In March of 2026, ESA protections were lifted from the Gulf as a result of the “God Squad” decision to grant the oil and gas industry an exemption from ESA consultation requirements.

The God Squad is officially called the Endangered Species Committee and is made up of six permanent members including the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and the Army; the Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. A seventh member is designated by the President.

The God Squad was designed to be a measure of last resort when conflicts between needed projects and species protection cannot be resolved. Given what is at stake and that most conflicts arising between species protection and development can be worked out, the God Squad has been very rarely convened. The last convening was in 1992, when the decision was made to overturn protections for the spotted owl. And that decision was later withdrawn after litigation.

In this convening, the God Squad ignored the usual requirements and findings that the extraordinary measure of an ESA exemption was necessary. Without even finding an irreconcilable conflict between oil and gas development and protecting species, the God Squad relied on a never before used “national security” exemption to erase protections.

The seven-member Endangered Species Committee’s unanimous vote to exempt oil and gas development in the Gulf from the Endangered Species Act—allowing oil producers to ignore long-standing commonsense safety practices—sidesteps proven practices to develop energy resources and safeguard threatened and endangered species. National Wildlife Federation press release, March 31, 2026

Without ESA protections in the Gulf, the Rice’s whales’ habitat could be facing devastating impacts and put further stress on the few whales that are left.

“Extinction is an unacceptable price to pay for expediency, especially when long-established, commonsense practices can help energy development and wildlife recovery co-exist,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Endangered species in the Gulf are not impeding our military readiness nor our strategic positions—and allowing harm to them will not make our troops or nation safer. We should be rallying the nation to recover America’s critically endangered species like the Rice’s whale and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, and we urge oil companies to continue to follow responsible practices that protect wildlife, while we work with Congress and the courts on a responsible path forward.”

Rice’s Whale 101 and Its Role in a Healthy Marine Ecosystem

The Rice’s whale is a baleen whale, which means it is a filter feeder, and feeds on krill and plankton. It’s gray on top, has a pale gray to light pink belly, a uniquely shaped hooked dorsal fin and can grow up to 42 feet long.

Their life span is unknown; however, it’s estimated that the Rice’s whale can live up to 60 years (based on the life span of a closely related whale species). It was recognized as its own unique whale species in 2021, the Balaenoptera ricei. It was previously thought to be a subspecies of the Bryde’s whale.

The Rice’s whale and other whales contribute to blue carbon storage. Whales are efficient creatures; they are able to capture and store atmospheric carbon in their bodies. When they die, they most likely sink to the ocean floor; the carbon is trapped and prevented from being released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Additionally, whales bring nitrogen and other nutrients to the ocean surface, this process is called “the whale pump.”

Threats to the Rice’s Whale

The Rice’s whale is facing many threats including oil spills, plastics pollution, vessel strikes, ghost gear entanglement, ocean noise, etc.

Oil spills are pretty common in the Gulf and could happen more often with the ESA protections being lifted. Oil can coat the baleen (the filter feeding structure inside the whale’s mouth) making it difficult for the whale to eat, and the whale could even swallow the oil.

According to NOAA, “scientists estimate that 48 percent of Rice’s whale habitat in the eastern Gulf was exposed to oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. And as a result, the whale’s population may have declined by up to 22 percent, and there are likely lingering effects on reproduction and population growth.” Exposure to oil can also cause respiratory issues, increased vulnerability to diseases, skin irritation, and other health impacts.

Other current threats that will most likely increase due to more oil and gas activities in the Gulf include vessel strikes and impacts from underwater noise. There is already a high amount of traffic in the northern Gulf where several commercial shipping lanes coincide with the whale’s territory. In 2009, a female Rice’s whale was found dead in Tampa Bay; it was determined that a vessel strike was the cause of death.

Additionally, shipping and energy (oil and gas) exploration and development activities produce noise underwater. For example, seismic surveys use loud air guns to map the ocean floor for oil and gas.

This underwater noise interferes with the hearing and call frequency range of Rice’s whales. “It is likely that Rice’s whales rely on their hearing to perform critical life functions such as communicating, navigating, finding mates and food, and avoiding predators.”

Check out New York Times interactive graphic about the effects of sonic blasts on the Rice’s whale. Click to view graphic.

