The Education of Emotion and Great White Sharks

Most people just outright fear sharks. Even in extremely irrational situations, people who fear water often fear sharks. Even people who say they dont fear sharks, I think really actually fear sharks, they just rationalize the fear away.

I know I used to do that when I lived in Northern California and surfed at a beach that has at least two documented shark attacks as well as a few other nearby shark attacks. I used the rationalization that I faced more danger driving to and from surfing than I did in the water to ease my fears.

There were certainly times that I felt uncomfortable in the water. One time, in the fall which is sort of known as the shark season, I surfed the Russian River Mouth. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous evening, flat calm, beautiful sunset, head high waves just peeling down a sandbar, and seals. Tons of seals. Seals everywhere, popping up in front of you as you rode a wave, splashing behind you as you waited for a wave.

I was with a guy I kind of knew and I caught at that time what was the best wave of my life. I literally got barreled right up to the shoreline. The wave ended and I was standing on dry beach. I kind of freaked out and did a little dance. But I remember distinctly feeling a vibe and decided to leave before it got too dark.

But still, the emotion was one of cool rationalization. Playing the odds. Then I moved to New England and I didn't give it any thought until in the last couple of years the shark population has either grown because the seal population has grown or we are just becoming more aware of it.

If you look at this shark tracker website you can see that Great Whites, at least the three that are tagged in the North Atlantic live in and around some of the busiest beaches on the East Coast. It would appear that we spend quite a bit more time with these sharks than we may have realized.

And, last year a man got bit off a beach on Cape Cod.

I am older now, and the cool rationalization may not be as effective as it once was. I decided to stop surfing the Cape. But I still surf in Rhode Island even though I know Great Whites are there too. I don't doubt that they are up around where I live now too. There are a lot more seals than there used to be, and Whitey isn't as afraid of cold water as I am. So now in some sense even though the odds are lower, I am letting fear dictate where I surf.

But the odd thing is that now that I know these sharks are out there, in some ways I feel more comfortable with their prescense. Seeing how the sharks travel huge distances really makes me feel respect for these animals. In some ways even though I have modified my behaviour to avoid them, I might feel less bad about being attacked by one knowing more about them.

I mean what is worse: being attacked by a Great White Shark, or being killed by an asshole in a great white Hummer?

An Ode to Spring Skiing

An Ode to Spring Skiing

You get to sleep in, because the snow needs to soften up.
You get to stay out late, because you can sleep in.
Its warmer.
Soft moguls.
Big moguls.
Following the sun around the mountain.
Picnics in the woods, in a sunny spot.
Having a few beers with people you've never met at the top of the mountain in a t-shirt.
Girls skiing in bikinis.
People skiing in retro outfits, just because its spring.
Apres in the sun, sitting outside.
Bands playing outside.
Barbeque in the parking lot.
Staying out late...
Did I mention soft moguls?

Proof:
Spring Skiing




P.S. I'm not really sure what an "ode" is so if this is not one, then its just a bunch of stuff I like about spring skiing.

Sea Snakes and Post Travel Depression

Messing with death in Nicaragua. Here we have your intrepid blogger messing around with a poisonous sea snake. The kind with the most deadly venom in the world. I do it for you my dear readers!

Here's a rather more interesting video of a sea snake I came across whilst looking for informative links:

You should really watch the entire thing. I came to four conclusions after watching this video:

1. Sharks are about as afraid of sea snakes as I am, but I may be just a little bit less afraid than that Tiger Shark.
2. I don't ever want to swim wherever that weird stick/cage combo thing was. 
3. Hammerhead sharks really do hammer with their heads. They remind me of short hair drunken frat boys that talk too loud and too close.
4. That last shark is going to have a tummy ache.

Moving on from sea snakes and sharks...I am reeling from returning from a quick surf trip to Nicaragua that once again exposed Northern New England as a cruel and unfriendly host. I am being deeply creased by the post vacation blues and decided I would use the machine that knows everything to give me some advice on how to get over a great vacation - other than selling everything and running away to a tropical paradise. I came across this unhelpful list:

Basically the tips are:

