Muck has been piling up on the Indian River Lagoon floor since the 1960s. This soft, nutrient-rich sediment goes by an unglamorous nickname here in Florida: “black mayonnaise.” Decades of development, ditching, and draining pushed sediment and organic material into the estuary.

Even if every new source of pollution stopped tomorrow, that legacy muck would stick around — feeding algal blooms and smothering the seagrass habitats fish and wildlife depend on.

In this episode, two AECOM environmental engineers explain an alternative to dredging called muck capping: covering muck with a layer of clean material to cut it off from the water above, sometimes reinforced with amendments like biochar or activated carbon.

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👉 DIVE DEEPER:

From dolphin health to seagrass restoration, there's a lot more to discover. Browse the full episode archive here:

https://onelagoon.org/resources/podcast/

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👉 HELP US GROW:

The best way to support One Lagoon, One Voice is simple. Subscribe on Youtube, Apple and Spotify. Share this episode with someone who cares about the lagoon. Every listen, follow, and share helps us reach more people who need to hear these conversations.

➜ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-lagoon-one-voice-the-podcast/id1656092452
➜ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5PhxxX6plfMOLQZpT1RdC9
➜ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IndianRiverLagoon

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One Lagoon, One Voice is a podcast where members of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program sit down with scientists, researchers, and community leaders to discuss important issues facing the 156-mile-long estuary on Florida’s east coast. Learn more about hot topics like seagrass restoration, manatee populations, and much more on the only show that brings both the wondrous and worrisome aspects of the Indian River Lagoon into focus.

#muckcapping #dredging #IndianRiverLagoon

To learn more about the IRL Council and our lagoon home, visit: https://onelagoon.org/

➜ Indian River Lagoon vital signs: https://onelagoon.org/steps-to-success/
➜ Volunteer: https://onelagoon.org/find-volunteer-event/
➜ Help From Home: https://onelagoon.org/helping-from-home/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRLNEP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onelagoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelagoon/

In 2016, algae outbreaks hit Martin County hard here in Florida. Nerissa Okiye, the county’s tourism director, calls it the “lost summer.” National news crews arrived for the Fourth of July, and many outfitters couldn’t keep their businesses going due to toxic algae ruining outdoor recreation.

Today, the county runs a free, award-winning ecotourism program that puts visitors and residents on its beaches, preserves and trails.

In this episode of One Lagoon, One Voice, host Caleta Scott sits down with Nerissa and Emily Dark, Martin County’s Senior Environmental Resources and Ecotourism Program Manager. They discuss how Explore Natural Martin works, who pays for it and whether getting more people outside is one of the best ways to protect the Indian River Lagoon (IRL).

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👉 DIVE DEEPER:

From dolphin health to seagrass restoration, there's a lot more to discover. Browse the full episode archive here:

https://onelagoon.org/resources/podcast/

_________________________

👉 HELP US GROW:

The best way to support One Lagoon, One Voice is simple. Subscribe on Youtube, Apple and Spotify. Share this episode with someone who cares about the lagoon. Every listen, follow, and share helps us reach more people who need to hear these conversations.

➜ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-lagoon-one-voice-the-podcast/id1656092452
➜ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5PhxxX6plfMOLQZpT1RdC9
➜ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IndianRiverLagoon

_________________________


One Lagoon, One Voice is a podcast where members of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program sit down with scientists, researchers, and community leaders to discuss important issues facing the 156-mile-long estuary on Florida’s east coast. Learn more about hot topics like seagrass restoration, manatee populations, and much more on the only show that brings both the wondrous and worrisome aspects of the Indian River Lagoon into focus.

#OneLagoon #ecotourism #IndianRiverLagoon

To learn more about the IRL Council and our lagoon home, visit: https://onelagoon.org/

➜ Indian River Lagoon vital signs: https://onelagoon.org/steps-to-success/
➜ Volunteer: https://onelagoon.org/find-volunteer-event/
➜ Help From Home: https://onelagoon.org/helping-from-home/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRLNEP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onelagoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelagoon/

Florida's mosquito control districts built earthen dikes around coastal wetlands starting in the mid-1950s. Flooding marshes with water interrupted the breeding cycle of salt marsh mosquitoes, which lay eggs on moist — but not wet — mud.

Flooding impounded marshes worked … but it also cut those wetlands off from the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). Today, restoration scientists are reconnecting them, letting water move the way nature intended.

In this episode of One Lagoon, One Voice, IRLNEP GIS Data Scientist KJ Ayres-Guerra speaks with Ron Brockmeyer, environmental scientist at the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD).

Ron’s a 2012 National Wetlands Awards winner, an honor the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. gives for exemplary efforts. He’s spent more than 30 years reconnecting and restoring lagoon wetlands.

_________________________

👉 DIVE DEEPER:

From dolphin health to seagrass restoration, there's a lot more to discover. Browse the full episode archive here:

https://onelagoon.org/resources/podcast/

_________________________

👉 HELP US GROW:

The best way to support One Lagoon, One Voice is simple. Subscribe on Youtube, Apple and Spotify. Share this episode with someone who cares about the lagoon. Every listen, follow, and share helps us reach more people who need to hear these conversations.

➜ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-lagoon-one-voice-the-podcast/id1656092452
➜ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5PhxxX6plfMOLQZpT1RdC9
➜ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IndianRiverLagoon

_________________________


One Lagoon, One Voice is a podcast where members of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program sit down with scientists, researchers, and community leaders to discuss important issues facing the 156-mile-long estuary on Florida’s east coast. Learn more about hot topics like seagrass restoration, manatee populations, and much more on the only show that brings both the wondrous and worrisome aspects of the Indian River Lagoon into focus.

#OneLagoon #wetlands #IndianRiverLagoon

To learn more about the IRL Council and our lagoon home, visit: https://onelagoon.org/

➜ Indian River Lagoon vital signs: https://onelagoon.org/steps-to-success/
➜ Volunteer: https://onelagoon.org/find-volunteer-event/
➜ Help From Home: https://onelagoon.org/helping-from-home/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRLNEP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onelagoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onelagoon/