Why Cayman Islanders Voted to Stop a Cruise Ship Pier and Save Their Reef

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Imagine a tropical paradise choosing reef

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protection over economic promises.

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We don't hear that much, but it happened

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in Cayman Islands just

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last, or two months ago

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in April.

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We're going to talk about it on today's

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episode of the How to

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Protect the Ocean podcast.

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Let's start the show.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to another

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exciting episode of the How

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to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.

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This is the podcast where you find out

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what's happening with the

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ocean, how you could speak

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up for the ocean, and what you can do to

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live for a better ocean by taking action.

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For now until the rest of time, I'm

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really going to be focusing on action.

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And something that you can be focused if

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you want to take

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action for the ocean is you

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can join the undertow.

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A couple of episodes ago, I had, I

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actually published two

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episodes on the undertow.

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It's a startup, an ocean community that I

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co-founded with, or has

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brought on as a co-founder

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with my two co-founders,

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Amanda Horn and Serena Wynn.

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And we are putting this together because

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we want people to feel

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comfortable in taking

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action for the ocean,

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connecting with the ocean and so forth.

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You can come in there,

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virtual events, in-person events.

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This is an online app that we are

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cultivating this

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community together, no algorithm.

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So you can always get ocean information

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when you're on the app and

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you can join the undertow

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simply by going to speakupforblue.com

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forward slash join the undertow.

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It's a bit of a wait

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list right now to get in.

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We're releasing the app shortly, but we

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want you to join the

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undertow and take actions.

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Speakupforblue.com

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forward slash join the undertow.

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Let's get into action that was taken by

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the island of Cayman

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islands, Grand Cayman.

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And it was just a wonderful thing.

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It's where you go like,

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look, there's a referendum held.

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Do you want a big pier on your island?

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Okay.

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Yes or no.

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64% said no.

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No pier.

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That's awesome.

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That's not as easy as it sounds, but it's

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so great when

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democracy works in favor of,

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you know, citizens

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and for the environment.

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That doesn't happen a lot.

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So here's the thing of what's going on.

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So cruise ships are a big part of island

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communities, whether the

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citizens want it or not.

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Cruise ships go all over the Caribbean

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and like Mexico, all over the Caribbean,

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like really anywhere you want.

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And Grand Cayman is part of that.

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I remember visiting there a number of

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years ago and along seven mile beach,

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which is a gorgeous beach.

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There's a big pier where cruise ships

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come in and people can come

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for the day and, you know,

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shop and it's supposed to bring tourism

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on a daily basis or on a

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semi daily basis to the island.

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But it doesn't always necessarily work

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out in favor for the citizens.

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There's a lot of environmental damages

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when building a pier,

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whether they want it or not.

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It's a very intrusive process.

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You have to destroy some underwater part

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of the ocean for the pier to go in.

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And this pier, they wanted to bring a

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larger cruise ships directly to

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Georgetown, the capital.

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But there was

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concerns of reef destruction.

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There's concerns of overtourism and

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there's a concerns of just the

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transparency of the process.

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Because let's be honest, these

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processes are for developers.

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These processes are in favor of tourism,

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but really for these

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large ships, cruise ships.

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And so they're there for the companies,

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not necessarily the citizens.

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So a referendum was

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held on April 30th, 2025.

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The result 64.5% voted against the pier,

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which was really interesting.

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This is a non-binding referendum, but had

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a strong public impact and was held

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alongside votes on cannabis

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decriminalization and national lottery.

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So there's a lot of votes going on.

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I just think it's great that the island

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put that up for referendum to say, hey,

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does this do the

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citizens actually want this?

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A lot of times the citizens don't really

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feel like they don't really have a say.

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Sometimes they don't have a say.

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And the government just makes the

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decisions for them based on, you know,

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people voting in the

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government in this time.

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They held the referendum.

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I guess it's a small population that they

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can hold the referendum.

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Although I feel like referendum pretty

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humbles the government and being like, do

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we know what people want?

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So we'll hold a referendum.

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And if whatever that referendum will say,

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you know, it is what it is.

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I mean, let's look at Brexit in the UK.

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Not many people thought

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that Brexit would happen.

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The people voted on a referendum.