Plastic pollution is also a critical threat to the whale’s habitat; Scientists believe between 5-13 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010. An estimated 56 percent of whale, dolphin and porpoise species have consumed plastic, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency. Plastic often looks like food, or is ingested accidentally with water and zooplankton, like krill, as baleen whales (e.g., Rice’s whale) feed. As a result, plastic can block these animals’ breathing passages and stomachs, leading to death. Entanglement in ghost gear (abandoned fishing gear) can also impact the Rice’s whale’s ability to swim freely, surface to breath, and eat.

The Gulf’s “dead zone”, the second largest in the world, is a low-oxygen zone, that negatively impacts all marine animals including the Rice’s whales and other cetaceans. 

How You Can Help the Rice’s Whales

• Contact your public official and advocate for the Endangered Species Act. NWF’s Action Fund Advocacy Toolkit provides guidance on the many ways to share your message of support with friends, family, public officials, media outlets, and more.
• Tell your family and friends about the Rice’s whales and the threats they are facing in the Gulf.

Read NWF Blog, Oceans Are the Heart of the Planet, to learn how oceans provide vital support for living creatures, humans and wildlife.

Kids’ Corner with Ranger Rick

• Read: The Ocean
• Read: Who Needs Teeth?
• Watch: Amazing Orcas! Fascinating Killer Whale Facts for Kids
• Watch: Humpback tail slap
• Watch: Motion of the Ocean

Critical minerals are a class of raw materials that according to the Department of Energy “ha[ve] a high risk of supply chain disruption” and or “serve an essential function in one or more energy technologies.” These include minerals such as copper, lithium, and many others. 

Clean energy infrastructure, from solar panels to electric vehicle batteries to wind turbines, requires more critical minerals to manufacture compared to fossil fuel based infrastructure. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an electric vehicle requires six times the amount of minerals in comparison to a gas powered vehicle and an onshore wind farm requires nine times more minerals in comparison to a gas-fired plant. The IEA projects that given the accelerating pace of clean energy uptake, critical mineral demand could potentially triple by 2030.

Although meeting the rising demand for these materials is challenging, deploying clean energy is necessary to lower greenhouse gases, slow climate change, and secure a safe and healthy planet for future generations. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution from residential energy, vehicles, power generation, agriculture/waste incineration, and industry causes 7 million premature deaths annually. This loss of life is not only unacceptable, it is avoidable.  Expanding clean energy can improve our health and livelihood by reducing harmful air pollution from fossil fuels.  

This fundamental requirement for our clean energy future is even more complex given that the U.S. currently imports the vast majority of these minerals from other countries. Relying on other nations for materials that are so critical to our energy system leaves vulnerabilities if geopolitical conflict or economic uncertainty occur—but the same is true for oil and other imports. Additionally, many of the countries the U.S. imports critical minerals from have lower (or nonexistent) environmental and worker protection standards. 

This need for domestically supplied critical minerals is driving a renewed conversation around domestic mining and processing of these minerals. Supplying our own critical minerals could minimize the risk of price volatility and supply interruptions that we may face from internationally sourced minerals. However, many of these minerals have to be mined and processed, or recycled, before they can be turned into something useful.

Mining operations in the United States must be conducted with environmental and social safeguards to protect our lands, waters, and the communities and wildlife populations adjacent to mining sites. If these extraction processes are conducted with proper permitting to ensure wildlife protections and community input, the U.S. would be able to expand clean energy deployment while also providing a variety of new jobs in the mining and mineral processing sectors. 

Addressing the supply chain challenges are complicated and challenging, but solving these hard problems is both possible and necessary to slow the impacts of climate change.

Find out more about NWF’s work on critical minerals and clean energy here. 

Muir, a conservationist and co-founder of the Sierra Club, was a young man at 29 when he walked, seeking to quench his thirst for botanical knowledge as he traversed roughly 1000 miles. When I reflect on that journey today, is there some motivational truth in his adventure, in that spontaneous act of motion and boldness, that might speak to my heart and soul all these years later? As we seek to conserve nature, and are there lessons from his travels we can learn from?