1. Recognize the symptoms! Um, its fucking cold and snowy and rainy here and I'm depressed as hell that I left a tropical paradise with excellent surf and no cares or worries to come home and do my taxes. Is that a fucking symptom?
2. Expect to feel deflated after a great vacation! OK, I'm deflated. I'm deflated like a turtle that just ate a deflated mylar balloon thinking it was a jelly fish and realizes its going to die a slow painful death, what now?
3. Realize your vacation doesn't end here. They say to make a scrapbook and follow up on what you liked about your vacation. I liked the warm air and excellent surf. Pretty sure my vacation ended when I landed in Boston. 
4. Use your vacation to make small changes in your life. Such as use less stuff like the internet, TV, change your appearance...OK, I'll admit I did that. NOT, thats partly why I am so depressed. Once you get to a certain age your life is like a hairshirt. I suppose you can sew some neat trim on the sleeves but its still a hairshirt.
5. Share your experiences with friends and family. Jesus Christ! The last thing my friends want to hear about why I am so dashingly tanned is that its because I had such a great time getting the fuck out of here to somewhere warm and nice while they were here shoveling snow and freezing their asses off. Are we done yet?
6. Take care of yourself Exercise, eat well, sleep well. Drown your sorrows in the same kind of tropical drink that tasted so fucking good in Nicaragua? Check. Done.
7. Stay Connected with the world of travel and plan your next vacation  I combined the last two because this list is so stupid (and by the way it is now sleeting sideways outside and it just thunder and lighteninged). This is the only thing on the whole list that makes sense. Plan your next trip. Plan your fucking escape. 

Well the internet gives and it takes away. It gave us that great shark video and a stupid fucking list. Each took about the same time out of my life (and yours?). So go plan a vacation to put some sunshine on that turd. I need to go pay bills and do my taxes.

Not a good day on the water...

Woke up, got out of bed, took a shower, leaning and staring at the coffee maker as it does it's wonderful thing my phone rings. It's Matt, one of the guys I work for.

"How soon can you get over here?"
"Soon, coffee."
"The tug is loose from the barge, we need to get them out of the marina before they break free and destroy everything."
"Ok, I'll be there in ten."
"Is your life insurance up to date?"
"That bad?!"
"Yup."
"OK, see you in a few."

I knew last night when we parked the barge in this marina we are working in that things could be bad in the morning. We had to execute a 30 point turn just to get the 70 foot tug/barge combo wedged into the back of the marina the previous evening, getting it out in a surge with wind and rain would not be easy.

A storm of epic proportions was forecast to commence past midnight. I heard the rain begin sometime after midnight and as soon as it was light out I could see the bare branches of the trees swaying. I did not sleep well knowing it would be a shitty day.

There's a thing that happens when you know you are going to get cold and wet and face a dangerous situation. Its the gallows humor soldiers face before battle. Its the tense joke to relieve the stress. As i walked to the marina from the parking lot all I could see were whitecaps rolling down the harbor. Spray shot over the seawall directly to leeward, where we would have to get the barge behind for any measure of safety.

The docks were heaving and dropping out under our feet as we walked out to where the barge was spudded down. You had to time your leap from the dock to the barge as the swells rolled them in different directions, sometimes level, others four feet high or low.

The tug as it turns out had not broken loose but one of the cables had slipped from its anchor. We fixed that then slapped on as many "oh shit" lines as we could. Matt came up with a plan. The plan involved me in a smaller boat controlling the bow of the large helping to turn it 90 degrees into the wind and swell so we could get out of the marina and toward the breakwater and safety.

At one point, in front of the barge waves surged and filled the boat with water.  The barge slammed the other side up. I was trapped between the force of the barge and the force of the waves. At two or three points I was within an inch of broaching and getting sucked into the 40 degree water and being driven over by the tug and barge.

The barge was slamming into the marina docks. Everything was fast. Hectic.

Everything could have gone so incredibly badly so quickly.

I never felt panic. Matt never panics. There is never yelling or screaming. Every last bit of daily boredom, a bad relationship, an annoying co-worker, a problem with your car, the daily tedium of life is gone.

I dont NEED to do this work. I don't always enjoy this work. I often love it. I dont really know what I'd do without the ocean.

Bad Names: Gary and Rick

Some people have bad names. These people have really bad names. I think names like Dick which have mostly gone out of style are pretty funny every time I hear them. Dick is usually derived from Richard, right? How about Rich? And how the fuck do you even get "Dick" from "Richard"? Is it like the parents think, Richard is so hard to say, let's call him Rick, but then as soon as you call him Rick he morphs into a Dick because most Ricks are in fact Dicks?

My ex-wife's last name is Butts and her Uncle, no joke, is Harry. Harry Butts. What the hell were her grandparents thinking? Maybe he was born with a super fuzzy backside and it just seemed to make sense? Gross right? Why wouldn't you change your name?

Leaving the posterior to the imagination...I'm an apeman, I'm an ape ape man!

But what I really want to talk about here is the kind of names that just seem to always belong to sucky people. In my opinion and others I have consulted, Rick and Gary stand out as the most reviled names.

These are the names that if someone said they were going to name their kid Gary, you could immediately think of five Gary's who suck. They are the kind of guy who your cousin brings along to a party. They dont drink. They dont know how to tell a joke. They have some strange weird habit or mannerism, like standing too close to you, or making overly familiar comments like they've known you their whole life.

