Jack Rudloe is a writer, naturalist, and environmental activist from Panacea, Florida, United States, who co-founded Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory.
Biography
Jack Rudloe was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1943. At age 14, he moved to Carrabelle, Florida. His first work, "Experiments With Sensitive Plants, Cassia Nictitans", was published in Scientific American while he was attending Tallahassee's Leon High School. He later enrolled in Florida State University, but left after only two months.Boyle R Panacea For A Salty Yankee Sports Illustrated The Vault, April 20, 1970, Retrieved March 14, 2015Bergstrom, B [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-07-mn-24367-story.html Environmental Gadfly a Solid Ally of Nature : Florida: Jack Rudloe has little patience with bureaucracy or with academia. According to Rudloe's first book, The Sea Brings Forth, he was asked to leave FSU by the dean, who had decided Rudloe was not college material and advised that he should consider a trade instead.Rudloe, J, The Sea Brings Forth. Kindle Edition 2015, Location 515 In spite of his premature departure from FSU, Rudloe was hired by marine biologist Dexter M. Easton of Harvard University to collect striped burrfish and bat fish. This launched his independent career as a writer and specimen collector.Greenberg at.al. Gulf of Mexico Science, 2010(1–2), pp. 149–163 Evolution of the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory Gulf of Mexico Science, 2010(1–2), pp. 149–163 He was mentored in the early days by John Steinbeck.T. Manning, S. Matos, B. Addler, "Hidden Treasure: The Steinbeck-Rudloe Letters", Steinbeck Studies 16.1–2 (2005) 109–17Bergstrom B Environmental Gadfly a Solid Ally of Nature : Florida: Jack Rudloe has little patience with bureaucracy or with academia. He enjoys his reputation as a political outsider and oddball outdoorsman Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1994, Retrieved March 5, 2015 He founded Gulf Specimen Marine Company in 1963. In 1971, Rudloe married marine biologist Anne Rudloe, and together they founded Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in 1980. He has two sons, Sky and Cypress and a grandson Kai. He lives in Panacea, Florida and is semi-retired but still assists at GSML and he continues to write.Haloub, Bonnie. "Panacea marine lab celebrates 50 years", Tallahassee Democrat, May 12, 2014, retrieved January 30, 2015. He is the author/coauthor of nine books, both fiction and nonfiction.
Scientific contributions
Rudloe has multiple acknowledgements from scientists about his personal contributions to and support of their research efforts in the marine science literature. Rudloe has also written numerous scientific articles, and technical publications himself.Articles by Jack and Anne Gulf SpecimenMarine Laboratory Webpage retrieved March 14, 2015Jack Rudloe Bibliography Gulf SpecimenMarine Laboratory Webpage retrieved March 14, 2015 Rudloe was involved in early efforts to establish the now successful jellyfish export industry on the East Coast of the US."Jellyfish Alert: taking the sting out", New York Times Magazine, September, 1995.Hsieh, Leong, Rudloe Jellyfish as food Hydrobiologia, May 2001, Volume 451, Issue 1-3, pp 11-17Hsieha & Rudloe Potential of utilizing jellyfish as food in Western countries Volume 5, Issue 7, July 1994, Pages 225–229 In 1968 he provided the first specimens of the bryozoan Bugula neritina used by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop the bryostatin family of drugs used for treatment of cancer, HIV, Alzheimer's disease and strokes.Thomas J. Manninga et al., "Identifying bryostatins and potential precursors from the bryozoan 'Bugula neritina'", Natural Product Research 19.5 (2005) 467–1Halford, B. "The Bryostatins' Tale", Chemical and Engineering News 89.43, October 24, 2011, pp. 10–17 He continues to work to find natural medicines from other sea organisms. Rudloe provides marine specimens to scientists worldwide, including some that were the first specimen known to science, such as Chiropsella rudloei.Chiropsella rudloei, at WikispeciesBentalge, B. "A Jellyfish meets its namesake: Wetland Warrior Jack Rudloe", Department of Invertebrate Zoology News - No Bones, Washington DC, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, 20 May 2014, retrieved January 30, 2015 Rudloe has developed live culture techniques for food for captive animals otherwise considered difficult to raise in captivity including sea horsesGiwojna, P Seahorse.com Nutrition Part I: Live Foods for Adults October 1996 issue of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium magazine (FAMA) and the lesser electric ray (Narcine brasiliensis)
Environmental activism
