Erring Gulls 08/07/2018 When we arrive at the island we are exploring there is a welcome committee waiting to meet us. A multitude of faces watches us climb the rock slab stairs, but only one of them is human. The rest are gulls, and they are everywhere. They are perched on the roofs of the buildings, settled on the signs that line the rocky steps, walking on the paths and grass around us, and flying through the air above. This island is a breeding colony predominately for two species of gull – the herring gull and the
When we arrive at the island we are exploring there is a welcome committee waiting to meet us. A multitude of faces watches us climb the rock slab stairs, but only one of them is human. The rest are gulls, and they are everywhere. They are perched on the roofs of the buildings, settled on the signs that line the rocky steps, walking on the paths and grass around us, and flying through the air above. This island is a breeding colony predominately for two species of gull – the herring gull and the
They Are Watching 08/01/2018 We are on the R/V Challenger heading out from Portsmouth to the Shoals Marine Laboratory when we see the seal. Moments before a monarch butterfly had breezed past toward the mainland, flipping and fluttering in the diesel exhaust and the windy wake from the boat. You have to admire its sense of purpose and the stamina required to take a journey by slow wing that will take us 45 minutes at a good clip in the research vessel. If we are noticed by the butterfly, it is as an interruption, as a
We are on the R/V Challenger heading out from Portsmouth to the Shoals Marine Laboratory when we see the seal. Moments before a monarch butterfly had breezed past toward the mainland, flipping and fluttering in the diesel exhaust and the windy wake from the boat. You have to admire its sense of purpose and the stamina required to take a journey by slow wing that will take us 45 minutes at a good clip in the research vessel. If we are noticed by the butterfly, it is as an interruption, as a
Hamlet, Predatory Snails, and Evolution 07/17/2018 It is a dark moment in a dark play, and one of bare emotion, when Hamlet calls man 'the paragon of animals' in Act II, Scene II. He states these words as fact during one of Shakespeare's most beautiful soliloquies, lost in a reverie and speaking as much to himself as to Horatio, when he also describes humans as angel-like in action, and god-like in apprehension, remarking that humanity is the beauty of the world. There is nothing in these statements that would have shocked an Elizabethan
It is a dark moment in a dark play, and one of bare emotion, when Hamlet calls man 'the paragon of animals' in Act II, Scene II. He states these words as fact during one of Shakespeare's most beautiful soliloquies, lost in a reverie and speaking as much to himself as to Horatio, when he also describes humans as angel-like in action, and god-like in apprehension, remarking that humanity is the beauty of the world. There is nothing in these statements that would have shocked an Elizabethan
High Tides and Mapping the Pool 07/10/2018 During the high tide the world of the snail is gone. After two nights of above average tides that charge up the beach on the heels of the new moon, the incoming waves roil with the mud, sludge, and seaweed that have been churned up by their fury. A door sized sheet of plywood floats on the waves and blocks part of the beach from the up cast of muddy debris, creating a gap in the fly specked wrack. Out in the deeper water the grasses wave their blades like the arms of terrified swimmers who
During the high tide the world of the snail is gone. After two nights of above average tides that charge up the beach on the heels of the new moon, the incoming waves roil with the mud, sludge, and seaweed that have been churned up by their fury. A door sized sheet of plywood floats on the waves and blocks part of the beach from the up cast of muddy debris, creating a gap in the fly specked wrack. Out in the deeper water the grasses wave their blades like the arms of terrified swimmers who
Teleology of the tide pool 07/03/2018 There are tide pools that are famously burgeoning with life, pools that have been celebrated in literature past and present by writers such as Edward Ricketts of the Pacific, and Rachel Carson of the Atlantic. It has only been within the last century that the depths of the ocean have begun to be explored, and even when these scientists / celebrants of the seas were working, little was known then of the depths that we now almost take for granted. The water's edge, this liminal world, was a
There are tide pools that are famously burgeoning with life, pools that have been celebrated in literature past and present by writers such as Edward Ricketts of the Pacific, and Rachel Carson of the Atlantic. It has only been within the last century that the depths of the ocean have begun to be explored, and even when these scientists / celebrants of the seas were working, little was known then of the depths that we now almost take for granted. The water's edge, this liminal world, was a
Footprints of a fin whale 06/26/2018 They are the second largest mammals on the planet, these fin whales that return to the waters off Cape Cod each year. Growing from 65 to 80 feet long, they are second largest animal that humans know about, next to the Blue whale which can exceed this fin whale's length by another third. This one, number 0061 is affectionately known by the crew of the boat as 007, and yet it is they who spy on her. And yet, for as large as these fin whales are, so much remains unknown about their lives. They are
They are the second largest mammals on the planet, these fin whales that return to the waters off Cape Cod each year. Growing from 65 to 80 feet long, they are second largest animal that humans know about, next to the Blue whale which can exceed this fin whale's length by another third. This one, number 0061 is affectionately known by the crew of the boat as 007, and yet it is they who spy on her. And yet, for as large as these fin whales are, so much remains unknown about their lives. They are
OceanX: Bringing us to the ocean by bringing to ocean to us 06/05/2018 (a model of the Alucia2 from the OceanX initiative announcement) If you were uncertain for even a moment as to whether OceanX was in any way the opposite of that other X that is trying to reach Mars, then all you have to do is listen to Ray Dalio talk for a few minutes about the Dalio Foundation's ocean initiative. “Some dream of a future on an other planet” he told the audience gathered in the large screen auditorium at the American Museum of Natural History. “We dream of ours.” When he
(a model of the Alucia2 from the OceanX initiative announcement) If you were uncertain for even a moment as to whether OceanX was in any way the opposite of that other X that is trying to reach Mars, then all you have to do is listen to Ray Dalio talk for a few minutes about the Dalio Foundation's ocean initiative. “Some dream of a future on an other planet” he told the audience gathered in the large screen auditorium at the American Museum of Natural History. “We dream of ours.” When he
Book Review: Wildlife of the Arctic by Richard Sale and Per Michelsen 05/29/2018 The birds of the Arctic are passing through, migrating northward to their summer breeding grounds. Some time their arrival for the horseshoe crab spawning, and briefly replace the overwintering birds, many already gone. We've see them on the beaches and in the water, and now we find them in the pages of Wildlife of the Arctic by Richard Sale and Per Michelsen. Nearly 200 pages of this excellent pocket guide are dedicated to birds, each species represented by at least one photograph, and a
The birds of the Arctic are passing through, migrating northward to their summer breeding grounds. Some time their arrival for the horseshoe crab spawning, and briefly replace the overwintering birds, many already gone. We've see them on the beaches and in the water, and now we find them in the pages of Wildlife of the Arctic by Richard Sale and Per Michelsen. Nearly 200 pages of this excellent pocket guide are dedicated to birds, each species represented by at least one photograph, and a
Time To End Gun Violence 05/28/2018 (photo ZhengZhou - The sculpture Non-Violence by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, in front of UN headquarters at New York City) Hello America. Recent events have shown that there must be stricter gun control laws. Many would agree one shooting is too much, as well as one life lost. But, it has been two school shootings and twenty-seven lives lost and others injured. But, organizations such as the NRA and the US Government have not created more gun control laws. Who knows whose child, parent, sibling,
(photo ZhengZhou - The sculpture Non-Violence by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, in front of UN headquarters at New York City) Hello America. Recent events have shown that there must be stricter gun control laws. Many would agree one shooting is too much, as well as one life lost. But, it has been two school shootings and twenty-seven lives lost and others injured. But, organizations such as the NRA and the US Government have not created more gun control laws. Who knows whose child, parent, sibling,