If you don’t know the story of Muir’s walk, here goes the expedient and simplified version. Muir was injured, recovered and dedicated his life to the study and appreciation of nature. He began in northern Kentucky, in 1867, and walked to the Gulf at Cedar Key, Florida. He traveled across a war-ravaged American South and was a passionate student of botany, hoping to explore and understand the landscapes he passed through.

But the humble mosquito laid him low! It is believed that malaria struck as he entered Florida near Fernandina Beach and was in full force when he reached Cedar Key and the Gulf, where he had to rest for several months. 

Two powerful and transformative things occurred in Cedar Key on the shores of the Gulf: First, he decided that traveling through warm, moist climates was not for him. Originally intending to head to the southernmost tip of South America, his experience with malaria changed his mind. Instead, he went west in search of California’s wilderness and temperate climate. That change in plans changed American conservation and American nature writing forever.

Second, and just as importantly, he developed his version of a philosophy called “deep ecology.” He came to believe, after profound soul searching and reflection, that all of nature had its own intrinsic value separate from its value to humanity.

Nature had its own right to exist. Out of this powerful epiphany was born the American conservation movement. And little old Cedar Key along the Gulf was part of where it all happened.

Muir found boldness, a sense of adventure and faith grounded in a deep passion for the world. It led him to write great works of nature writing, it led him to form the Sierra Club and it led him to invite President Teddy Roosevelt to join him on a backcountry camping trip that eventually led to the creation of Yosemite National Park.

Muir’s sense of adventure, his courage to walk through the natural world not with fear but with curiosity, and his eventual willingness to use the spoken and written word to advocate for all things wild was born in part on his journey to the Gulf. May we find inspiration and guidance today as we seek to do the same.

Learn more about Muir’s “A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf” and his time in Florida or visit the Cedar Key Museum State Park to learn more about the Cedar Key Muir visited. 

Joe Murphy is a former Wildlife Policy Specialist for NWF’s Gulf Program. He contributes these posts as a NWF supporter and alumnus. Joe lives along the Nature Coast of Florida. You can follow Joe on Facebook.

The photo accompanying the June news story of a newborn orca L130 is encouraging. Little L130 is surfacing, swimming, bouncing, alive—and most importantly, “appearing well-fed, with visible fat reserves.” This fills us all with hope. 

Though a new calf is here, this latest dispatch comes from the frontline of extinction. We hold our collective breath and hope for this newest addition to the L Pod because the Southern Resident orca are an emblem of an endangered species. This specific population of orca whale was once 200 strong, but has dwindled to just 74, pushing them ever closer to extinction.

Our evolving relationship with marine mammals

I was visiting my old home near Penn Cove, when the news of L130 landed. It’s a bizarre coincidence given that this is the site of a deeply tragic chapter in our relationship with these magnificent Salish Sea denizens. From these tranquil waters, between 1965 and 1973, 45 Southern Resident killer whales were penned, captured and then delivered to marine parks. Tokitae, also known as Lolita, was among the whales airlifted out of Penn Cove and ultimately sold to the Miami Seaquarium.

Tokitae became known worldwide and was the last orca in captivity when she died in 2023. It was her plight that prompted an important evolution in our relationship with these whales and the ethical treatment of them. In 1976, a federal court settlement permanently prohibited the capturing or selling whales from Washington waters. It was an important moment in public opinion that finally rejected the idea of the trafficking of these intelligent whales in service of cheap entertainment.

As Tokitae’s strange life unfolded at the Miami Seaquarium, so did that of the members of J, K L and L pods in her orca family. However, their fight to thrive was shaped by an entirely different force: the pursuit of cheap hydroelectric energy in the Northwest.

Salmon runs hit a wall in the era of cheap hydroelectric energy 

After the construction was completed on the Lower Granite dam in 1975, the fourth on the lower Snake River, fish migration and populations began to suffer. As a result, the Southern Residents, who thrived on Columbia River Basin chinook, began to feel the sting of misguided river management. It was depriving them of their most important food source.   

The impacts to salmon and steelhead populations quickly accumulated when migration routes were blocked and the fast-flowing river was transformed into a series of slack pools of increasingly hot water, fatal to cold-water fish. Climate change accelerated river temperatures and fish kills. Soon—and to this day—the plight of the Southern Resident orca is largely defined by starvation.

