Official uVu Blog

3 Minutes with Juliet Eilperin

uVu begins a new feature, 3 Minutes With, and we kick it off with one of our favorite pundits.

Long time viewers of Washington Week will remember Juliet Eilperin as a frequent guest on that program, but her work for the Washington Post on the environmental beat opened the door on a chance to write a book on sharks.  "Demon Fish" is the result and we had a chance to sit down with Ms. Eilperin before she spoke at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art.

 

Miami Today Profile - Christopher Scraba

In his first weekend as head of the Coast Guard’s Sector Miami, Capt. Christopher Scraba dealt with 33 cases in South Florida waters, 17 law enforcement and 16 pollution incidents.

But when he took over in late June, predecessors and superiors told him Miami is a “dynamic” sector and to expect to regularly deal with drug traffickers, immigrants looking to come to the US and pollution issues.

His responsibility includes nearly 200 miles of South Florida shoreline and 2,500 nautical square miles of the Atlantic. Under his command are four stations stretching from Miami Beach to Fort Pierce. Thousands of volunteers and Coast Guard rank and file and millions of dollars worth of ships and resources are at his disposal.

His missions are “maritime safety, maritime security and what we call maritime pollution response and prevention.” And though one might expect the Coast Guard in Miami to have been intimately involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response, Capt. Scraba said it was important to not lose focus on one of the biggest, longest-standing threats to South Florida: hurricanes.

“Forty percent of the gasoline for Florida, oil, fuel, gas comes in through Port Everglades, 45% comes into Tampa/St. Petersburg. Those two ports are extremely critical to the environmental and economic livelihood of Florida,” he pointed out. “What keeps me up at night is the potential for a hurricane and closing down a port. My job is to try to open up this port and get the maritime transportation system back up and running as soon as possible.”

Capt. Scraba discussed his job in Miami, the Coast Guard’s collaboration with the Bahamian government and the hundreds of millions worth of new ships the Coast Guard is to receive in coming months in its Miami Beach facilities with Miami Today staff writer Zachary S. Fagenson.

Dengue Fever!!

Some more from One Night Stand, the creative creation of the Studios Key West.  In this short one-act play our friends in the Conch Republic demonstrate once again why it is hard to take live to seriously at the southernmost point.

Florida's Waterways

Waterways is a series of mini-documentaries that explore the natural and cultural heritage of South Florida's public lands. Waterways is a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and the following partners: South Florida National Parks Trust, Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

This episode: Tortugas Research Natural Area.

Forty-six percent of Dry Tortugas National Park is designated as a “Research Natural Area (RNA)”—closed to fishing and anchoring. Resulting from documented declines in fish catches and the health of the coral reef, and intended to complement the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Tortugas Ecological Reserve, the RNA will help protect the park in a more pristine state.

You can watch more episodes on uVu

From Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

The Story of Florida’s State Parks, WPBT2,  Tuesday at 7:30 pm

Florida Park Service Specialist Tony Emtiaz takes an underwater tour of the Christ of the Deep statue, a long-time icon of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.

Save The Blue

At the screening for The Story of Florida's State Parks, held at Palmetto Bay Village Center, we met Lacey Hoover.  

Ms Hoover is the Chairman of the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, Hoover Environmental Foundation, and Hoover Environmental Group. She is serving on or has served on the boards of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Pew Institute for Ocean Science, Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center, South Florida National Park Trust, National First Ladies Library and several others. Environmentalist, philanthropist, and mother, Lacey Hoover embodies a long tradition of community service, entrepreneurial skill and the teaching of the next generation to preserve their natural resources and leave the world a better place.

Save The Blue is an effort to preserve the world's water supply and marine life and the current project is to eliminate the killing of Sharks for their fins.  You can find more information here.

A short trip INTO THE WILD

At the premiere screening of the WPBT2 Original Production, Into The Wild, the Roberts family was introduced to the audience along with members of the production team, Rangers from the National Park Service and members of the South Florida National Parks Trust.

Watch the videos here

Dan B. Kimball, Superintendent of Everglades National Park and Rick Schneider, President of WPBT2, welcomed those in attendance and conducted a question and answer session after the film.

The Roberts', George, Jr. and Shanda and their children, George III, Sean Jarrett and Shadaisha,

program producer, Jack Kelly and cinematographer Jeremy Nicholson, along with Rangers Alan Scott, Allyson Gantt and Rudy Beotegui shared their reflections on the experience.

You can find more about the program, which premieres on WPBT2 on September 24 at 7:30, by visiting here

uVu's #1 video: Robert the Haunted Doll

Take a look at uVu's #1 video: Robert the Haunted Doll.  With over 6800 views this video has become a classic in the uVu vault. What or who is Robert the Haunted Doll? Wikipedia describes Robert as a doll that was once owned by Key West painter Robert Eugene Otto. The doll, which is supposedly possessed, has become a fixture of ghost tours in the Key West area since it was inducted into the Martello Gallery-Key West Art and Historical Museum.

What do you think about this cute little guy?
Do you have a good Florida "ghost" story?  Share it with us and maybe we can get it on uVu.