Category: Environment

Animal ethics, Environment, Marine Biology

Shore Whaling at Trinidad, California in the 1920s

by Dr Abalone • January 15, 2016 • 1 Comment

Standing there today you can imagine it. Just walk outside the Seascape Restaurant near Trinidad Pier and you are on hallowed ground. Ground consecrated by the blood and guts of thousands of magnificent whales and a few brave whalemen. Here, for six years in the 1920s, whales were brought ashore and butchered by men for their oil, their baleen, for their very bones. And lest we judge these men for their actions, back then it was no different then catching fish. Of bringing a commodity to market; a way of making a living; albeit a hard one with many risks.

Animal ethics, Environment, Life, Philosophy

The Call of Nature and the Renewal of the Nature Fast

by Dr Abalone • January 3, 2016 • 9 Comments

“To perceive the true nature of existence was one reason for the performing a vision quest; after four days of fasting alone in a high rock, in the great silence and solitude of earth, one is bound to discover that what was thought of as a separate self is not separate from the trees, the…

Environment, Life, Philosophy

Growing up in the 60s: How the Murder of our Heroes Changed the World

by Dr Abalone • December 29, 2015 • 0 Comments

I will never forget that day: the announcement over the school loudspeakers, the nuns at my Catholic school stricken with grief, the confusion, but most of all I remember the change in my parent’s behavior. I was six years old and it was Nov. 22, 1963. On that day my world changed.

Environment, Marine Biology

Return of The Birds

by Dr Abalone • December 13, 2015 • 0 Comments

He looked out to sea and watched the crested breakers, combing green. They rose stiffly, curled, and broke again; and because it was ebb tide, the roar was distant, more remote, lacking the sound and thunder of the flood. Then he saw them. The gulls. Out there, riding the seas. What he had thought at…

Environment, Surfing

Surfing on Mars

by Dr Abalone • December 9, 2015 • 1 Comment

The swell rises slowly from the depths as it begins to feel the jagged, rocky seafloor. You notice a darkening in the distance against the red horizon as the wave jacks quickly up to 10, 20, then 30 feet. As you scratch outside the wave begins its slow cruise towards you, giving you plenty of time to turn…

Environment, Marine Biology, Surfing, Surfing Ecology

The Surfing Ecologist: A New Synergy for Surfers and Science

by Dr Abalone • October 31, 2015 • 6 Comments

Are you as interested in the kelp as the swell in the lineup? Do you ponder what lives underwater as you wait for waves? Do you watch the jellyfish and stingrays zing by while surfing? If so, you might be a surfing ecologist and are doubly stoked hanging out in the ocean. Read on, this post is…

Animal ethics, Environment, Marine Biology

The Search for Monster Great White Sharks

by Dr Abalone • July 6, 2015 • 7 Comments

You’re gonna need a bigger boat. — Chief Martin Brody (Jaws) First of all let’s get something straight: Great white sharks are not the biggest shark in the ocean. That distinction belongs to whale sharks (40+ feet) and basking sharks (30+ feet). However, since these are gentle plankton-munching giants most people don’t focus on their huge size.…

Animal ethics, Environment, Marine Biology

The Last Song of Mother Earth

by Dr Abalone • June 18, 2015 • 1 Comment

The planet is teeming with life, all literally bursting with sound. On land we hear these sounds every day and most people are familiar with the noises of the forest: the hooting, chirping, moaning, howling, tweeting, clucking, whistling, squawking and hooting that creates a complex sonic melody. The sound of nature is everywhere but we don’t always take the time to listen.

Animal ethics, Environment, Marine Biology, Science

Science and Ethics in the Hawaii Marine Aquarium Trade

by Dr Abalone • May 30, 2015 • 5 Comments

Conservation and conflict are irreparably linked as we address human’s widening impact on the planet. From a broader perspective we are moving forward as our new values and perspectives clash with the old. However, for those in the conservation trenches in may not seem like progress when being attacked at public meetings, creating enemies and, in some cases, receiving…

Environment, Science

Tsunami of the Century: the Great Cascadia Earthquake

by Dr Abalone • February 15, 2015 • 1 Comment

9PM. Jan. 26. it is a cold winter night and you are standing on a beach looking out over a dark ocean dimly lit by a crescent moon. A low rumbling sounds arises in the distance and grows in intensity into loud thunderclaps. Suddenly the ground begins violently rocking back and forth, knocking you off your feet. You hear landslides…

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