Last week my friend was telling me about a class he took on Mt Washington on outdoor survival in the winter. One of the guys in the class was a Gary. No less than a mile up the trail on the first day, he quit. Said he couldn't go a step farther. Total fucking Gary move. The Gary then proceeded to ruin the entire three day class because he could handle the most basic of stuff you have to do to go winter camping. What a Gary. Totally Gary'd that class for everyone else.

Rick's on the other hand are sort of uptight guys. They are always a bit on edge, and not in a good way. Their sense of humor is kind of in your face. Or maybe they are just annoying as hell and stand for all that sucks on the internet.

Oh shit, you just got Rickroll'd!

Check out this Google image search for Rick. Would you want to hang out with any of those people. (Rick Rubin being the exception to the rule and clearly he grows all that facial hair to hide his Rickness.)

How about this one for Gary? Right? The fucking snail from Spongebob! I dont see one Gary I'd want to hang out with there, except maybe Busey, I think, but I'm not sure about that.

Contrast those two with this one for my name, Sean. Some good looking dudes there! People you want to hang with.

They say the suit doesnt make the man, but I think there is something to this. All those Gary's couldn't have been born that plain and sucky looking could they? Is that why they got named Gary or did they become that way after they got named that? Chicken/egg situation right there!

I mean Gary Busey probably fries his brain with coke and mushrooms every day just to get away from the Gary.

Busey grabbed a mac-and-cheese appetizer off a server's tray, spit it out and declared, "It's too hot to play with snakes!" - See more at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/gary-busey-still-crazy-after-all-those-years-117570443.html#sthash.ksTB6q26.dpuf

 "Busey grabbed a mac-n-cheese appetizer off a server's tray, spit it out and declared, "Its too hot to play with snakes!"

 Same could be said of the name. 

Busey grabbed a mac-and-cheese appetizer off a server's tray, spit it out and declared, "It's too hot to play with snakes!" - See more at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/gary-busey-still-crazy-after-all-those-years-117570443.html#sthash.ksTB6q26.dpuf

Busey grabbed a mac-and-cheese appetizer off a server's tray, spit it out and declared, "It's too hot to play with snakes!" - See more at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/gary-busey-still-crazy-after-all-those-years-117570443.html#sthash.ksTB6q26.dpuf

Busey grabbed a mac-and-cheese appetizer off a server's tray, spit it out and declared, "It's too hot to play with snakes!" - See more at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/gary-busey-still-crazy-after-all-those-years-117570443.html#sthash.ksTB6q26.dpuf

Busey grabbed a mac-and-cheese appetizer off a server's tray, spit it out and declared, "It's too hot to play with snakes!" - See more at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/gary-busey-still-crazy-after-all-those-years-117570443.html#sthash.ksTB6q26.dpuf

Whole Foods and the Sad Decline of a Once Good Fish Counter

When a Whole Foods opened near me a few years ago, I was ambivalent at best. The opening of the WF quickly meant the demise of the local Traders Joe's which got relocated a further 40 minutes away. Suddenly the choices were the local overpriced market with conventional grown produce, the giant chain groceries and Whole Foods.

The saving grace, in my mind was that WF has a fish counter. And because i know they operate a processing facility in nearby Gloucester, MA., I could count on the local species being fresh. And, in the beginning of our sad little tryst as consumer and monger this was mostly true. I could get local cod, haddock, flounder etc., They even carried Gulf of Maine Shrimp which are one of my favorite ocean foods.

Then WF decided that they were going to only sell seafood listed as "Green" or "Yellow" on the Monterey Bay Aquariums seafood guide. I have talked about the problem with those guides before. The short version is that almost all of the guides oversimplify and make broad generalizations about fisheries.

One of my concerns when Whole Foods made the change was that farmed and factory fished seafood would come to dominate the fish counter.

I went to my local Whole Foods yesterday to get some vegetables and seafood. I was hoping for some Gulf of Maine Shrimp (though the season may be over) I doubted they had them as the last time I'd been at WF they did not have them. Though they did have plenty of frozen imported farmed shrimp.

No worries there must be something here I can buy, I thought. Nope. Not a single  local offering. There was:

• Salmon, farmed, Norway
• Tilapia, farmed, Central America
• Swordfish, wild, prev. frozen, South America
• Salmon, wild, still frozen, Alaska
• Cod, prev. frozen, Norway
• Striped Bass, farmed, US

There were some others I cannot recall, but there was quite literally nothing that came from the ocean that is less than a mile from that Whole Foods. More than half of the seafood was imported. The majority was previously frozen. 