In 2018 and again in 2025, it was the orca mother Talequah pushing her dead calves that focused international attention on the many challenges that these magnificent sea mammals face. Top among them is hunger. If we can put a stop to the cruelty of capture and captivity of orcas, couldn’t we also commit to ensuring that they have enough to eat? Dams are replaceable. Salmon are not. Once dams come out, as we’ve seen repeatedly across the country, and most recently on the Klamath, fish populations recover. 

A historic visit and a lesson to be learned

In the fall of 2024, the members of the L pod returned to Penn Cove for the first time in 53 years. Observers saw the whales “pacing,” and “swimming back and forth, near three different sites that were important to the captures.” The orcas’ behavior was deeply moving to residents of the Cove.

As a former resident myself, I’m wondering if the room for healing puts a more important and urgent call for the need to do better for these beautiful mammals. We know this orca mother wants her little calf to thrive. We know they are struggling. We know that they need more food to eat.

In doing so, they open doors to STEAM careers that many students haven’t been exposed to or yet imagined for themselves. NWF continues to work closely with GM staff to recruit and match GM volunteer mentors, schools, and students each year, because the program’s growth and success depend on it.

That support takes many forms: helping schools develop sustainability action plans, leading green career days, mentoring students one-on-one, and joining hands-on community workdays. GM’s national STEAM investments reflect the same commitment. This year alone, the company’s nonprofit partners have introduced more than 300,000 students to STEAM careers as part of a broader effort to build a diverse talent pipeline through hands-on learning.

This year’s Eco-Schools National Wildlife Federation General Motors Green STEAM Partnership results highlight mentor-powered work across every participating school: 1,100+ hours of outdoor learning, 142 energy conservation actions, 37,800 square feet of habitat created, 45 native trees planted, 1,800 native plants planted, 23,300 lbs. of waste collected, 13 water conservation actions implemented, 3,300 youth engaged, and 157 actions completed.

Marygrove High School: A Senior-Led Capstone

At Marygrove High School in Detroit, MI, every student takes a core engineering course built around the Human-Centered Design Framework, and seniors spend the year applying it to a real community partnership.

This year, senior Cherokee Barrow, now headed to the University of Michigan on a full-ride scholarship, worked directly with GM Mentors to coordinate and implement their Eco-Schools action plan for the 2025-26 school year, expanding this work to include student groups at the high school’s sister elementary-middle school.

Cherokee didn’t work alone. Detroit is one of the largest U.S. cities without a full-service supermarket, and roughly two-thirds of residents struggle to consistently access healthy and affordable food.

This is a reality juniors Rowan Beck and Olivia Winters tackled head-on by leading the school’s Aspen Challenge team to address food access as a community issue. AP Environmental Science teacher Kerry Williams supported their hydroponics and aquaponics systems. Mark Fentress of CWO Farm, a working farm on Marygrove’s campus, mentored students through a hydroponics capstone project.

The GM connection ran through nearly everything the students did this year. A career fair brought GM employees Andre Houston and Haley Beebe to campus to speak about their own career journeys, giving students a direct look at what a real-world STEAM career can be.

Andre and Haley later returned for the school’s capstone symposium, where more than 100 community members watched students present hydroponics, an edible garden, composting, rainwater collection, and wildlife habitat projects, capped off with a short student-made film.

Bowsher High School: Building on Years of GM Mentorship

In Toledo, Sherri Zeller, GM’s Environmental Lead and a longtime Eco-Schools mentor at Bowsher High School, Sherman Elementary, and the Aerospace and Natural Science Academy of Toledo, has spent two years helping Bowsher’s action team grow its school garden and pull in more teachers and students.

This year, students partnered with GM volunteers to build insect hotels, weed, plant native species and vegetables, water, and mulch. They documented their progress in photos shared in the district newsletter, The Bridge, and later by Sherri with the broader GM community.

The team also created an Eco-Code and completed an action plan that expanded the school’s edible garden to 600 square feet with 30 native plants and its pollinator garden to 300 square feet with 15 native milkweed plants for monarch butterflies. The University of Toledo swim team also helped with spring and fall garden cleanups. As one teacher noted, the Eco-Schools action cards offer so many strong options that the biggest challenge is deciding where to begin.