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Now Brexit happened.

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And we have what we have now in terms of

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the UK out of the European Union.

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There have been other votes that have

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happened across the world in different

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democracies for referendums.

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I think it's a great way to reset and

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give, you know, the power back to the

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people and to see what

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people really actually want.

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Now, there are a lot of campaigns that

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were run by CPR, Cayman National Trust

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and other grassroots groups led the

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opposition to this pier.

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And the key concerns, again, were damage

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to coral reefs and marine ecosystems, the

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threats to small businesses and cultural

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heritage and the lack of

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clear economic benefits.

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So here's the thing when we

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talk about small businesses.

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Small businesses are, you know, the

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backbone of society, right?

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We see small businesses.

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We go into those businesses.

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We connect with the community.

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The money stays within the community

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because the people who own those small

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businesses live within the community.

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So as you exchange money for products,

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that money, the profit that they pay for

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will go towards the house that that small

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business owner lives in the

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groceries that they pay for.

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They put money back into the community,

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whether it be through charitable

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donations or even just regular, you know,

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day to day spending.

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And so they are the backbone.

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And we've seen in a number of different

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towns and cities across the world that

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these small businesses are being put out

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of business due to large corporate

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businesses that come in and just get

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smaller prices because

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they have a lot of money.

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So I think that's going to be one of the things
that you're going to have to do is

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have a better purchasing power.

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And they just can

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serve the community more.

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You get everything you

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want in those big stores.

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You don't have to go to a store from

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store to store and people who

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are just in a rush are in that.

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They're just in a rush and it's very

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difficult to keep a small business these

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days going, you know,

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active in the community.

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So that's a tough thing.

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When you have cruise ships, now, how do

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the cruise ships relate?

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When you have cruise ships that come in

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and people get off the boat, you are

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going into a specific area, right?

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you are going into a specific area,

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if you're not in that

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area, you can only go so far.

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You know, a lot of times taxis and Ubers

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or whatever will take you to

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different parts of the island

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if it's a small enough island for the day

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and then bring you back in time

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to get back on your cruise ship.

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But a lot of the times

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you're in specific areas.

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Those areas sometimes

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where the port goes in

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are maybe owned by bigger businesses,

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maybe owned by part of

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the cruise lines, who knows?

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You never know where these

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corporations are putting these,

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you know, what we think

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look like small businesses,

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but are businesses that get a benefit

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from where these cruise ships go.

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So the smaller businesses pay the price

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or they have to pay larger rent,

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or they have to pay like for their stores

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to be there or things like that.

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So it's a real, you

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know, non benefit to this.

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It's a negative impact

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to these small businesses.

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So having these cruise ships, these

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bigger cruise ships come in is not

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necessarily good for the businesses,

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but also not good for the ocean.

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Not only do you have the impact of the

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reef destruction in

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construction of the pier,

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but you also have people coming to the

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island, more people coming to the island.

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We are in a big like growth economy.

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Everybody's talking about how do I grow?

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How do I do this? How do I grow?

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I want to grow

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bigger. I want to scale up.

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Everything's big. Everything's going up.

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At some point we have to look at these

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islands and they are small islands.

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They don't need massive growth.

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Sure, they need money.

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They want to grow. They

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want their economy to do well.

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But at some point there's, you know, when

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you get that benefit and

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you peak in terms of money,

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only certain people benefit from that

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money, as we just talked about.

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But also the reef gets destroyed.

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The environment gets changed.

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The citizens who live there have to

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change as well and have to adapt as well.

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And it's not always a benefit.

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And oftentimes it's a negative benefit to

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those island communities.

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Now I should preface this.

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I'm not somebody who

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lives on a small island.

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So I don't know like just the day to day

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impacts that small island communities

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01:07:23,500 --> 01:07:26,666
have on large tourism sort of pushes,

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01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:28,833
like a bigger cruise line coming in.

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01:07:28,833 --> 01:07:30,500
But I can't imagine that would be

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01:07:30,500 --> 01:07:31,000
something that would

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01:07:31,000 --> 01:07:32,416
be easily adaptable to,

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01:07:32,416 --> 01:07:33,750
especially when you're already trying to

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01:07:33,750 --> 01:07:35,041
adapt to small island living,

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01:07:35,458 --> 01:07:36,625
which you have increased prices.

