On Wednesday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced aa proposed marine sanctuary 80 miles south and east of the New Jersey and New York coastline. Called the Hudson Canyon, it runs about 350 miles long and is over two miles deep and 7 miles wide.
We’ll see wind farms but not oil rigs on our shoreline. The shore is not the only area that needs protection, of course, as we learned from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that dropped 10 inches of rain in just a few hours, resulting in more than 30 deaths. Inland storms can be just as devastating as those on the Atlantic shore.
In response, Gov. Murphy has proposed new rules for development using updated data on the environment. Our old rules rely on data from 1999, but developers are crying, of course, that new rules will hamper building. Continued reliance on data from literally the last century doesn’t make sense, even for greedy developers.
Prayer for the Day
You, O God, who brought forth creatures of the sea from Leviathan to the sand crab,
Grace us with your understanding and wisdom on how best to care for them;
You, O Lord, who bestowed on us an infinite variety of life on this planet,
Open our minds to the many ways e can protect your creation.
Grant, O Holy One, that we may look beyond our narrow desires
And broaden our vision to establish long-term goals.
In the name of the One who stilled the waters,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Life is life’s greatest gift. Guard the life of another creature as you would your own because it is your own. On life’s scale of values, the smallest is no less precious to the creature who owns it than the largest.
- Lloyd Biggle, Jr., American writer (1923-2002)
It’s a little appreciated fact that most of the animals in the ocean make light.
- Edith Widder, marine biologist at Ocean Research & Conservation Association
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky. So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarms, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
Genesis 1: 20-23