Why Mentors Make the Difference

None of this—the gardens, data, career fairs, or capstone projects—would happen without GM staff volunteers returning year after year. Mentors like Sherri Zeller, Andre Houston, and Haley Beebe do more than oversee projects: they show students what STEAM careers look like in practice, connect classroom learning to community impact, and help students like Cherokee Barrow see a path beyond graduation.

As GM continues its national investment in hands-on STEAM education, Eco-Schools brings that commitment to life: a senior earning a full-ride scholarship, a garden helping feed a school, and students already meeting the people shaping the careers they may one day pursue.

Read this blog to learn more about the practice of forest bathing and to access tips and resources on how to level up your outdoor events this summer through forest bathing, nature appreciation, and wildlife education.

What Is Forest Bathing?

Forest bathing, at its core, is the practice of blending mindfulness and nature appreciation. In many ways, cultures across the globe have long understood a connection between spending time outdoors and improved mood and mental health. 

The first official studies about this relationship began in Japan in the late 80s, when scientists started investigating the links between spending quality time outdoors and improved mood and lower stress.

The country noticed that its highly overworked and productive workforce was experiencing increased stress and burnout. They responded by encouraging shinrin-yoku, which means “taking in the forest air,” to de-stress. 

Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, was popularized by Japanese physician Dr. Quing Li as a practice that blends mindfulness and nature appreciation to improve wellness. 

De-Mystifying Forest Bathing: My Personal Journey 

This summer, I did my first non-traditional forest-bathing exercise in Austin, Texas. When I first learned I would be doing forest bathing during my trip, I thought I needed formal training to participate or appreciate the experience.

I also assumed we needed to be in a forest to truly practice forest bathing. When the opportunity arose, I was surprised to learn that forest bathing felt incredibly natural to me. 

Through a guided session led by someone intimately familiar with the land and its wild creatures, I slowed down and connected with nature through mindfulness and meditation. I saw my first painted bunting, a northern cardinal, and on the ground, I saw inchworms, anthills, prickly pear cactus, and many more creatures. 

I learned that forest bathing, simply put, is the practice of blending mindfulness and meditation with an appreciation of nature. I didn’t need to be in a forest to go through the experience, and you don’t either!

The experience opened my eyes to how forest bathing can be a powerful tool for wildlife education. I was fully present, relaxed, and immersed in a small garden, and I felt like a sponge, absorbing new information about local Texas wildlife and pollinators.

I left my experience wanting to encourage others to embrace the experience and its potential for enhancing environmental education outcomes.

You can practice forest bathing in any natural environment, your backyard, a local park, or a Certified Wildlife Habitat garden. Forest bathing is a great way to introduce wildlife and pollinator education to any group and community. 

Check out these tips to educate your friends, family, and community about local wildlife and pollinators through mindfulness and nature appreciation. 

Steps to Practice Forest Bathing or “Mindfulness in Nature” Where You Live, Learn, Work, Play, and Worship 

• Find a place to sit in stillness, preferably in a garden, your backyard, a meadow, or any natural environment. 
• Slow down and take in your surroundings through your five senses. Spend 1-2 minutes exploring each sense.
• Notice the farthest thing you can hear, then focus on what you can hear the closest to you. 
• Open your eyes and focus on one living critter you can see, and observe how it moves across the land. 
• Take time to point out and share some fun facts about birds, pollinators, and other wild critters native to your area.

Record Your Sightings, Mood, and More in a Nature Journal 

• Print out NWF’s Summer Nature Notebook and ask participants to record their mood before and after your activity. Hopefully, people notice a change in stress levels or anxiety, as spending quality time in nature has been shown to improve mental health.
• Ask people to record what stood out to them during the experience. Which plants, birds, or pollinators caught their eye? 
• Play Butterfly Bingo and see if you can spot a butterfly or moth doing any of their common behaviors, whether it’s flocking, puddling, or more! 

Host Your Own Mindful Nature Events and Outdoor Activities this Summer 

Forest bathing is an experience that anyone can practice at home, in a local park, or a small garden. Hosting your own forest bathing experiences can be a powerful tool to introduce new groups to the concept of blending mindfulness and quality time in nature while enhancing environmental education. 

