A Good News Story Captured by a Young and Innovative Researcher
A 23-year-old investigator uses low-cost technology to capture some magic off the coast of Long Island, NY
Essays here often highlight the power and sophistication of the vast array of technologies that we use to monitor the state of the global environment. Satellite systems measure energy received all across the electromagnetic spectrum to detect everything from minute methane emissions to the massive amounts of sea ice in the Antarctic. Active microwave sensors measure ocean height with centimeter precision. Infrared wavelengths yield information on land, air, ocean, and cloud temperatures, with long-term databases now in existence. Many instruments and measurements are combined to calculate the radiation balance of the entire planet, or to visualize the dynamic flow of carbon dioxide through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Direct measurements, especially of the oceans, are made continuously by a vast array of instruments using technologies that monitor temperature, salinity, currents and a host of other parameters using instruments that might float with the currents or be tethered to one spot.
We take for granted the long-term records of temperature, precipitation and other parameters captured by the global network of weather stations. Turning those measurements into tomorrow’s weather forecast involves many more thousands of analysts and modelers.
These systems take years to design and build, large teams to monitor their condition, and groups of analysts and modelers to translate the raw data into useful information.
We are fortunate to have so many dedicated professionals applying their talents to monitoring our impacts on the Earth. Without them, we would not know where we are headed.
But occasionally there are creative and dedicated individuals who can make a difference using readily available technologies, insightful creativity, boundless enthusiasm, and equally boundless energy.
A recent article in the New York Times describes just such a one, and the stories he has captured tell a tale of ecological recovery.
The person is Sutton Lynch and his tool is the kind of drone available to anyone.
Mr. Lynch has a devoted following on Instagram, and as the Times reports:
…he writes captions that range from childhood memories and research on the effects of fishing policy to explanations of animal behavior. Across the board, his work exudes a reverence for the ocean and the creatures that call it home.
Most of his work is posted on social media, and being one who avoids those channels, I was not aware of it. In case you are also not a social media devotee, here is the link to his his website:
https://www.suttonlynch.com/Videography/
His Videography page contains a selection of videos and a brief description or story about each that – as the Times reports – are told with precision and reverence.
This essay will be short, as the real story is in the videos that Mr. Lynch has produced.
Sutton Lynch grew up in the town of Amagansett, near Southampton, at the far eastern end of Long Island. Beginning in high school and now continuing after college, Mr. Lynch has established a routine of visiting the beach in the early morning and scanning the waters for possibly interesting happenings. When he spots one, he pilots his drone out to capture it.
The NYTimes article also sets the environmental context for Mr. Lynch’s work. It describes a marine conservation effort to restore the menhaden fishery. We don’t eat menhaden directly, but the fish is caught for use as bait and for sources of omega proteins for humans and feed for domestic animals. It is also a major prey species for many top predators including sharks, dolphins, and whales, and plays an important role, as a filter feeder, in maintaining water quality. A small fish, generally less than 15 inches in length, menhaden travel in slow-moving, dense schools.
By 2012, overfishing of menhaden had reduced the population by 90% with predictable effects on those predators. Sightings of whales and dolphins had become rare off the Long Island coast.
In that year, a fishing quota was set for menhaden. The population has recovered rapidly and the predators have followed.
But the magic in Mr. Lynch’s videos goes beyond the good news of the management numbers, capturing an astounding array of events and behaviors. A multi-species feeding frenzy on a school of menhaden. Whales communicating by smacking flukes. An odd circling behavior of Bluefish. Spinner sharks doing just that – leaping from the water and spinning in the air.
And many sightings of large and rare species, like a fin whale and a marlin, not generally found in these near-coastal waters.
Yes, sightings of great white sharks off the New England coast is what made the headlines here last summer, and Mr. Lynch has yet to record one, but those sightings, scary as they might be, are part of a larger story of the recovery of a degraded ecosystem as captured by a dedicated and creative young artist, scientist and naturalist.
Please enjoy his wonderful work.
Sources:
The New York Times article is here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/travel/hamptons-whales-sharks.html
The map of Long Island, NY is from Google maps
The image of a drone used for the posting of this essay is from: