The Occasional Naturalist

At the top of Baxter Peak on Mt. Khatadin

Apparently in addition to being an Occasional Naturalist, I’m also an out-of-shape one too.  My son and I hiked up Mt. Katahdin to Baxter’s Peak yesterday.  While we made the 11 mile round trip in a very respectable 7 hours, it kicked my butt.  Through the course of the hike, I heard numerous songbirds I have never heard before, but really struggled to look up let alone take the time to try and identify them.  The trail was rocky and sloped the entire way.  As I told my son, “I have never stared at my feet for so long before”.

On one of the few patches of even terrain, my son almost walked into this Bull Moose a mere 30 feet away from us.  We followed him slowly for 5 minutes or so as he blocked our decent until later moving into the forest.

Baxter State Park is a georgous natural haven.  Its National Park in size although maintained as a primitive wilderness experience.

The plant life on the tops of the mountains are endemic to Greenland and not found elsewhere in the Eastern US, but again, was too tired to try and stop and take pictures or do much contemplating of what was around me.

Moose blocking the trail

Minke Whale surfacing

This is the only photo I was able to take of a Minke Whale on our whale watching tour.  We never did get a good look at whale, but what will stay with me in my memory is its breath.  I’ve smelled bad breath before, but never bad breath from 75 yards away.

It you would open up a can of tuna, stick it in a plastic bag and leave it out in the sun for a few days and then later stick your nose in it, you would have an idea of what the breath of a Minke Whale smells like.  Whales are beautiful, intelligent and awe inspiring creatures, but this species, who apparently earned the nickname, ‘stinky minke’ sure does smell.

The rapidly disappearing bridge behind me

If I were more than an Occasional Naturalist, I would know a little bit more about tides.  I’ve probably made 20-25 trips to the ocean over the years, but tides still vex me.  I’ve lost most beach towel, clothes, and cooler to an incoming tide in La Jolla, California in the past and today I came back with numb, wet feet after failing to pay attention to a rapidly rising Atlantic Ocean.  I walked out 1/2 mile into a bay near Brooklin, Maine.  The little spit of land I was walking on seemed high and dry enough.  I knew the tide would be coming in soon, but thought I had plenty of time to admire the view, but in a span of 10 minutes I proved myself wrong.

After staring out into the ocean for 5-10 minutes, I turned around and found my little land bridge rapidly disappearing behind me.  I stuffed my camera in the backpack and proceeded to try and hop from rock to rock.  I made it a few hundred yards but wasn’t fast enough.  The next quarter mile was trudging through 55 degree water lapping at my calves.

I’ve since learned a few important things.  Of course, tides are connected to the moon.  Everyone knows that, but what’s the rhythm?

There’s two high tides and low tides every 25 hours.  Tides occur about 50 minutes later each day.  High and low tides are roughly six hours apart.  Tides are more extreme the further you are away from the equator (which explains my cold wet feet here in Maine).  High tides occur when the moon is directly overhead, with the tides lagging somewhat, or on the exact opposite side of the earth.  This doesn’t intuitively make sense at first, but its the way it works.

Should I know more than this?  As an Occasional Naturalist, yes.  But at least now I got the basics and can also (and will in the future!) read a tide chart.

BP’s CEO, Tony Howard called the gulf oil spill a ‘major reputational issue’ on Monday.  While wildlife in the gulf is fighting for their lives, fisherman and others who make their life in the gulf are fighting for livelihoods, BP is worried about their reputation.  Sure their brand matters a lot to them, but com’on.  Maybe if their existence as a corporation was in jeopardy they would understand and fight harder.

I’m proud of this young lady but at the same time disappointed in myself.

No Oil Haircut by Coral Pearce in Florida

I call myself an occasional naturalist, but really, I may be a closet environmentalist.  I find myself distraught and frustrated over the devastation that I know is occurring in the gulf right now.

Given a few more decades on this planet, I can, probably better than this young lady, envision the decades of devastation to the environment and the livelihoods of those who live off of the gulf, yet, I haven’t done anything about it.

I keep my feelings in the closet and continue to to discuss the mundane with my friends and co-workers meanwhile literally hundreds or even thousands of square miles of an entire ecosystem are at risk.

This young lady, Coral, choose to shave her head to donate her hair to assist in the cleanup.  Human hair is actually a good oil absorbent, but at the same time, she choose to make a statement.  You can read more about what she did on WPTV’s website or on CNN.

But what can be done?  Aren’t we all helpless until they fix it?  No absolutely not.  We are not helpless.  Our first responsibility is to care.  This young lady cared enough which drove her to this decision.  If we cared enough, we can all find some way to help.  The second responsibility is to show our frustration and outrage.  Don’t allow this to fall to yesterday’s news.  An entire ecosystem is at risk, but BP is still making money and its stock while going down is not plummeting.  BP undoubtedly feels very motivated to correct this fast, but do they feel their company’s existence is on the line like the species in the gulf and the fishermen who live off of it?  Probably not?  With an entire ecosystem and fishing industry on the brink, shouldn’t they feel the same pressure?

Lastly take a step.  A thousand small steps that each of us may take translates into a collective, giant leap forward.  Donate your hair, your time (write your congressmen or volunteer in a cleanup effort), your money; something to make a difference.

Lastly, while I’d like to blame someone for this, say BP.  Stop to think who the ‘they‘ are that’s truly responsible for this mess.  It goes beyond the maker of the oil rig, beyond its lessee BP, even beyond the regulatory agencies with governance responsibilities back to all of us.

Thank you Coral Pearce for reminding me what our individual responsibilities are.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig

As a species, I believe we suffer from a disability.  It seems we are unable to grasp and address big, long-term problems.  In true political correctness, I’m wondering if this is a collective disability that most of the members of our species are afflicted with.

Unfortunately, this may be by design.   Evolution trained us to ignore the big problems we can’t easily address.  Focus on food and shelter and everything will be fine is the mantra that’s served us well for countless generations.  In a hunter-gather culture, that may be all you need, but now given our technological prowess and collective impact what once was a keen benefit for survival (i.e. the short-term) now is delivering us a huge disability in the long-term.

I am continually dismayed at the smart people all around me who really can’t seem to see the big picture, long-term view.  Whether its global warming, habit loss, or energy consumption, for most of us, what’s happening today, sadly what’s happening on American Idol, seems to matter far more to most as to what could happen in the future.  This is definitely not limited to our environment.  Our growing national debt is another fine example.

Acknowledging this as a disability unfortunately does nothing to help.  We may be disabled, but it is still entirely up to us.  There’s definitely still cause for hope, but time is limited.  We need to move past our disability and manage for future generations or one day sooner than later, we may be the endangered species.