Along Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, one of North America’s most biodiverse estuaries, a story of near-collapse and renewal is unfolding. Once alive with seagrass, fish, and wildlife, the lagoon was devastated in the 1990s by unregulated commercial clamming.

When clams disappeared, so did the lagoon’s natural filtration system. Without these silent custodians, algae blooms surged, sunlight could no longer reach vital seagrass beds, and the entire ecosystem spiraled toward collapse.

Decades later, a team decided to fight back. In The Captain & the Super Clams, Rivers are Life follows Dr. Todd Osborne, professor at the University of Florida, and Captain Blair Wiggins, a well-known deep-sea fishing guide, as they team up with graduate students, local businesses, and residents to restore balance to the lagoon.

The turning point came when Osborne’s team scoured the waters and found only 39 surviving clams. Instead of giving up, they began carefully breeding these survivors into what became known as “super clams,” resilient enough to withstand changing conditions and capable of filtering gallons of water every day.

Together, The Captain and his unlikely crew are writing a new chapter for the Indian River Lagoon. Through science, grit, and community involvement, the project is showing how a devastated ecosystem can rebound when people choose to act.

The Captain & the Super Clams isn’t just about biology, it’s a buddy story that blends conservation, local culture, and cutting-edge science. It reminds us that solutions to the planet’s toughest challenges can come from working with nature, not against it.