Nautical Nightmares and Coastal Conundrums: A Chat with David Abel

September 10, 2023

Unpacking Two Coastal Films.

In this episode of the American Shoreline Podcast, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham sit down with returning guest David Abel, an award-winning reporter and documentary filmmaker. With an eye for coastal narratives, David unpacks the stories behind his two latest films: "In the Whale" and "Inundation District." The first film offers an unprecedented account of Michael Packard's harrowing experience being swallowed and subsequently spat out by a humpback whale. The second dissects the fraught decision to build a lavish waterfront district at sea level, despite rising seas and climate warnings. Tune in for a compelling conversation that navigates the treacherous waters of human folly and resilience in the face of nature's grandeur and wrath.

Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.