@MLClark Merritt Island has rivers on either side, both of which are fouled due to agricultural runoff and septic tank leaks. I often think about how those rivers were pristine for millennia, until humans came along and ruined them.
We have a wondrous and abundant ecosystem here, but these creatures are threatened by the destructive humans.
Many people here have no problem with running over manatees with their speedboats. All the manatees have scars on their backs.
@MLClark Followup comment about "The Inner Light" ...
I really appreciated episodes like that. They didn't rely on blowing up spaceships to tell a story.
Because TNG wasn't on a network, the scripts could have a more cerebral bent.
When TNG transitioned to the big screen and a more generic audience, the stories became more about action and blowing up stuff.
ST4 was the rare exception, and it was very successful at the box office.
@WordsmithFL
As a kid, the part that always broke me about "The Inner Light" was the children. Young people born in doomed times, who through no fault of their own had to endure the consequences of their parental generation's inability to do more.
As an adult, that's still the part of "The Inner Light" that wrenches at me most.