NWF has a collection of quizzes that will prime you with some fun facts you can add to your toolbox as you take your friends, family, or community on your own forest bathing adventure. 

Expand your knowledge with these NWF quizzes: 

• Our Petals and Pollinators quiz showcases how plants and pollinators have co-evolved over thousands of years, with plants developing complex ways to attract pollinators and pollinators developing specialized traits to enhance their pollination effectiveness.

Read more about how to garden for pollinators using evolutionary history in our newest blog.

• Take our How Much Do You Know About Bees quiz and expand your knowledge about our mightiest pollinators.
• Learn more about monarch butterflies, where they migrate, how to identify them, and more with our monarch butterfly quiz. 
• Did you know some bats are pollinators? Learn bat facts and test your bat knowledge with our quiz!

Bonus Section: Here are some other fun summer activities, particularly for youth! 

• Download Ranger Rick’s Nature Notebook and use the activities to explore nature this summer! 
• Our Endangered Species Day Coloring Book is a great year-round activity that blends art and education for any age.  

On a darkened, windswept beach along the coast of Georgia, a sea turtle nested as we struggled to build our family. The magic, the miracle she shared with us that evening, still resonates through our family today.

When my wife and I adopted our children, it was wild and natural shared experiences that bonded us as a family in those fragile early days. Starting a new family with kids who have experienced trauma, you realize you have no stories as a family yet. You must build them as you experience them and retell them as often as you can.

Nature offered a safe place for us to build a family. We could learn about new places and each other at the same time. We could find the beauty and wonder of nature as we discovered the beauty and wonder in each other. The deep bonds of connection and the natural world saved us.

A trip to Jekyll Island, Georgia and a nighttime Turtle Walk with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) was a first step. It proved a pivotal moment in the evolution of our family.

Our kids begged us to go on the nighttime Turtle Walk on the beach. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and we obliged. We gathered for a program at GSTC. The excitement grew from there. The young guides who would lead the walk described what we might see and captured the magic of what the evening could bring.

As we walked along the open and wild beach all the sights, sounds and smells of a beach at night greeted us. A high tide brought the breaking waves closer. In the gathering cool of the evening, into a brisk wind, we walked. And walked. But nary a complaint was heard.

Suddenly the guide’s radio crackled to life! “Head down the beach to the south end of the island. There is a nesting female near the overlook for the soccer fields. She is nesting right now!”

Our kids were leaping with joy. They hustled us along as fast as we could go, and soon we were there. 

Before us unfolded a miracle of life that had occurred in elemental cycles as far back in the natural history of the Earth as we could fathom. Back into deep time, into geologic times before humanity, known only to the Earth itself.  We were watching evolution in motion.

We stood awestruck and transfixed as the female loggerhead sea turtle laid her eggs. 

Our guides whispered and kept us at a safe and respectful distance. They allowed the children to slowly approach the turtle in small groups. A hush fell over them as they watched the magic of the coast and of the turtle.

We lost track of time as everything condensed into the power of that moment. Soon the winds increased and the flashes of lighting mixed with the rumbles of thunder grew closer. The first cold drops of rain began to fall.  It was time to go.

As we drove back to the hotel our children recounted, over and over and almost breathlessly, what they had witnessed. It was like the recounting of it would extend the magic. 

That night changed us. It is the deep truth. We had a beautiful, powerful, positive shared experience that we could pass around like a sacred object. Soon, we added more of those sacred objects and memories to create a mosaic of love and memory.

That turtle, that beach, that nest, and that trip became part of our journey to wholeness. We owe that turtle a deep and immense debt of gratitude. Many years later, we still tell that story.

I support NWF’s efforts to conserve the marine and coastal resources of the Gulf and South Atlantic. Wildlife depends on large, healthy ecosystems for the full life cycle from birth to breeding age to long life. NWF works hard to ensure lights out on beaches for nesting and to protect effective endangered species regulations in places like the Gulf, so sea turtles are safe as they move across the vast oceans of the Americas.

While NWF does this work for the turtles, it has tremendous benefit for people as well. Our family cherishes this.

We are planning a trip soon to take my granddaughters to that very same spot, that beach bathed in celestial light, and hope that it is magic again. We are returning as the nesting sea turtle did.  Like the turtle we will use our version of natal homing and our collective memory to revisit a place of great importance. The cycle continues.

