The Ways of the Bay

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It's Happening Today in Everyone's Bay

Rivers rolling down to the sea,
that’s usually where the bays will be
three sides land, and one side open,
to the fresh water lake or the salt water ocean
Open to the ocean

From my yard and my street,
All the water runs to the Chesapeake!
From central New York, to Virginia Beach,
All the rivers roll to the Chesapeake!
Chesapeake, the Chesapeake, the Chesapeake

CHORUS

Hey, hey, it happened today!
It happened today in the Chesapeake Bay!
Hey, hey it happened today!
It happened today in everyone’s Bay!

from my yard, down the street
through the sewer, to the creek,
to the river, consider what water seeks
it flows to where the land is low
commanded by gravity to the Bay it goes
from the mountains melting snow and rain
from the farms and the city storm drains
from our actions and the life we’ve led
we’re living and giving to our own watershed

CHORUS

So when Bodies of water open out to the sea
that’s a bay like the Delaware and the Fundy
Like Mobile, Cape Cod and San Francisco
The Hudson and Galveston and the Prudhoe
There’s Tampa, Narragansett and Green Bay
The Georgian, Coos and Monterey
Saginaw, Florida and Chincoteaque.
Each one’s a Bay and each one’s unique

CHORUS

The Estuary Song - Bay

Mud and dead things washing down the river
Settling at the bottom of the Bay
Decomposers eat those dead things
releasing their minerals every day.

Phytoplankton, little plants floating
Using those nutrients while soaking up the sun
Zooplankton are the little critters
That drift with the Phytos while eating some

CHORUS

It’s where the ocean feeds
On what the river carries.
It’s where the fresh and salt water mix
With the leaves, the mud, and the sticks.
It’s a soup of life, and it’s thick! Oh, it’s the estuary!

Oyster beds and underwater grass
give food and shelter to many living things
there are clams and snails and little fish hiding
from the appetites the Big fish bring
Rock and Blue fish chase anchovies
great blue heron stalk the water’s edge
eagle and the osprey fishing and flying
as the gulls circle overhead

CHORUS

The Crab Step

Around the world
there are crabs of every size and type
with big claws to grab whatever’s in sight.
And when they grow out
of their old shell, their new shell is soft.
They hide for a spell, get hard and take off...

Cause they're,
Doing the crab step
on land or in the depths,
moving sideways to get where they get.
If danger appears, they try to hide,
but if they can’t, they’ll face it
with their claws open wide, open wide.
(wide so wide, wide so wide)

The back legs are paddles for swimming
through the depths and the dregs
or on the surface skimming
paddling forward, paddling back
paddle side to side, retreat or attack
Jump back, crab attack, jump back, crab attack
Don’t worry, it’s a cinch,
just keep your feet moving and you won’t get pinched

Now, go to the salt marsh, and you will find
crabs all around in the grassy brine
and the mud underground.
And if they spot you, with their extended eyes,
then they’ll start to move as you realize
that they’re...

Doing the crab step on land or in the depths,
moving sideways to get where they get
the joints of their legs point to the side.
And if danger appears, the claws open wide, open wide.
(wide so wide, wide so wide)

They’re doing the crab step on land or in the depths,
moving sideways to get where they get
And if danger appears they try to hide,
but if they can’t they face it with
their claws open wide, open wide.

Watch out !

Barnacles

Ou lie, lie, lie, oh, lie, lie, lie,
Ou lie, lie, lie, oh, lie, lie, lie,
CHORUS
Barnacles, barnacles, where are you?
Stuck on stuff with my barnacle glue!
Barnacles, barnacles, where are you?
On the rocks and the whales
and the big ships too!

Adrift in the ocean, an egg floating free,
when I hatch I’m almost too small to see.
I look like an insect, then a shrimp. It’s strange!
How much in my life my body will change!

Ou lie, lie, lie, oh, lie, lie, lie,
Ou lie, lie, lie, oh, lie, lie, lie,

CHORUS

I stick my head to whatever’s found.
Secrete my glue to hold myself down.
I grow a shell, which can open and close.
Grab food with my legs and my hairy toes!

Ou lie, lie, lie, oh, lie, lie, lie,
Ou lie, lie, lie, oh, lie, lie, lie,

Barnacles, barnacles, where are you?
with Barnacle Bill the sailor...

