Southwest Florida businesses learn how to preserve paradise

Keeping our paradise, a paradise, an “on-site” educational program aims to teach business owners about water quality and how it affects their businesses.

WINK News anchor Claire Galt had the opportunity to tag along for the experience.

Captain Daniel Andrews wasn’t catching his breakfast or his dinner Tuesday morning.

He caught a little pig fish and a puffer fish to show these business owners what a healthy ecosystem looks like.

“The seagrass here is well flushed. Didn’t catch a lot of algae, right?” said Andrews.

Andrew’s students? Business leaders in Lee County with a common goal: Preserving Paradise.

Captains for Clean Water, the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation,
The Everglades Foundation and the Sanibel Chamber of Commerce joined forces for the effort.

“To give a truly immersive experience into the water quality issues from the science side, the policy side, the advocacy side, to where these business leaders could come spend seven or eight days with us and really understand the ins and outs,” said Andrews, “and ultimately become advocators and ambassadors for the cause.”

Because the cause of Preserving Paradise, specifically our water, is good for business.

“If your guests come and the water is poor, guests aren’t happy. They don’t come back. They go someplace else,” said Joe Orndorff.

Orndorff is the president of the Island Inn on Sanibel.

He said he can’t afford another water crisis like the one we suffered through in 2018.

“When you have dead fish half a foot deep on your beach, the smell, the pollution,” said Orndorff. “It was really, really bad.”

“Our business was affected severely, our employees, and then even real estate values, because most of the people buying real estate in our area are guests of mine first, and then they buy real estate,” said Orndorff. “So it was just a major trickle-down effect, and the ability of not being able to do anything was just disheartening.”

Bill Waichulis runs the Pink Shell on Fort Myers Beach.

He joined Preserving Paradise to take a hands-on, knee–deep approach to keeping our water clean.

WINK News took a look at a healthy oyster reef.

The oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day in a lab.

“I take that information and I share it with my staff. We have 300 associates at the Pink Shell,” said Waichulis, “and those 300 associates are voters, so it’s important for them to understand where our local politicians, the state representation, where they are involved in water quality.”

This group of business owners doesn’t just believe. They say they know water is what fuels our economy.

Clean water and the engine is humming. Bad water and everything stops.