An edited version of this blog appeared previously in The Invading Sea. Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives in Brooksville, Florida along the Nature Coast. Joe is a former Wildlife Policy Specialist for NWF’s Gulf Program and submits these blogs as a member, supporter, and alumnus of NWF. You can follow Joe on Facebook.

GSTC is one of the south’s premier sea turtle education and rehabilitation centers. Their Turtle Walks are designed to be exciting, educational, but above all else safe for the nesting turtle. To learn more, visit their website.

The first-ever global analysis of plastic production found that “between 2002 and 2015 we made the exact same amount of plastic that we (humans) made between 1950 and 2002.” And much of this plastic ends up in the environment, including our rivers and oceans, by people littering, illegal dumping, and accidental loss of trash during strong winds or during transport.

Additionally, marine activities are a critical source of plastic waste in the ocean; ghost gear (lost or abandoned fishing nets, ropes, and other gear) is a growing problem. It should also be noted that all the rivers of the world are contributors to plastic pollution as they drain their respective populated land masses.

Plastics in the ocean absorb and release toxic pollutants, and these toxins enter marine food webs when animals accidentally consume plastics. Because plastic lingers in the oceans and waterways for extended periods of time, the threat is not only a continuing toxin threat, but the physical plastic item itself presents a bodily threat to marine life.

Plastic pollution is a critical threat to the world’s wildlife, particularly marine life. Scientists believe about 8 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010, and that number has probably increased since then.

Plastic is everywhere and unfortunately will be with us beyond its intended use unless we get serious about waste management strategies which necessarily begin with individuals.

One morning this past spring, I pondered this thought while I was out looking for birds and all the magic and joy they bring us. My trusty binoculars hung from my neck. My skill and luck with birding and fishing are about the same, so I am deeply thankful for anything I stumble across. 

I was reminded of Matthew 6:26 and its call to “look at the birds of the air.” I know there is a deeper and greater meaning to this passage than simply calling on us to look up and take in the wonder of birds in flight, but I enjoy thinking of it as the birder’s passage.

What struck me, though, was the realization that one day we may indeed look for the birds of the air, and many will be gone. Many of the species that we hold dear will have disappeared into the dark night of extinction from which there is no dawn. 

As I observed Endangered Species Day 2026, and contemplated the true meaning of extinction in the context of evolution and natural selection, it was hard not to think of its impact on faith and creation. The moral implications of allowing another species to fall victim to extinction are as profoundly catastrophic as the ecological ones.

I find it hard to differentiate between deep and profound faith and the concept that we have a responsibility to honor and respect, to care for and to cherish creation. The abundance and complexity of the majesty of the natural world is endlessly inspiring. I find inspiration and sustenance of my faith in it, just as I will in Church on Sunday morning. The two threads for me are deeply intertwined.

If you don’t share this view, I respect that completely.

If your passion for conservation is rooted more in a non-faith-based world view then I celebrate your right to follow that path and profoundly appreciate your love of the natural world.

Given the threats the Gulf faces, any ally on the front lines of preservation is a kindred spirit. I seek not to convince you of anything except to continue to advocate for all things wild. I celebrate and appreciate your efforts and hope to join you in solidarity.

I do question the profound hypocrisy of those in power, who lead efforts in Washington D.C. to gut the Endangered Species Act and who speak of their faith and how it guides them, only to recklessly and callously tear creation asunder.

I urge those who would cast the sea turtle, the Rice’s Whale and the other threatened and endangered species in the Gulf into oblivion in the name of oil and gas profits, to consider the moral and theological consequences of their actions.

Can they reconcile their passion for their faith with the wholesale destruction they seek to bring down on creation and the natural world?

Whether you walk the path of dominion or stewardship, there is an inherent responsibility to other species as part of caring for and honoring creation. Extinction at the hands of humanity shows none.

Humanity has assumed the role of being the agents of evolution and extinction. We now decide which species survive or which disappears. That is a greater power than we should have.

But as we have it, we need to be guided by our better angels. We need to adapt to the needs of other species, not selfishly expect them to adapt to ours.