Erosion

( water, ice and wind )
Water on the move, cutting it’s groove
through sand and rock and clay
eight pounds a gallon,
it’s a moving challenge
It’ll carry that dirt away.

Erosion . . . erosion!

Dirt, where no plants grow
Dirt, will wash away
Dirt, where plants grow
Dirt, will stay

Ice on the move, cutting it's groove
through sand and rock and clay
Thaw and Freeze Expand and squeeze
It’ll carry that dirt away.

Erosion . . . erosion!

Roots, hold the ground together
Roots, from seeds we drop
Roots, make the bays better
Roots, make erosion stop

Wind on the move, cutting it groove
through sand and rock and clay
breeze to gust it crumbles the crust
and carries that dirt away.

Erosion . . . erosion . . . erosion . . .erosion!

Green Slime

Nutrients, are the things all plants need
Nutrients, are the food on which all plants feed
Nutrients, like dirt and fertilizer,
dead bodies, and poop and pee
Nutrients, make all plants grow
from trees to algae

Have you ever seen ? Green Slime in the water
Have you ever seen ? Really murky water
Have you ever seen ? Dead fish in the water
Have you ever seen ? Green Slime in the water
on the rocks floating free, people call it algae

Too many, nutrients
like dirt washing off the land when it rains
Too many, nutrients
like fertilizer flowing down the drain
Too many , nutrients
like sewage seeping out of control
Too many , nutrients
and that’s what makes the algae grow

Have you ever seen Green Slime in the water?
on the rocks, floating free, people call it algae
Have you ever seen? Yes, we’ve seen,
Really murky water
you’re standing in waist deep,
ah, can’t see your own feet
Have you ever seen? Yes, we’ve seen,
Dead fish in the water
floating all around, oh gross, floating upside down
Have you ever seen? Yes, we’ve seen,
Green Slime in the water
on the rocks, floating free, people call it algae
There’s too much, algae
growing in the water and blocking out the sun
There’s too much, algae
growing right on underwater vegetation
There’s too much, algae
it grows, it dies, it rots
There’s too much, algae
decomposing and oxygen levels drop

Are you ready? Yes! Are you ready? Yes!
Are you ready to clean to this algae mess?
We’re ready! Yes? we’re ready! Yes?
We’re ready to clean this algae mess!

Have you ever seen Green Slime in the water?
on the rocks, floating free, people call it algae
Have you ever seen? Yes, we’ve seen,
Really murky water
you’re standing in waist deep, ah, can’t see your own feet
Have you ever seen? Yes, we’ve seen,
Dead fish in the water
floating all around, oh gross, floating upside down
Have you ever seen? Yes, we’ve seen,
Green Slime in the water
on the rocks, floating free, people call it algae
Too many, nutrients
There’s too much, algae

That's Runoff Man

From the clouds I drop,
I hit the roof, kerplop.
I go out of the spout and I never stop.
I spray and I spurt,
I grab a little dirt
and when I meet the street it gets even worse
Onto the road I drain
I pass an oily stain
Then I go with the flow down the passing lane
I spurt and I spray,
nothing gets in my way
I might make it on down to the Bay today

CHORUS

Water with the power to erode
Water carrying a heavy load
Water running off the land,
That’s Runoff, Man!
Water running when it rains
Water running toward the drains
Water running off the land,
That’s Runoff, Man!

All life is fed
on things that are dead
decomposition is nutrition in the watershed
But by accident,
our development
increases the release of the nutrients
So the water’s force
takes that stuff from it’s source
and it moves down the groove of the waters course
Into the bay it flows,
it makes the algae grow
and that chokes the critter folks living down below
water carries a nutritious load
that will make the algae growth explode
Water running out across the land,
That’s Runoff Man!
Water running when it rains
Water running toward the drains
Water running off the land,
That’s Runoff, Man!
Say what?
That’s Runoff, Man!
That's Right!

Crab Jubilee

Crab Jubilee! Crab Jubilee!
Crabs look so happy, so fancy and free!
So graceful, so tasteful,
so glad to be
part of a wonderful Crab Jubilee!

Now the crabs come a dancin’
out onto the land!
They merrily waltz right into your pan!
It’s a joyous occasion,
something to see
crabs celebrating the Crab Jubilee!

