Coastal Confrontation

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The gentle tug of the moon pulls the tide toward the land, but it is the beauty and the bounty of the ocean that draws millions of people to the shore.

Coastal development is booming, as is America’s appetite for creatures of the sea. However a new report reveals another side of this call to the coast. It talks about polluted beaches, poisonous shellfish, depleted fish stocks, and beached whales so toxic they have to be disposed of as hazardous waste.

While shoreline sprawl is the obvious culprit, inland activity poisons the rivers that feed coastal estuaries — those cradles of life so vital for the health of the oceans. From Sioux City to South Beach, everyone has a line to the ocean, and a hand in the health of the sea. The real link between surf and turf.

Guests:

Deborah Cramer, author of “Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage”

Nancy Schilling, founder of Friends of the Rivers in Spring Island, South Carolina