Beach Plastics Talk - Port Townsend Marine Science Center Dec. 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port Townsend, WA-As part of their ongoing Plastics in the Marine
Environment program, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTSMC) is hosting a brown bag lunch in their Natural History Exhibit at Fort Worden State Park on December 2nd at noon.
Lisa Friend, recycling outreach coordinator for RE Sources for
Sustainable Communities, will be offering a 30-minute presentation about efforts with maritime industries to reduce impacts of marine litter by providing boatyard opportunities to recycle plastics, like monofilament fishing line.
"Our brown bag lunches are a way for people to convene in an informal setting and learn about pertinent topics that interest them," said Jean Walat, Volunteer Coordinator for the PTMSC. "While most of us are old hands at recycling milk jugs and newspapers, this presentation talks about how to reduce the impact of abandoned fishing line and other plastics that have been a big problem in the marine environment. The presentation is free and the public is encouraged to attend." People may bring a lunch if they wish; hot beverages and dessert will be provided.
RE Sources has been focusing this fall on three plastic streams: used tarps, monofilament fishing line and plastic bottles. Although plastics markets are weak from shore to shore, demand for most of these specialty materials is still strong. Next spring, RE Sources hopes to expand recycling efforts to more net recycling and a special "drive" to collect polyethylene boat wrap. They're anxious to expand both programs Sound-wide.
PTMSC is currently providing a region wide education and monitoring
program focused on reducing plastic pollution in the marine environment, funded by Washington Department of Ecology. RE Sources is a partner in this program, conducting beach sediment sampling in Whatcom County.
For more information on the brown bag lunch, contact Jean Walat at
385.5582, ext. 112 or via e-mail at jwalat@ptmsc.org or visit
www.ptmsc.org.
Beach Seining Opportunity - Bainbridge Dec. 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, December 5th 8:30 am at Fay Bainbridge State Park we will meet for the bi-weekly Bainbridge Island beach seine. The beach seine program depends on its volunteers, without you we truly can't make it happen. With the holiday season officially upon us you may want to consider spending a few hours out on the Puget Sound with the beach seine crew as a way to get away from a stress of the season or spend time with a family member or friend. Beach seining is an excellent way to learn more about the nearshore environment, Bainbridge Island, and marine ecology from a hands on perspective, it's also a lot of fun and free. We will meet at Fay Bainbridge State Park at 8:30 am and typically conclude around 1-2pm. Please dress accordingly and bring a hardy pair of gloves.
Directions and information about the park are available at http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Fay+Bainbridge
If you can't make it 12/5, the next seine events are scheduled for 12/19, 1/2, 1/16, and 1/30. Feel free to reserve a spot far advance. If you have any questions please call or email me. Join the Bainbridge Island beach seine crew and circumnavigate Bainbridge Island with us! Please confirm your attendance with boot size (for waders)
and emergency contact information (name and number).
Thank you,
Colin Spikes
shorelineintern@ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thank you for participating in Poulsbo Park Day!
I am finally recovering from last weekend, and I wanted to send my heartfelt thanks for everything you did for Poulsbo Park Days, particularly at Poulsbo's Fish Park. It was quite a day, and everything went off without a hitch! We estimated that 250-300 people came through the park that day, with many of them surprised as to what Fish Park has to offer. I've had people ask if we will do this again, and maybe it can happen every year!
Your organizations have all played a vital part in the development of Fish Park. This project would not be what it is today if it wasn't for the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the park. Of course, a little funding and donated assets are huge too! Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and love of the environment with the community.
Your commitment to this park will have a lasting effect for many years to come. Thank you again for all that you do.
Yours truly,
Mary, Parks and Recreation
Monday, November 3, 2008
SHARKS ARE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
by Nancy Sefton
The shark talk by the UW’s Dr. Galluci on October 30, for Beach Naturalists in Kitsap County, reminded me of the many dives I’ve made where sharks were present. Moreover, it reminded me of how often the gullible public is hoodwinked by Hollywood into believing that sharks pose more threat to man than processed food, other drivers, or your friendly IRS agent.
Shark movies may be great escapist fun, but I suspect they buoy up people’s mistrust of real-life large animals that inhabit our real-life oceans.
All during my diving years, I fielded the same question. “Aren’t you afraid of sharks?” I finally developed an answer that gave me some delicious satisfaction: “No, what I’m afraid of is returning to the unpredictable, often dangerous world of homo sapiens.”
My rather weird goal, when diving, was to pet a shark. But usually, sightings were just within my range of visibility, the animals appearing like ghosts against the distant blue.