288
01:07:36,625 --> 01:07:38,541
It's very expensive to live in the

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01:07:38,541 --> 01:07:40,500
Caribbean, especially on Grand Cayman.

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01:07:40,500 --> 01:07:41,416
It's very expensive just to

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01:07:41,416 --> 01:07:42,541
shop for day to day activities.

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01:07:43,000 --> 01:07:44,708
When we went there, just, you know, a

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01:07:44,708 --> 01:07:46,083
loaf of bread, milk and a

294
01:07:46,083 --> 01:07:48,125
couple of other items cost $100 US.

295
01:07:48,666 --> 01:07:49,375
That's a lot of money just

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01:07:49,375 --> 01:07:50,833
for a small amount of items.

297
01:07:50,833 --> 01:07:52,166
And that was before COVID.

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01:07:52,166 --> 01:07:53,416
That was before massive inflation.

299
01:07:53,750 --> 01:07:55,333
I can just imagine what it is now.

300
01:07:55,750 --> 01:07:57,541
It's very difficult for citizens to live

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01:07:57,541 --> 01:07:58,916
on that island that

302
01:07:58,916 --> 01:08:00,583
are born on that island,

303
01:08:00,583 --> 01:08:02,250
that not are coming in and buying big

304
01:08:02,250 --> 01:08:03,083
houses and are rich.

305
01:08:03,416 --> 01:08:05,666
These are people who have regular jobs,

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01:08:05,666 --> 01:08:07,625
you know, the middle class or even lower

307
01:08:07,625 --> 01:08:09,083
middle class that are

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01:08:09,083 --> 01:08:10,458
having trouble surviving.

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01:08:10,666 --> 01:08:12,458
I can't even imagine what people who are

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01:08:12,458 --> 01:08:14,875
below that status have, you know, are

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01:08:14,875 --> 01:08:15,916
having trouble with.

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01:08:15,916 --> 01:08:17,666
So it can be very difficult in that.

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01:08:17,958 --> 01:08:20,125
So the fact that they added a vote and

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01:08:20,125 --> 01:08:21,875
said, hey, do you want this massive peer?

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01:08:22,166 --> 01:08:23,916
People said no, people weren't happy, but

316
01:08:23,916 --> 01:08:25,125
a lot of people spoke out, which was

317
01:08:25,125 --> 01:08:26,458
great voices like Sylvia Earl,

318
01:08:26,791 --> 01:08:27,750
Jean-Michelus Cousteau.

319
01:08:27,750 --> 01:08:29,458
They also spoke out against this peer.

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01:08:29,500 --> 01:08:32,041
So the people, the campaigners got people

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01:08:32,041 --> 01:08:34,500
from outside of Grand Cayman to speak out

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01:08:34,500 --> 01:08:35,416
on their behalf to make

323
01:08:35,416 --> 01:08:36,416
sure that hey, you know what?

324
01:08:36,416 --> 01:08:38,250
It's not just people on the island are

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01:08:38,250 --> 01:08:39,750
concerned, but it's also people outside

326
01:08:39,750 --> 01:08:40,958
and that have a big impact.

327
01:08:41,500 --> 01:08:43,000
Dr. Sylvia Earl and Jean-Michelus

328
01:08:43,000 --> 01:08:45,208
Cousteau and others have a huge impact in

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01:08:45,208 --> 01:08:46,125
terms of what happens.

330
01:08:46,125 --> 01:08:47,083
They have press releases.

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01:08:47,291 --> 01:08:48,625
They have public relations teams that are

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01:08:48,625 --> 01:08:49,750
just amazing and they get

333
01:08:49,750 --> 01:08:51,458
their message gets far reaching.

334
01:08:51,458 --> 01:08:52,916
If that gets out and it's negative, that

335
01:08:52,916 --> 01:08:54,458
has an impact on how people look.

336
01:08:54,458 --> 01:08:55,708
So that's one of the things.

