Messing About In Sailboats

Whale beaches itself near Raritan Yacht Club

The kids in the summer sailing camp at Raritan Yacht Club must have had the shock of a lifetime when a black fin appeared in the moored fleet close to the club. As it turned out it was a whale that had sadly repeatedly tried to beach itself. The shots below on the beach are 100 yards from my boat. From what I can gather the folks on the beach were successful in getting the whale back into the water but it then swam up the Raritan River and away from the sea. The whale fatally beached itself again later that day one last time :( Here is how this was reported on mycentralnewjersey.com UPDATE: Whale spotted swimming near Perth Amboy beaches itself PERTH AMBOY — A small whale has washed ashore in the city after spending hours Monday roaming the Raritan Bay and Raritan River, authorities and a witness... Read more →

World Oceans Day — Wear Blue and Tell Two

It's Ocean's day. Find out more here. I will be wearing blue, will you? Thanks to Ann at the Boating Bible for passing this along. Read more →

Save the Shark

It's hard to imagine a species that is so feared and yet is under so much threat of extinction. An old friend of mine Michael Skoletsky is a long-time diver. Over the last few years he has become increasingly concerned and passionate about the threat faced by sharks. To that end with five other fellow divers, he founded sharksavers.org. Their mission is to educate people about impact we are having on sharks and why it's so important to save them. In their own words. We focus on education and awareness because most people still think sharks are out to kill them, or don't know that sharks are being fished towards extinction, or are unaware of the of disastrous impact that shark eradification has on the oceans and food supply, or don't know that mercury in shark fin soup is hazardous. It's a worthwhile cause. Please check them out. It's a... Read more →

Sylvia Earle on our Endangered Oceans

A dramatic and highly informative presentation by the awesome Sylvia Earle. She was a recent recipeint of the TED Prize for her dedication to marine preservation. The facts are frightening. Just one piece of data, 90% of the Big Fish are gone. In her own words: "The next 10 years could be the most important in next 10,000". In essence, we have to act now or we are going to lose our seas. Read more →

Good article on the impact of pigs, chickens and cats on fish

Very interesting and troubling piece in today's NY Times on why how fish has become a core part of the raising of cattle and poultry, driving greater demand for fish, further depleting our oceans. It raises an interesting solution, in using algae and other aquatic vegetation to replace fish in animal feed. This seems especially compelling as it could drive demand, thus economic value of aquatic vegetation. If managed properly, maybe this would actually be beneficial for our seas. Read more →