PEOPLE OF INTEREST
THE NATURAL GUARDIAN
BY DONNA CRARY
Jim Moir sits at home as he gazes over aquamarine waters
90
of The Crossroads, where the St. Lucie and Indian rivers
meet, and says, “I’m the luckiest man that I know.”
He feels fortunate because he has spent a lifetime doing what
he loves in the great outdoors. And it’s that very passion for
nature that has led him to be actively engaged in protecting it.
“I’m a nature boy, intuitively,” he says. “Protecting the
environment is the foundational keystone of my life. Being
a husband and a father is very important to that. I see that I
need to leave the world a better place than where I came into
it. I’m dedicated to that.”
Born in Miami, Moir grew up living on Biscayne Bay. His
parents were science teachers, former President Nixon was
a neighbor and in the 1960s, the TV show Flipper was filmed
close by.
Early on, Moir proved to be a natural in the water. He
became a certified diver at the age of 10 and grew up sailing
and racing boats. At 16, he took a trans-Atlantic trip from
Boston to Ireland with his uncle on a 38-foot sailboat that almost
sank. The dangerous adventure did not deter him from
his love for the sea. He continued sailing around the North
Atlantic and to destinations such as Maine, Bermuda, Europe
and throughout the Caribbean.
Moir graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s
degree in anthropology, majoring in marine archaeology.
He married Kimberly Marley in 1992. Around the same
time, the couple searched for a new place to live and found
their piece of paradise in Stuart.
“Watching Miami develop was painful and sad because the
things that I loved best about Miami were missing,” he says.
“And so, I knew a little about Salerno, having been through it
by boat a couple of times. Stuart had this ambience and openness
that was rare.”
For many years, Moir has enjoyed exploring the oceans by
facilitating science projects that specialize in marine animals
and bioacoustics. Some of his projects have included tagging
North Atlantic right whales off the Canadian coast. The taggings
were conducted by Ocean Works Group to study the behavior
of whales and their interactions with the environment.
He also volunteered at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Foundation, working on its Health and Environmental
Risk Assessment project. The project studied Atlantic bottlenose
dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon and used them as
an indicator species for measuring the lagoon’s health.
Jim Moir, a tireless advocate
for the environment, enjoys
savoring and protecting the
great outdoors.
ANTHONY INSWASTY
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