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01:08:55,750 --> 01:08:57,333
So, you know, we talk a lot about that,

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01:08:57,333 --> 01:09:00,125
how international voices can help in

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01:09:00,125 --> 01:09:01,625
areas and saying, hey, I'm not going to

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01:09:01,625 --> 01:09:03,666
go there if we have these big impacts.

341
01:09:03,750 --> 01:09:04,875
Right. So that's always good.

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01:09:05,208 --> 01:09:06,416
Now, there were arguments against, you

343
01:09:06,416 --> 01:09:07,541
know, the cruise industry was arguing

344
01:09:07,541 --> 01:09:09,500
against, but they said they're going to

345
01:09:09,500 --> 01:09:10,500
have to adapt to it.

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01:09:10,500 --> 01:09:12,375
They said it would modernize Cayman

347
01:09:12,375 --> 01:09:13,750
tourism and keep it competitive.

348
01:09:13,958 --> 01:09:15,458
But even though they have frustration

349
01:09:15,458 --> 01:09:17,291
with the vote, the way it turned out,

350
01:09:17,291 --> 01:09:18,125
they are willing to

351
01:09:18,125 --> 01:09:19,250
adapt and collaborate.

352
01:09:19,458 --> 01:09:20,500
We'll see how that happens.

353
01:09:20,500 --> 01:09:21,750
That's something that says, I'm glad

354
01:09:21,750 --> 01:09:22,333
they're saying that.

355
01:09:22,375 --> 01:09:23,708
They're not saying, hey, the vote was

356
01:09:23,708 --> 01:09:25,833
corrupt or, you know, it was fraudulent

357
01:09:25,833 --> 01:09:26,958
or anything like that.

358
01:09:27,250 --> 01:09:28,125
We're back into like,

359
01:09:28,125 --> 01:09:29,500
hey, democracy rules.

360
01:09:29,958 --> 01:09:31,000
And this is what people want.

361
01:09:31,208 --> 01:09:33,125
Now, cruise company may adapt to rules or

362
01:09:33,125 --> 01:09:34,250
explore other islands.

363
01:09:34,250 --> 01:09:35,750
So they might go to other islands.

364
01:09:35,750 --> 01:09:36,708
In this case, that's what

365
01:09:36,708 --> 01:09:38,000
the islanders have said.

366
01:09:38,000 --> 01:09:38,875
The Cayman islanders

367
01:09:38,875 --> 01:09:39,583
have said, you know what?

368
01:09:39,916 --> 01:09:40,833
We don't want you here.

369
01:09:40,833 --> 01:09:41,500
It's not for us.

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01:09:41,750 --> 01:09:43,541
The other thing is like, will development

371
01:09:43,541 --> 01:09:45,250
resurface in another form?

372
01:09:45,250 --> 01:09:46,916
So are they going to try and get, you

373
01:09:46,916 --> 01:09:48,958
know, a cruise line in some other ways,

374
01:09:48,958 --> 01:09:50,083
more cruise liners in other

375
01:09:50,083 --> 01:09:51,333
ways, build a smaller pier?

376
01:09:51,375 --> 01:09:52,541
Who knows what's going to happen?

377
01:09:53,000 --> 01:09:54,000
That's going to be a really

378
01:09:54,000 --> 01:09:55,416
difficult thing to look at.

379
01:09:55,416 --> 01:09:57,125
But this is really an example.

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01:09:57,125 --> 01:09:58,875
The story is really an example of local

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01:09:58,875 --> 01:10:01,083
people making a global change.

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01:10:01,083 --> 01:10:02,083
And that's really important.

383
01:10:02,083 --> 01:10:04,000
It sets a precedent for the Caribbean and

384
01:10:04,000 --> 01:10:05,833
beyond that says, if you give the people

385
01:10:05,833 --> 01:10:08,791
their power to vote on what they want and

386
01:10:08,791 --> 01:10:10,416
what they don't want, they will use it

387
01:10:10,416 --> 01:10:12,375
and they will activate that voice.

388
01:10:12,750 --> 01:10:13,375
And they will say,

389
01:10:13,375 --> 01:10:14,291
Hey, this is what we want.

390
01:10:14,291 --> 01:10:15,291
And that will turn into action.

391
01:10:15,583 --> 01:10:16,958
So the call to action really is to

392
01:10:16,958 --> 01:10:18,416
support more local efforts

393
01:10:18,416 --> 01:10:20,416
like these wherever you live.

