New Year's News

Right now I am completely redoing the UMass Boston Nantucket Field station website (http://umb.edu/nantucket    ---- new version live on Friday January 6th). It will be faster, stronger, and capable of leaping tall buildings. I should be able to update it more, just like I hope to update this blog more often.I've had a lot of help with that site and it shows.


Just like many typical Monday after the holidays: we have a very dead whale carcass on the sand on the south side of the island. I think it is kind of beautiful, bleached bone with very old and leathery skin. An observant and helpful beach wlaker reported it and if I get permission to post the pics, I will.

Len's blog has been excellent lately; check it out at http://athomewithmybooks.blogspot.com/
Resolution #7643........ post more often, even if you only have time to post something short. Here is the rest of my New Year's resolution that I posted on Facebook.Note: it sounded better in my head at the time.
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my lovely and intelligent friend G *****n (redacted to protect the innocent) asked about resolutions- I am not big on them- but here is my attempt this year:

most days will not be like today (for one thing 8-9 + hours of work makes this harder), but hope to make them more like this everyday. Do 1 thing for each person/entity in your life everyday including yourself. My list for today (1/2 done is)
1. For me- jog/run/walk 2 miles every morning on treadmill- done- bit hard with a wee hangover but I managed- passed the 200 mile mark on the treadmill- goal this year 400 miles
2. for hubby - my part of cleaning the house (1/2), cook dinner (tradition new years day dinner: duck, collard greens, black eyed peas not the band- or maybe the band) and make low sugar choc chip cookies- in progress
3. For dog - nice long walk from mile marker 5 almost to altar rock and back- done and beautiful this morning- did not get accidentally shot by deer hunters a plus
4. for cats - change litter box and order them a new water bowl, extra petting- thankfully they do not need much
5. For field station- meet with birders tonight at 700; organize shop downstairs (day off so only an hour for that - done)
6. For friends - hang out tonight for dinner and drinks at 800 (past Len's bedtime) -done
7. For "Greater good"/world or whomever"- recycle and pass along old clothes I get rid of today to someone who needs them (and has even less fashion sense than me which may be tough) and schedule first urban school trip to field station for 2011- work on blog- hey this is long enough to be my blog entry; even got rid of my old futon
Tada!: My resolution - do something for each of these above as best as I can everyday and don't beat myself up when I can't - should be on resolution list- be less wordy; but I know my limits :-)
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okay you can wake up now

I don't know if you are like me, but as soon as I list resolutions, I think of about 100 more I should have listed. Honestly, every day should be a new resolution day; like a self referential form of Groundhog's day. Maybe mine newest new one should be to watch "Zombieland" once a week. I am pretty sure I can keep that one.

last but not least- a cute youtube video of polar bears vs. scientific observation cameras (guess who wins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT0O2RyxnkY

Climate Change lecture tonight

Tonight I'll be doing a reprise of my lecture on Climate Change and its relevance for Nantucket.

"What is Climate Change and What Does it Mean for Nantucket?
Thursday, Dec 9. 6:30-8:30pm @ the Greenhound Building (Downtown NRTA bus terminal building near Wilkes Square)

Description: Marine Biogeochemist, Dr. Sarah Oktay, describes the current understanding of climate change science and explores the ways in which Nantucket, both the island and its inhabitants, may be affected.  (No charge)

For about 10 years during my research career in Galveston and in Boston I worked on identifying the sources for organic matter in the ocean using iodine isotopes. [one of several articles from that research, abstract only]: http://tinyurl.com/2a6axrk


I would also recommend you check out this video: "What's the worse that can happen" also known virally as The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

Pictures of the day; Bob Prescott [Director of Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod; Bob is also Massachusetts coordinator for the Northeast Sea Turtle Stranding Network] dissected this male loggerhead turtle here at the field station on November 30 with the rapt attention of the Lighthoouse School students and assistance from the Marine Mammal Stranding Team. It was extremely cold, loggerhead had been frozen for quite some time and there was hermit crabs in its stomach.