But one lucky day I happened on a sleeping nurse shark about 7 feet long, on a shallow Caribbean reef. Perfect. Nurse sharks feed on very small organisms. Nurse sharks take naps. This one looked positively comatose as it dozed on the soft white sand next to a coral head.
I reached out my ungloved hand and touched the shark’s skin. It felt like sandpaper. In fact, shark scales under a microscope show up a tiny hook on each, and this is why the skin of a shark seems to “grab”. It’s anything but slimy.
A foot-long remora, or shark sucker fish, slithered nervously over its host like a vigilant bodyguard. The shark itself was very still. Its gill covers opened and closed rhythmically, keeping the water flowing in order to capture dissolved oxygen. The shark never awakened.
A few years later, in 1988, I found myself sitting in a deep submersible hunting the elusive Caribbean six-gill shark, a species found in Puget Sound. After waiting 30 minutes at 1,000 feet, the external bait bucket full of tasty barracuda brought in our prey. What a magnificent animal! I felt its power as the 10-foot shark closed its jaws around the bait bucket and shook it, rocking the sub on its mounts. It lasted only a few seconds but that fleeting vision of a true “monster of the deep” is fixed firmly in my memory.
This close encounter and others made me consider sharks as something more than mindless predators out to get us. Personally, I think of sharks as magnificent masters, not monsters, of the sea; they are sleek, perfectly formed and equipped for their important role in the oceanic community: that of sanitary engineers. (This is a concept that Peter Benchley, author of “Jaws”, didn’t find worthy of pursuing because after all, he wanted to sell books and movie rights.)
Sharks are scavengers, consuming what is dead or dying, sick or weak. When a human is attacked by mistake, all sharks become “man eaters.” Today, many species are overfished and seriously threatened. Certainly, sharks have more to fear from us than vice versa. Once we learn to value all life forms for their roles in earth’s ecosystems, perhaps we’ll put more effort into preserving them.
The shark talk by the UW’s Dr. Galluci on October 30, for Beach Naturalists in Kitsap County, reminded me of the many dives I’ve made where sharks were present. Moreover, it reminded me of how often the gullible public is hoodwinked by Hollywood into believing that sharks pose more threat to man than processed food, other drivers, or your friendly IRS agent.
Shark movies may be great escapist fun, but I suspect they buoy up people’s mistrust of real-life large animals that inhabit our real-life oceans.
All during my diving years, I fielded the same question. “Aren’t you afraid of sharks?” I finally developed an answer that gave me some delicious satisfaction: “No, what I’m afraid of is returning to the unpredictable, often dangerous world of homo sapiens.”
My rather weird goal, when diving, was to pet a shark. But usually, sightings were just within my range of visibility, the animals appearing like ghosts against the distant blue.
But one lucky day I happened on a sleeping nurse shark about 7 feet long, on a shallow Caribbean reef. Perfect. Nurse sharks feed on very small organisms. Nurse sharks take naps. This one looked positively comatose as it dozed on the soft white sand next to a coral head.
I reached out my ungloved hand and touched the shark’s skin. It felt like sandpaper. In fact, shark scales under a microscope show up a tiny hook on each, and this is why the skin of a shark seems to “grab”. It’s anything but slimy.
A foot-long remora, or shark sucker fish, slithered nervously over its host like a vigilant bodyguard. The shark itself was very still. Its gill covers opened and closed rhythmically, keeping the water flowing in order to capture dissolved oxygen. The shark never awakened.
A few years later, in 1988, I found myself sitting in a deep submersible hunting the elusive Caribbean six-gill shark, a species found in Puget Sound. After waiting 30 minutes at 1,000 feet, the external bait bucket full of tasty barracuda brought in our prey. What a magnificent animal! I felt its power as the 10-foot shark closed its jaws around the bait bucket and shook it, rocking the sub on its mounts. It lasted only a few seconds but that fleeting vision of a true “monster of the deep” is fixed firmly in my memory.
This close encounter and others made me consider sharks as something more than mindless predators out to get us. Personally, I think of sharks as magnificent masters, not monsters, of the sea; they are sleek, perfectly formed and equipped for their important role in the oceanic community: that of sanitary engineers. (This is a concept that Peter Benchley, author of “Jaws”, didn’t find worthy of pursuing because after all, he wanted to sell books and movie rights.)
Sharks are scavengers, consuming what is dead or dying, sick or weak. When a human is attacked by mistake, all sharks become “man eaters.” Today, many species are overfished and seriously threatened. Certainly, sharks have more to fear from us than vice versa. Once we learn to value all life forms for their roles in earth’s ecosystems, perhaps we’ll put more effort into preserving them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
