Max Chesnes–the award-winning environment reporter for The Tampa Bay Times, who
appeared on “Talking Animals” in January, discussing some wildlife-related Times stories he’d recently written—returned to the show for a comparable conversation about some of his latest articles. Chesnes, whose beat encompasses public lands, water quality, pollution, wildlife, and related issues, is a 2023 journalism fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. And he’s slated to moderate an environmental panel discussion happening at the Tampa Bay Veg Fest, Nov 14, at Perry Harvey Sr. Park. Spurred by a caller who identified himself as a 70-year-old Pinellas native who’s witnessed a steady decline in the area’s fauna population—and took The Tampa Bay Times to task for what he felt was lackluster coverage of the factors propelling that decline—we discuss the paper’s Environment Hub, a core quartet of full-time reporters, including Chesnes, dedicated to covering a broad array of environmental issues. Prompted by another caller—Myriam Parham, co-founder of Florida Voices For Animals, which organizes the Tampa Bay Veg Fest—the three of us have a conversation about Chesnes’ upcoming stint moderating the environmental panel discussion presented at Veg Fest, laced with brief mentions of other elements of the Nov. 14 event. Navigating around questions and comments offered by listeners, we address some of Chesnes’s recent stories, including a glorious piece—
with stunning images by Times photographer Douglas R. Clifford—yielded after the two journalists joined an expedition by researchers traveling well into the Gulf, focused on whale sharks, the world’s largest fish; Chesnes described the animal as the size of “a school bus.” As an added
bonus, Chesnes notes there’s a significant whale shark amidst this research—and his name is Larry. Other recent stories we explored included one starring the Rice’s whale (“The Gulf’s rarest whale was a thorn in Big Oil’s side”), with Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick playing supporting roles, and—occupying nearly the opposite end of the size spectrum– another tracking the progress of a project with the grasshopper sparrow, a tiny endangered bird (to evoke the bird’s diminutive stature, Chesnes likened it to a “golf tee”) in which researchers at the Brevard Zoo are raising, then, releasing the birds into the wild. We roam across any number of topics, from Chesnes being licensed to fly drones—and how that’s reflected in his work–to the bear hunt, set to run this year Dec. 5-27.
COMEDY CORNER: There was no Comedy Corner today.
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
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