As we ponder the true consequences of extinction and our moral responsibility to those species we have endangered, let us be guided by our higher purpose to seek improvement in the world and a better planet for our children, and for our kindred species.

I choose that as the legacy I hope to leave. I urge you too as well.

And to the leaders who profess adherence to a higher path while endangering the natural world, you must stop. For other species, for our country and as a matter of conscience.

Endangered Species Day 2026 could have been a day of mourning, it could have been a day of remembrance, or a day of reflection. But it can inspire us now to move forward and be a starting point for action and inspire days of recommitment across our great nation to the values of conservation and the commitment to cherish creation.

Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives in Brooksville, Florida, along the Gulf Coast. Joe is a former Wildlife Policy Specialist with NWF’s Gulf Program. He contributes these blogs to NWF’s Gulf Program as a alumnus and supporter. You can follow Joe on Facebook. Portions of this blog post initially appeared in FAU’s The Invading Sea in an edited and abridged format.

But these wasps aren’t out for human blood, and their presence in your milkweed is a benefit to butterflies. Learn why these scary-looking insects are actually a wonder to have around the garden!

Your Milkweed is Working as Designed

Tarantula hawks are one of the main pollinators of milkweed. If you’re planting milkweed to support pollinators, then seeing these wasps around means your garden is succeeding!

Plus, by pollinating milkweed and other native plants, tarantula hawk wasps help ensure these important plants continue to grow in the landscape to provide habitat for monarchs and other pollinators. The wasp at the flower and the monarch you’re hoping to support are linked through the same plant.

Find milkweed for monarchs (and wasps) with our Native Plant Finder!

Tarantula Hawks are Docile While Foraging

Tarantula hawks at flowers are almost always docile. Foraging time is strictly for gaining energy, and aggression costs energy; there’s no reason for a nectaring wasp to spend its calories chasing a human. Pretty much the only time a foraging tarantula hawk will sting is if someone touches it or swats at it, in which case it is trying to protect itself. Stand near a milkweed full of these wasps and they will ignore you completely while they eat.

Aggression is for Rival Wasps, Not Humans

Male tarantula hawks claim dominance through a behavior called hilltopping, which is essentially the children’s game King of the Hill played by wasps.

A dominant male perches on the highest, most conspicuous post near foraging grounds—a tall shrub, the corner of a building, the tip of a fence—and launches out to investigate anything that moves past, including humans!

He’s checking whether the moving object is a rival male to be chased away or a receptive female to mate with. Either way, he needs to arrive at speed. Wait a few seconds, and the male will return to his post once he realizes you are not a wasp.

Male Wasps Can’t Sting

This is the most important point: only female tarantula hawks have stingers. The males doing the dramatic intercept flights from their perches, the ones that might feel like they are “chasing” you, are physically incapable of stinging. They might look terrifying but are completely harmless.

Females, meanwhile, spend most of their time in that calm, can’t-be-bothered foraging mood. When they’re not foraging, they’re hunting tarantulas—which is what the species name refers to. This is the only kind of animal they will sting aggressively, and they do it for a reason: to bring back to her nest, alive but paralyzed, to feed her young. Females do not chase humans. They chase tarantulas!

Designing Gardens with Tarantula Hawks in Mind

When gardening with milkweed in tarantula hawk territory, a couple design choices can substantially reduce unwanted encounters:

1. Tuck milkweed away from high-traffic paths and tall conspicuous perches. Doorways, walkways, and the immediate edges of buildings are exactly where you don’t want a hilltopping male to set up. Group plantings away from those zones when possible.
2. Build a better perch. If the affected area is near a building or other structure that’s currently the tallest perch around, consider installing a pole with a small platform on top, taller than the building, set about thirty feet away in a quieter spot. This may pull territorial males off the building edge and into a location where their displays won’t startle anyone.

The Bigger Picture

A milkweed planting that attracts tarantula hawks is a planting that’s pulling in real pollinator diversity. The same flowers feeding the wasps are feeding monarchs, native bees, and more. The wasps are also keeping the local tarantula population in check, which, depending on where you live, is a service worth keeping around.

Once you can read the behavior, these encounters stop feeling like attacks and start looking like what they actually are: a healthy native ecosystem doing its thing, loudly, right outside the front door.