394
01:10:20,583 --> 01:10:21,875
And it's very important that you act

395
01:10:21,875 --> 01:10:23,833
locally and then protecting oceans really

396
01:10:23,833 --> 01:10:25,333
starts with protecting places we love.

397
01:10:25,583 --> 01:10:28,208
So just like the people of Cayman did, we

398
01:10:28,208 --> 01:10:30,291
need to love our oceans.

399
01:10:30,291 --> 01:10:31,791
We need to love our environment, whether

400
01:10:31,791 --> 01:10:34,208
you live in Ontario, like I do, like

401
01:10:34,208 --> 01:10:36,166
you're beside the great lakes or you live

402
01:10:36,166 --> 01:10:37,041
along the coastline.

403
01:10:37,541 --> 01:10:40,000
You need to get out there, enjoy nature,

404
01:10:40,833 --> 01:10:42,041
understand nature, not just go for a hike

405
01:10:42,041 --> 01:10:42,875
for the sake of hiking,

406
01:10:42,875 --> 01:10:43,875
but really look around.

407
01:10:44,166 --> 01:10:45,541
Take like the iNaturalist app.

408
01:10:45,791 --> 01:10:47,000
Look at the species that are around.

409
01:10:47,458 --> 01:10:48,291
Are they native?

410
01:10:48,291 --> 01:10:48,958
Are they invasive?

411
01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:49,958
Just start to look and just

412
01:10:49,958 --> 01:10:52,000
love what you see and enjoy it.

413
01:10:52,000 --> 01:10:53,833
Take your time to just relax.

414
01:10:54,125 --> 01:10:55,291
And I think that's really important.

415
01:10:55,708 --> 01:10:57,583
So this is just a great story of local

416
01:10:57,583 --> 01:11:00,000
action actually doing some great work and

417
01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:02,791
preventing a large cruise liners or more

418
01:11:02,791 --> 01:11:04,833
larger cruise liners coming in and a

419
01:11:04,833 --> 01:11:06,791
bigger pier being destructive, bigger

420
01:11:06,791 --> 01:11:08,208
pier not being built.

421
01:11:08,208 --> 01:11:08,916
So that's always great.

422
01:11:09,250 --> 01:11:10,666
And yeah, that's just, I want to share

423
01:11:10,666 --> 01:11:12,291
that just show that there is hope and

424
01:11:12,291 --> 01:11:13,500
there are ways that people are protecting

425
01:11:13,500 --> 01:11:15,875
the ocean, even in small islands and

426
01:11:15,875 --> 01:11:16,500
having international

427
01:11:16,500 --> 01:11:17,958
voices as well as local voices.

428
01:11:18,000 --> 01:11:19,458
So I want to thank the people of Grand

429
01:11:19,458 --> 01:11:21,375
Cayman for doing what they're doing and

430
01:11:21,375 --> 01:11:23,625
enjoying their ability to vote and taking

431
01:11:23,625 --> 01:11:25,166
that ability to vote to heart.

432
01:11:25,583 --> 01:11:27,083
And I want to thank you for listening to

433
01:11:27,083 --> 01:11:28,208
this episode of the How to

434
01:11:28,208 --> 01:11:29,166
Protect the Ocean podcast.

435
01:11:29,166 --> 01:11:30,333
Don't forget, if you want to take action,

436
01:11:30,625 --> 01:11:32,250
you can go to speakupforblue.com forward

437
01:11:32,250 --> 01:11:34,000
slash join the undertow.

438
01:11:34,500 --> 01:11:35,583
Thank you so much for listening to this

439
01:11:35,583 --> 01:11:36,416
episode of the How to

440
01:11:36,416 --> 01:11:37,375
Protect the Ocean podcast.

441
01:11:37,375 --> 01:11:38,750
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, from the

442
01:11:38,750 --> 01:11:39,791
true North strong and free.

443
01:11:39,791 --> 01:11:40,416
Have a great day.

444
01:11:40,416 --> 01:11:41,000
We'll talk to you next

445
01:11:41,000 --> 01:11:42,416
time and happy conservation.