Life on Barnegat Bay on Local TV

"Life on the Barnegat Bay," a documentary about the ecological deterioration of Barnegat Bay and hopes for its restoration, will be broadcast on local cable television systems Jan. 11 through Jan. 16.

Produced by the Barnegat Bay Partnership and the staff of Ocean TV-20 at Ocean County College, the film features Paul D. "Pete" McLain of Toms River, a veteran wildlife biologist and former deputy state wildlife director whose professional and personal life has been intertwined with the bay for most of his 80-plus.

The airing of this documentary comes on the heels of the recent bills signed by Governor Christie in Waretown which will have a signifcantly positive impact on the Bay. According to legislative testimony by Scotts MiracleGro in August of this year this bill will become the model for most other states. The law will be the first in the country to regulate the content of fertilizer rather than merely rely on homeowners to read and follow the directions on the bag as the mechanism for protecting estuaries.

"Save Barnegat Bay" who is responsible for pushing the legislation, is a not-for-profit environmental group working to conserve undeveloped natural land and clean water throughout the Barnegat Bay watershed. They were founded in 1971 as a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, a leading national environmental organization.

The film also features a look at the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center near Island Beach State Park, and the Lighthouse Center in Waretown, where environmental education programs are teaching a new generation of students about the bay's problems.

The documentary will be broadcast Tuesday at 8 p.m.; Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.; Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; and again Sunday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. It can be seen on Ocean TV-20 on Comcast of Toms River, Long Beach Island Channel 20, and on Verizon FiOS in northern Ocean County, Channel 24.

Karl Hess, Jersey Shore Real Estate

Christie Signs Barnegat Bay Legislation

Good News for Barnegat Bay!

Governor Chris Christie was in Waretown today and signed three bills into law morning aimed at protecting the health of the bay and its inhabitants. The bills establish regulations for fertilizer usage, standards for restoring damage soil, and requirements for the state Department of Transportation pertaining to the maintenance and upkeep of storm-water drains and basins.

Barnegat Bay stretches approximately 30 miles, along the coast of Ocean County. It is essentially a long estuary formed by Barnegat Peninsula, a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island. The bay is fed by several small rivers, including the Toms River and Metedeconk River, which empty into the bay through small estuaries along its inner shore. The communities of Toms River Township, Berkeley Township, Lacey Township, Long Beach Island Township, among others sit along the estuaries on the bay.

The bay is entered from the ocean through the Barnegat Inlet, along which sits the Barnegat Lighthouse. The bay is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, entered on its north end by the Point Pleasant Canal and connecting on the south end with Little Egg Harbor via the small Manahawkin Bay. In a broader sense, the bay is sometimes considered to stretch to the south end of Long Beach Island and to include Little Egg Harbor.

 The area surrounding the Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet were described by Henry Hudson, in 1609, as "...a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be ... The mouth of the lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it." The bay was originally named in 1614 "Barendegat," or "Inlet of the Breakers," by Dutch settlers, referring to the waterway's turbulent channel. During the American Revolutionary War, the bay was used as refuge by American privateers.

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Karl Hess, Ocean Township, Ocean County Real Estate Agent