the topics are related to the natural-side of the Chesapeake Bay: the wetlands and the wildlife that resides within it.
In Wetlands we see the various parts of the ecosystem, and how a changing world means a change in the inhabitants of the Chesapeake. We see how humans have both reduced and restored the populations of key plant species, and what we must do to keep from losing them once again. In Restoring the Chesapeake Watershed, we learn about the history associated with it, and how communities came together and enacted policies in order to bring the ailing watershed back to its former health. And in Monitoring and Modeling the Chesapeake Bay, we learn about how scientists use models to help predict the future of the Bay and create plans or policies to aid in its survival. In the videos about the wildlife, each specific species (or in the case of fish food; multiple different species) are given the focus in regards to the role they play, the challenges they face, and what is being done to help keep their populations stable.
Did you find the main points convincing? If so, why? If not, why not? Do NOT simply answer “yes” or “no” to the main question: you need to justify and explain your answers. For instance, are you aware of additional information which supports and/or contradicts the main points? If so, what were they? Did you observe any use of logical fallacies or other failures of critical thinking? If so, what were they?
I found the set of videos above to be convincing in the arguments, ones that were free of any logical fallacies or misleading statistics, for why protecting nature within the bay is of great importance. The audience is shown how scientists carry out their work - building trust in the scientific community - along with getting up close to various species associated with the water, helping to build a connection and understand what there is to each one.
To many people, science is an opaque process, one that garners vague results through vague processes. As a result, trust in science is not as high as it should be. But these videos help to offset that mistrust. We meet with scientists, talk with scientists, hear about their connection to the Chesapeake, and the work that they are doing. We see how they connect to the community, how they carry out their research, how they help create policies, and how they decide what needs to be focused on next. By understanding how we gain a greater understanding of the natural world, the laymen themselves also gain a greater understanding too. We are also given insight into how information about the past and present is collected, and then used to predict the future through many advanced models. As a result, not only does the audience understand why some policies were enacted, they will also understand why some will be enacted in the future.
The videos focusing upon individual species or groups of species were also important. Most people understand the concept of a food web, but rarely do we think about how many common animals fit into one. In these videos, we are shown forage fish, striped bass, ospreys, oysters, and emerald ash borers, and understand more about what each does, and the effect it has on the environment and humans. Some, like forage fish, fill the middle of the food chain, and are the food sources to striped bass and ospreys, along with other species of fish that are caught for consumption. Striped bass are of great recreational value, being the choice fish for many hundreds of thousands of anglers, and so are not only of environmental importance, but economic too. Ospreys hold important cultural value, and as an apex predator of the wetlands they serve in keeping the populations of other inhabitants in check. Oysters create habitats for other species, filter the water of pollutants, and are also used as a food source by people. Emerald Ash Borers are an invasive species causing great harm to the forests around us, and are currently being tracked and combated by various organizations. The importance of each, and its positives and negatives, are laid out, providing a compelling argument as to why keeping the environment in tip top shape is a key issue.
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