Rudloe is noted for two particular areas of effort in environmentalism. He was a strong proponent and advocate of turtle exclusion devices and his work is widely cited in efforts to introduce and later to enforce their useJack and Anne Rudloe, "Shrimpers and lawmakers collide over a move to save the sea turtles." Smithsonian Dec 1989 and his interest in general sea turtle welfare which were the subject of two of his books.Anne and Jack Rudloe, "Sea Turtles. In a Race for Survival", National Geographic 185.2, February 1994, pp. 94–121 Whenever a sea turtle rehabilitated at GSML is released back to the wild he is well known for arriving in sea blue suit which he wears into the water for the release.Portman J Spot the sea turtle slips back into the waves Tallahassee Democrat, June 2, 2015 (Retrieved June 4, 2015) Working with his wife, he has also been credited with directly saving 35,000 acres of wetlands in the Florida Panhandle and the Florida Big Bend region through government lobbyingList of Lobbyists Journal of the Florida State Senate, Monday April 16, 1973 Retrieved March 22, 2015 appearances at public meetings and on television and radio broadcasts, about marine wetlands.Wyatt Blassingame, "Jack and the Dragline. One man's unwavering battle to save North Florida's Marshes", Audubon75.3, May 1973, pp. 53–59Neil Maxwell, "Lonely Causes. Jack Rudloe's Crusade to Save Tidal Swamps Wins Him Few Friends. He Says Dredging Projects Will ruin Florida Coast: An Altruist or a 'Nut'?", Wall Street Journal, Vol. CLXXXIII No. 22, January 31, 1974."Jack and Anne Rudloe reach millions to save Florida wetlands", Wetlands Warriors 2005, p. 2L. Willoughby, Flowing Through Time: A History of the Lower Chattahoochee River, University of Alabama Press, 1999, p. 183E. Whitney, D. B. Means, A. Rudloe, Priceless Florida: Natural Ecosystems and Native Species, Pineapple Press, 2004 He also wrote about shrimp and their contributions to the economy and to the environment.Rosenberry B, Shrimp News International December 18, 2009 During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Rudloe began a project to try to protect ocean invertebrates from contamination.Semuels, A Saving invertebrates takes some backbone Los Angeles Times Thurs, August 19, 2010 at 8:37 a.m. Republished in Ocala Star Banner, retrieved March 17, 2015 He published numerous popular articles on environmental topics including several in Sports Illustrated, National Geographic and Audubon.A Guide to the Jack and Anne Rudloe Papers University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections September 2011, retrieved March 14, 2015 Rudloe opposed Florida's commercial net fishing ban because he was concerned about the impact on small town fisheries and fishermen placing him at odds with many large environmental groups. He has been raising awareness of the issue of plastic and waste dumping into the ocean since at least 1992.Associated Press Birds, Marine Life Suffer From Debris Strewn on Miles of Beach Los Angeles Times June 28, 1992, Retrieved March 22, 2015
Disputes
Rudloe began his career as an environmental activist at age 8 by biting the leg of a camp counsellor who was about to kill a turtle with a sledge hammer.Goodbye Oysters Hello Jellyfish Miami Herald Sunday Magazine July 17, 1988, retrieved March 14, 2015 His style of "high drama" and "lampooning"Rudloe, J Paver's Bill of Rights to promote environmental causes has not always endeared him to either the environmental movement or politicians.Lucas, R Rudloe's Gulf Coast Crusade Tallahassee, Nov/Dec 1989, Retrieved March 22, 2015 In 1972 Rudloe sued financier Edward Ball to try to force him to remove a fence across the Wakulla River, lost and was almost bankrupted by the resulting legal costs. A Wakulla News editorial called him "a nut" and "an extremist" in 1978. An owner of a local business has also called him "a nut". In 1988 he sued the Wakulla County Commissioner over alleged environmental damage caused by the building of a marina approved by the county and being built by the commissioner's brother. The county then resurrected a previously dropped legal battle from 1975 over his aquarium's water intake pipeline. While at a meeting over the marina, his boat was sunk and Rudloe was sued for slander when he claimed there was a connection. He was also arrested for cruelty to animals in the same period, a charge which was dismissed. In 1988 Rudloe organized a campaign to have people return their Exxon credit cards in a sealed bag of used motor oil to protest the Exxon Valdez's Prince William Sound oil spill.United Press International Protester Sends Oil--and Plastic--to Exxon Los Angeles Times April 07, 1989, Retrieved March 22, 2015
There has been tension between members of the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory and Rudloe. Dr. Robert Livingstone of FSU publicly stated in 1988 that he takes care not to associate with Rudloe's fights. This tension reached a crescendo in 2002 with the publication of Alumni Notes by David M. Karl which included an account of persistent rumours at FSU that Rudloe had stolen a "priceless Neopilina specimen" which later appeared for sale in a Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory catalogue and that this was the reason for Rudloe's departure from FSU in his first semester in 1962. Rudloe sued both Karl and FSU for slander. The case was initially dismissed by a local judge on the basis FSU had no liability but Rudloe appealed. After winning on appeal to The District Court of Appeal, State of Florida, the matter was later settled out of court.Rudloe versus Florida State University retrieved March 14, 2015VR Johnson, Advanced Tort Law: A Problem Approach, Barnes&Noble, pg219-20, 2010 In 2015 FSU Coastal and Marine Lab donated giant sea roaches and hagfish to a "very grateful" Gulf Specimen Marine Lab to use in their aquarium for educating the public indicating the tension is resolved.GSML Staff, The Sea Brings Forth, Vol 17, no 2, Sept 2015