 

"Stroll" barrelling down on Nantucket

Stroll weekend is one of the nicest times to be on Nantucket. Check out this video to see what I mean. This is also the last weekend for 2010 for the Nantucket Clean Team to spring into action as we met Saturday morning bright and early at 800 at the Grand Union ("A&P") parking lot downtown to remove any shreds of trash before Santa arrived. WE got about 1/3 of a trick full before Sybille arrived with her huge haul from various parts of the island. The Nantucket Field Station is one of the primary sponsors of the Nantucket Clean Team and I have been lucky enough to be a co-captain with Bill Connell (the founder) and Grant Sanders (www.yackon.com) for 5+ years.

Last, but not least, check out this flash mob that showed up at Stroll (video courtesy of GenoTV) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MpW7GZuaiA

update on the dolphins in the harbor

Nantucket Harbor update:

from the Inquirer and Mirror web site and from updates from the Nantucket Marine Mammal Stranding team
dolphins and green turtle

a small fuel spill by docks in the harbor, with the current slim scallop harvest pickings, adding insult to injury.

The Town of Nantucket is starting to develop the Shellfish Management plan with the help of a local committee and the Urban Harbors Institute. The creation of a SMP is one of the many action items in our state approved Harbor Plan. I am the chair of the harbor plan implementation committee; come join us for our meetings, the next one is 500 November 18th.

It's fall on Nantucket

Which means I finally have time to do some blog updates......

this week we have some common dolphins who have wandered into the harbor perhaps as a result of last week's storm. Our area stranding team under the direct guidance and oversight of the new England Aquarium is monitoring their behavior from afar. Please do not attempt to go find or bother these animals while they attempt to figure out how to get back out into their normal habitat.


more about Common dolphins which do strand here (in fact one did last February here at the Nantucket Field Station- pictures tomorrow)


COMMON DOLPHIN (Delphinus delphis)
Physical Characteristics:
• Hourglass pattern on side • Yellowish patch in front • Black stripe from lower jaw to front flipper
and from eye to base of melon • Dorsal fin tall & pointed • Prominent beak
Size:
• Adult: Length up to 8 ft. (250 cm)/ Weight up to 300 lb •
         Juvenile: Length 5 – 6.5 ft. (150-200 cm)/ Weight up to 175 lb
Behavior:
• Residents of New England year round • Extremely social, found in schools of 50-1000 
• Found mostly offshore, infrequently near shore • Common in mass strandings


an article I wrote last year regarding dolphins and The Cove:
http://www.yesterdaysisland.com/archives/science/8.php


a video posted on Plum from a common dolphin stranding in the Hither Creek/Madaket harbor area a couple of years ago:
www.plumtv.com/videos/nantucket-dolphins-stranded-madaket-harbor/index.html

link to all that went before

there are so many ways to skin a cat; and man, do they hate all of them. I have been writing a blog for a long time (poorly and very sporadically if a blog post once every 6 months even counts as sporadic) which can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/bridgewaterslam/sarahsblog/
and I am attempting to migrate it to Blogger in the hopes of actually posting more frequently. Let me know what you think!

migrating from angelfire

I keep complaining to myself and ignoring my complaints about why I never post to my blog and how I can best include all the adventures that seem to happen every day. Well not only am I bad about listening to myself; but I also manage to get out a 2000 word article every week, so gosh darn it, I should be able to get up a fresh blog entry. I plan to try and migrate this blog to blogger or wordpress; so hopefully my two readers will join me. And each week I'll introduce a blog or topic that interests me and hopefully you. This week I recommend you check out: http://paullisicky.blogspot.com

Mark Doty and Paul Lisicky gave a reading last night at the Atheneum and not only did I find both their work striking, but I also thought they were two of the sunniest nicest people I have met in a while.  My adventures have continued this weekend with my "sermon" at the UU entitled "Nature Bats Last" which I will clean up and post and my meeting of a historian/writer/former professor/current activist and seeker and silicon valley entrepreneur who will be working on a history of Cotton Mather, the church and religion as it evolved on Nantucket with a big helping of Thoreau for dessert. The picture of the week is a snapping turtle in honor of Mark's poem http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/turtle-swan/