Week Downeast, Day 1

8 AM:  We run downtown to grab a quick breakfast at the Bakery in Eastport.  Things are quiet on a Monday morning, but promise to pick up.  We eat at the waterfront amphitheater, where there will be an evening concert on Wednesday, and stroll along the waterfront before taking off for the day.

10 AM:  As fog rolls in from the Bay of Fundy, we head out onto the flats at Cutler.  Clammers drive right out onto the flats here and dig as the tides roll out then in.  We make our way out to a rock island, covered in Ascophyllum nodosum, and search for green crabs.  There are plenty under the rocks, but none on the flats. The dog has a fine time roaming around off leash, and we tell the clammers we're just tourists in Dunlops (our green rubber boots, a favorite amongst the fishing crowd).

12 PM:  We hike out the Coastal Trail at Cutler Public Lands Reserve, hoping to get a glimpse of Grand Manan Island from the States.  We know we're getting close to the ocean when the temperature drops a good ten degrees.  No surprise though -- the fog is thick in Grand Manan Channel, so there'll be no view of Grand Manan for us.  I head back to the trailhead while Damon goes for a run along the extensive trails. Whlie I wait for him, I pick ripe raspberries, and even save some for tomorrow's breakfast.

3 PM:  The dog tolerates yet another hike at West Quoddy Head, the easternmost point in the United States.  Competing foghorns come from every direction on the Coast Guard Trail.  Luckily it's an easy trail with a terrific overlook at the end.

5 PM:  We stop into Lubec for a snack on the deck of the Water Street Tavern and Inn, watching the tide rip along between Lubec and Campobello.  Seals pop up in the narrows and the ferry from Eastport pulls in with a full cargo of tourists.

7 PM:  Drinks on the deck as the sun goes down, followed by a dinner of grilled portobello mushrooms, corn on the cob, and a big salad.  The dog collapses after a long day, and Damon and I plan our big day tomorrow -- whale watching in Passamaquoddy Bay.

Soft Shell Clams in the News, Pt 1

Soft-shell clams are important in Maine -- both ecologically and economically.  So it's  not surprising to see them in the news once in a while.  But recently I feel like I've seen a lot about them, here, and here, and here, to name a few.  So I thought I'd take some time to wade through these issues and explore their causes and what they might mean.

Bags of clams on the Freeport Town Docks.

Ocean Acidification:  Most of us are familiar with the threat of climate change, resulting from increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  One consequence of high atmospheric CO2 levels that many people are unaware of is ocean acidification, but it's a relatively straightforward concept.  If you ever combined baking soda and vinegar, and were able to explain the resulting explosion of gas, you can understand ocean acidification.

1)  Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is increasing.  There is excellent evidence that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are increasing consistently.  In 1960, there were 315 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere; where as today the level is 396.81 ppm.  (The level considered safe and sustainable in terms of sustaining human culture and health is 350.  Yeah, that's a downer.  I would add that the vast majority of scientists, as in, virtually all, support the idea that our modern society is causing this increase in carbon dioxide.)    

The CO2 concentration last month was:

As measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

2)  Our oceans absorb about a third of the carbon in the atmosphere.  CO2 can exist as a gas in the atmosphere, but it also can dissolve into water, and is absorbed by our rivers, lakes and oceans.  The oceans have been an important buffer for the CO2 we've been pumping into the atmosphere, acting as a "sink".  

3)  Absorption of CO2 causes the oceans to become more acidic.  A few reactions go into this process, but the end result is a bunch of CO3 2- (carbonate) and H+ (positively charged hydrogen ions).  It's the conversion of the hydrogen in water to hydrogen ions that changes pH -- pH is a measure of how many of these H+ ions are around (a lower pH means a substance is more acidic and has more H+ ions).  Since before the industrial revolution, the oceans have dropped from a pH of about 8.2 to their present level of 8.1.  This might seem like a small difference, but the pH scale is logrhythmic, so this actually is a large change, in fact representing an increase in H+ ions of at least 25%.  

4) The end result of higher CO2 levels is a reduction in CO3 available for clams to make their shells.  Shellfish (and corals, urchins, and plankton, to name a few) have shells composed largely of CaCO3 -- calcium carbonate.  But they can only make these shells if the water is saturated with CO3.  With all the extra H+ ions around, CO3 (which is negatively charged) is hard to come by for clams.  Plus, their shells can dissolve in acidic water -- just like when you combine vinegar and baking soda (which is full of carbonate).  This is leading to thinner shells for many species (but some species actually do better with greater CO2 levels -- like lobster). 

On their way to the dinner table.

It's been a very busy week for me here at school -- a new semester is well underway, and this year my work load has doubled (no, my salary has not, unfortunately).  I think I'll save the green crab portion of this problem for next week!  Those papers aren't going to grade themselves, now, are they?