Divin’ Debbie Klughers
Deborah is a member of the inaugural class of SoMAS’s new Master of Arts program in Marine Conservation and Policy. She was recently awarded the Women Divers Hall of Fame Scholarship in Marine Conservation, sponsored by the Aggressor and Dancer Fleets, two world-renowned live-aboard dive operators. This scholarship is awarded to female students in the field of marine conservation and is intended to assist with tuition or to support independent research.
Deborah graduated summa cum laude as valedictorian of Stony Brook’s undergraduate class of 2010, majoring in Environmental Studies with minors in both Marine Science and Sustainability Studies. In addition to her studies, while attending the Stony Brook-Southampton campus, Deborah began to produce, direct and host a show called “Keepin’ It Green” on LTV, a public access television station on eastern Long Island. She is extremely interested in public outreach, raising awareness, and education on environmental issues and led a campaign to start a monofilament fishing line recycling program for the town of East Hampton.
Deborah recently attended the National Council for Science and the Environment’s (NCSE) 11th annual conference on Science, Policy and the Environment in Washington, D.C., where this year’s theme was “Our Changing Oceans.” While there, she was able to film discussions led by distinguished speakers and interviewed Jean Marie Cousteau in addition to many other leaders in the field of marine science and policy. Deborah also filmed U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s press conference in which he introduced President Obama’s new ocean policy. All the footage will be aired on local television stations and online. Deborah also films some of the public lectures hosted by SoMAS and broadcasts them as well.
What made you choose SoMAS?
Location, location, location…. I grew up on Long Island and have four amazing children as well as a home in East Hampton, so choosing a university elsewhere was not an option for me. However, I do not think I could have found a program that better suits my interests than the new MA program at SoMAS. We have some of the most exceptional faculty on the planet connected to SoMAS and I am proud to be part of it! It is very important that we present the science that SoMAS is renowned for to the public and decision makers in order to make the changes today that will affect the oceans well into the future. If the public is not aware of the problems that exist, then there are no problems. Therefore, there will be no need for solutions. However, if we can bring public awareness to the important issues facing the planet and present solutions, I think we will be able to work together to heal the Earth and its seas.
You are an active diver. What is your favorite place to dive? What is the coolest thing you’ve seen?
I am a PADI Rescue Diver and have two favorite places to dive. The first is about a mile off the shore of Venice, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico where I go fossil hunting. I have found beautiful fossilized Carcharocles megalodon teeth (one is 5 inches long!), extinct and extant shark teeth, manatee and whale bones, cetacean teeth, remnants of alligator osteoderms, turtle shells, stingray barbs…straight up treasure!! The second is the most beautiful place I have dove and is off South Caicos, a small Caribbean island. I went there for 30 days to study marine reserves in the summer of 2009 courtesy of the Evan Frankel Memorial Scholarship Program. I have never seen more marine life in one location except in a commercial aquarium. I swam with reef sharks, nurse sharks, giant stingrays, green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays and every other inhabitant of the reef. The island has no hotels or tourism, is mostly undeveloped, and fishing pressure is generally artisanal except for queen conch, Strombus gigas and Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirusargus, so that might explain the impressive biodiversity found off South Caicos. The coolest thing I saw there, besides the spotted eagle rays mating (which I hear is quite rare to witness) was a large jack fish that interacted with the divers about 60 feet down. It was playfully inquisitive and swam with us for quite a while. It made me rethink the “nature” of fishes.
Debbie promoting recycling of monofilament fishing line
Tell us about your monofilament fishing line recycling program.
Fishing line is one of the leading causes of suffering and death to marine inhabitants. It can last over 600 years in the environment, causing decades of unnecessary pain to countless creatures. We need to be more aware of the consequences of discarded line and become part of the solution. This threat to marine life can be reduced through simple measures. Last summer I implemented a “Monofilament Fishing Line Recycling Program” after I presented an offer to my local government in a manner I felt they could not refuse. I proposed to raise funds, build the recycling containers, and assist the town in the installation and implementation of the project. Upon approval by the East Hampton Town Board, I secured the resources necessary to build 30 of the recycling containers and created educational literature for the town and community. After expert installation by the Town Parks and Recreation Department, I provided the town with the materials necessary to send the fishing line to the Berkley Conservation Institute for recycling (editors note: Berkley is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of monofilament fishing line). I also placed about 15 indoor recycling units at marinas, bait and tackle shops, and other businesses. I then made a video of the entire process which aired on Cablevision public access stations and can now be found on YouTube. The video is meant to be an educational tool intended to expand the recycling program to other municipalities.
I believe that getting people involved and excited is key to the success of any environmental project. For that reason, I invited local environmental organizations and community members to come on Keepin’ It Green to help build the recycling containers. The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, The Group for the East End, and the Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons helped build 30 of the recycling containers in fewer than 30 minutes! It was simple and fun and any town can easily do the same thing. Many thanks to all of the donors that made the project possible as well as the volunteers that helped build and install the units. Most appreciated is the role that the Town of East Hampton played by allowing the project to proceed and being proactive in protecting our marine environment.
Sharks or dolphins?
Both are important and need to be protected, but shark populations are declining worldwide and are highly misunderstood, so I would have to go with sharks. They need our help now more than ever due to finning, recreational sport fishing (tournaments in particular) and by-catch. In addition to conserving sharks solely for the benefit of the species, we must protect the oceans apex predator or the cascading ecosystem effects could be disastrous to many other species, including humans. I plan to work on a shark conservation project this summer with researchers I met at the NCSE conference in D.C., and am confident that the work we do will help both the local and global populations of all species of sharks! As for dolphins, check out The Cove, an award-winning documentary and decide how you can make a difference…