The other thing that jumped out at me was the prices. Most of the seafood there was over $14/lb. Even the farmed Salmon was $14/lb. 

So, Whole Foods in the process of trying to save seafood has gone from a quality fish counter with local offerings and decent prices to a fish counter with all imported or previously frozen seafood that quite frankly tastes like shit and is expensive. I guess if their goal is to get people to eat less seafood they are accomplishing their goals.

On the WF blog on this issue the comments are uniformly in favor of the WF policy (well, except my comment), so I think I am the exception. I just have a really hard time with this approach. We don't simplify any other food into a traffic light. And while I support anyone's efforts to restore the ocean, I am deeply skeptical that this approach will work. 

And, in the meantime, that is just one less place for people to get a real education about the seafood they buy and get high quality fresh healthy seafood.

A Death Knell for the Ocean

Last night I was talking to fisherman Ray Bates Jr. of Marblehead. He is a lobsterman, dives for scallops and also happens to be a writer and researcher about shipwrecks in the North Shore of Boston. Among the many interesting things he told me - he always tells me interesting things - was about his perception of how the ocean changed in his forty years as a fisherman and diver.

"Its turned into a one dimensional ocean. Striped Bass, Skates and Dogfish. Thats all thats left. Forty years ago, there were flounder all over the place, schools of pollack everywhere, twenty and thirty pound cod in the harbors. Now its just the three species, the diversity is gone."

I couldnt help but think that a life of making a living from the ocean like Ray's is also a thing of the past. This week's news that drastic cuts to fishing effort will be implemented in the upcoming fishing season is likely the final nail in the coffin for many local fishermen. Even though the news was expected it was almost like the fourth act in a three act play. Really, the finale is that this years fishing quota will not be caught because the fish simply aren't there.

Between the cries for federal disaster aid for the fishing industry, the increase in news reports about warming ocean temperatures and anecdotal reports of big boats fishing out important inshore areas, there are plenty of likely causes for this sad downward spiral.

I've always been one to criticize the management of fisheries by the government. Since the passage of the Magnusen-Stevens act in 1976 fish populations for the most part have declined in New England (as well as in other areas - there are a few success stories out there, but they are certainly outweighed by the failures.) Approaching forty years of regulation, we've seen nothing but declines in fish.

The fishing industry has never been very good at regulating itself and definitely deserves a big chunk of blame pie. But really, what natural resources extraction industry has ever regulated itself in our society and world? That task belongs to the larger society and its governments. Still, the industry deserves some accounting.

Technology certainly plays a part in fishermen's ability to find and harvest any and all fish that live in the ocean. I'd like to get rid of draggers and make fishermen fish with hooks and nets with 10" mesh. I seriously doubt we'd be in this situation if there were no draggers.

The science of counting fish has had its up and downs. I was one of the people yapping away a couple of years ago that fish populations were on the upswing and would be completely "rebuilt" by 2014. Science certainly made a fool out of me.

I'm also pretty convinced global warming has something to do with the lack of fish. As we've learned, ocean fish are much like salmon in that they tend to return to the same places to spawn every year. One of the key triggers for bottom fish spawning is temperature. Even a small change in temperature can cause a poor spawn.

Environmentalists need to take a seat at the table of reckoning for this mess as well. In twenty years of advocating for the ocean, they've done little good and a lot of bad. First by polarizing fishermen by painting them as little short of criminals. Then by stuffing a logically flawed "Catch shares" management scheme down fishermen's throats, that arguably is the primary reason for this most recent downturn in fish populations.

What about those of us who love seafood, love the ocean, love the classic New England waterfront experience, the scent of fish and fishing boats, the classic colors of the boats docked at the piers or bobbing at their moorings? I think there has to be some accounting there as well. We are not the innocents we may want to be as we chomp away at our fish and chips and devour farmed salmon and shrimp imported from third world cess pools and call it "seafood".

Will the ocean ever come back to us? Or will it sit stagnant like Canada's fishing grounds, still depleted some thirty years after an outright ban on bottom fishing?

I certainly have hope. I believe in the ocean. I'm pretty skeptical about us humans though. If there is a bright side to any of this, it's that it represents a chance, a chance to maybe start from scratch. Amendment 18 may help with that, its at least a way to start talking about what our fishing fleet should look like if there are ever any fish to catch.

I guess I have a hard time understanding why this isn't bigger news. Why people don't care more. Frankly the citizens of this country who technically own this resource should be pissed off and demanding change. We've taken one of the resources this country was founded on and thrashed it, destroyed it. Do we really not care that we are leaving our children a depleted and one dimensional ocean?

But in the end, I really feel bad for the fish. They don't deserve this. The last major wild source of food on this planet and no one seems to give a shit that they are on the edge of existence because of our unfathomable greed.