CHORUS

Crab Jubilee! Crab Jubilee!
Sounds like death and dyin’ to me!
The oxygen’s used, decomposing algae.
So we can flee or die,
and that’s your Crab Jubilee!

My buddies the oysters
cement themselves down.
They’re not built for moving around.
So like all the critters
that cannot swim far,
when the oxygen drops,
they die right where they are.

So when the crabs leave the water,
you know somethin’s wrong !?
We’d much rather stay
down where we belong.
So when life underwater
can’t be sustained.....
Then we sadly depart as we sing this refrain

CHORUS

Water contains dissolved oxygen
down here we breathe
through our gills as we swim
down in the mud under the bay
bacteria decompose things every day
then the oxygen drops, OH NO !
most of life stops, OH NO !
anoxia, OH NO
where did the oxygen all go ?

Crab Jubilee! Crab Jubilee,
it sounds like death and dying to me
it isn’t a party, there’s no cause for glee ,
it’s sad to be part of a crab jubilee,
yes, I hope there’s no more crab jubilee

These Trees

Everyday people say what difference can I make,
what deeds can I do, what action can I take?
Well now is the time for you and me
to find a spot, dig a hole and plant a young tree.

These trees releasing sweet oxygen,
these trees the monkeys and the birds are living in.
These trees limbs stretching up towards the sky
these trees absorbing carbon dioxide.
Big trees, green leaves, deep roots in the ground
the branches grow up, as the bark grows around.
And the flowers turn into fruit which falls to the ground
the seeds sprout and take root.

Tree grows, sap flows, young tree grows big and old
Tree grows, sap flows, young tree grows big and old
Everyday people say what difference can I make,
what deeds can I do, what action can I take?
Well now is the time for you and me
to find a spot, dig a hole and plant a young tree.

These trees releasing sweet oxygen,
these trees the monkeys and the birds are living in.
These trees limbs stretching up towards the sky
these trees absorbing all the carbon dioxide.

So plant the tree that you prefer
the deciduous or the conifer.
Dig a hole deep, keep the roots straight,
put that tree in the ground, water it and wait.
Water and wait, water and wait
Water and wait, water and wait.

And as that tree grows give it care
so it will thrive and grow when you’re not there
yes as that tree grows tall and strong
you can watch it grow all your life long.


Save on Fuel

We have to save our fuel every day
because our fuel’s exhaust lands in the bay..

AHHH come on........the kid cried,
Maaaaa .........can I have a ride
Admit it kids, you sly connivers
you treat your parents like your private drivers
you can walk, or ride a bike,
take a bus or a subway if you like
but you go out the door, head to the street
jump in the car get the front seat
you’ve been begging, now your being taken
not far, in your car to your destination
gas in the tank, sucked into the engine,
sparkplug fires and the crankshaft’s spinning
pistons push and the valves open,
you’re going down the road
and your tailpipes smoking.........

exhaust, into the air
exhaust, what you make to get there
exhaust, up and down it goes
exhaust, in the bay making algae grow

We have to save our fuel every day
because our fuel’s exhaust lands in the bay..

Late at night, it feels so right
to flip the switch, incandescent light
But there’s an energy-saving new design
it’s the longer-lasting fluorescent kind
Hair dryer’s blowing, dishwasher going
electrical demands just keep on growing
Radio, TV, Nintendo
You leave them all on when you go
It’s crazy, lazy, an energy loss
You can cut the cost, just shut it off!
In your walls your house is wired
with electrical power, coal fire
we burn the coal the generator spins
the lights turn on but what’s in the wind

exhaust, right in your face exhaust,
exhaust, from electrical waste
exhaust, up and down it goes exhaust,
exhaust, in the bay making algae grow

We have to save our fuel every day
because our fuel’s exhaust lands in the bay..

Along the Bay

Along the Bay where the cord grass grows
sea life breeds and birds feed on those
it’s the pull of the moon and the sun each day
tides roll in and roll away

Daybreak at low tide and the mud flats glisten
a young crab moves and the sea gulls miss him.
Oysters are buried and the clapper rails listen
by the tidal ebb and flow

The big fish come in with the high tide
swim by the grass in search of small fry
insects and snails move up the green stems
when the tide’s out they move down again

Moon light at high tide and the grass undulates
with the force of each wave as it dissipates.
It’s the rhythm and the roll of the water and it’s weight
by the tidal ebb and flow

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