Aug

Nature Watch: California Sea Otter Savvy

by Meredith Mullins on August 13, 2018

A California sea otter, reminding us to be on nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Too cute to be a threatened species
© Meredith Mullins

Protecting the Southern Sea Otter

Who wins the coveted “Most Adorable” award in the marine mammal yearbook year after year?

The California Sea Otter—hands down (or paws up, depending on your perspective).

If you travel to the California Central Coast and look to the Pacific Ocean or its estuaries (or visit the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium), chances are good that you will see some playful Southern Sea Otters. And you’ll fall in love.

Paws up
© Meredith Mullins

This threatened species is an ocean treasure of form and function . . . with a large dose of cute.

As you learn more about these intelligent creatures, the “Oh, I see” moments about their life and challenges will make them favorites for a long time.

A raft of California sea otters at Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, California, reminding us of our responsibilities on nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A raft of sea otters, resting together
© Meredith Mullins

The Charismatic Sea Otter

What makes the California Sea Otter so special?

Their koala-like face sprinkled with long cat whiskers provides an intriguing mix of playfulness and inherent wisdom.
They sport a fur coat to die for (and they did—back in the fur trade days). We are fortunate that they have rallied from being almost extinct to a community of about 3200 on the California Central Coast (with the help of protection laws, of course).
Diving for food
© Meredith Mullins
The luxurious coat comes complete with pockets where they stuff their sea treasures. They’ve been seen to dive for food, and, if their paws are also going to be full, they stuff a few more shrimp or sand dollars in their pockets before they surface. Jackpot!
Munching on restaurant-quality shellfish
© Meredith Mullins
They are an eclectic blend of paws and flippers—with arms almost comically too short for their long streamlined bodies. But all parts work together so they are experts at diving for food, foraging for invertebrates (using their whiskers and paws), and finding tools to crack open the stubborn shells that house most of their food.
They are one of the few mammals to use tools and will make you smile with anthropomorphic appreciation as they attack a clam or abalone shell with a rock or whatever is handy (an abandoned sea-floating flip flop?)
Whatever tool is handy
© Sea Otter Savvy
They enjoy food with a crunch—restaurant-quality shellfish such as sea urchins, clams, mussels, crabs, snails, and abalone. (Note: The Monterey Bay Aquarium spends $15,000 a year to feed each of their rescued otters.)
When on land, sea otters look like their family cousins—weasels, ferrets, and badgers.
© Meredith Mullins
They have no blubber. Although this might seem like a weight watcher’s dream, they have to keep their metabolism high to stay warm—usually by eating about 25% of their body weight every day. (Think about it: If you’re a 180-pound person, you’d have to eat 20 pizzas a day. Too much?)
They also must groom their fur for 3–6 hours a day (perhaps a little longer on date night). They are trapping air between their outer hairs and underfur to make sure they stay warm. They are proud to have the densest fur on Earth, with up to one million hairs per square inch.
A stomach that doubles as a kitchen counter and dining room table
© Meredith Mullins
They have a streamlined body, with a stomach as flat as an aircraft carrier—perfect for preparing a feast and dining in style.
The sea otter also serves as an ecologic helper. Their favorite food is the sea urchin, which loves to feast on underwater forests. So, as they eat the sea urchins, they help to protect kelp forests for other creatures.

A California sea otter in the Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, floating on his back, reminding us of nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Relaxing in the wild (Elkhorn Slough)
© Meredith Mullins

Protecting this Treasure

With all the sea otters’ positive features, it is important to protect the otter community. They survived being hunted for fur. They now have to survive oil spills and being a target of Great White Sharks’ “test bites” (by the time the shark discovers the otter is just a bag of fur, it’s usually too late for the otter).

A kayak at a distance from a group of California sea otters, a reminder of the nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Kayakers should keep their distance from otters (five kayak lengths),
to give them space to eat and rest in peace.
© Meredith Mullins

They also have to survive all those folks who are curious about their special life—the parade of kayakers, paddleboarders, and boaters.

Several groups come to the rescue. The Southern Sea Otter is protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A sign with guidelines about sea otter life, a nature watch responsibility. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Signs help to educate kayakers about sea otter life.
© Meredith Mullins

Organizations like Sea Otter Savvy and the Monterey Bay Aquarium also provide education to the public to ensure that the otters can eat and rest in peace.

Kayak with two people in the Pacific Ocean after being educated about the California sea otter for nature watch to protect the otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Kayak companies are vigilant about education before kayakers go out.
© Meredith Mullins

Every time a kayaker or boat gets too close to an otter, the otter is disturbed and has to use precious energy to move away.

To remind kayakers and boaters of proper otter etiquette, Sea Otter Savvy works with kayak companies to place decals in every rented kayak or paddleboard. These decals remind visitors to give the otters space and to pass them in parallel. Don’t approach them head on or encircle them.

Two kayaks with decals about otter etiquette, a reminder for nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Decals in every kayak to guide visitors toward proper otter etiquette
© Meredith Mullins

To add to visitors’ education, Sea Otter Savvy also hosted a nationwide limerick contest and has now posted signs near otter habitats with the winners’ poetry.

Don’t paddle too close while we’re searchin’
For a crab or a tasty sea urchin.
Don’t land on our beach,
and stay well out of reach,
Or you’ll frighten us into submergin’.

—Laura Crowley

A warning sign with a limerick about California sea otter behavior in the Moss Landing harbor, a reminder about nature watch to protect the otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

There once was a sign with a limerick . . .
© Meredith Mullins

When you’re out enjoying the water
Beware the inquisitive otter.
They might take a bite
Though not out of spite
Some just get more close than they ought’er

—Josh Silberg

A Speeding Kills Otters sign in Moss Landing, California, a reminder of nature watch to protect California sea otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The harbor traffic can be dangerous.
© Meredith Mullins

Our Responsibilities

Sea Otter Savvy founder and passionate marine biologist Gena Bentall reminds us of our nature watch responsibility. Protection is up to humans—to make sure people around the sea otters are educated and respectful.

It’s too easy to be too curious about these remarkable creatures and get too close to them.

If a sea otter is looking at you, you’re too close, as cute as that interaction may be. Most importantly, remember that you are a guest in an amazing world.

Children watching California sea otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, reminding us to go on nature watch to protect the otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Learning from a distance at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
© Meredith Mullins

For more information about California sea otter protection, visit Sea Otter Savvy and The Monterey Bay Aquarium. Otter feedings are at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm every day at the aquarium. Sea Otter Savvy is funded in large part by the California State Coastal Conservancy, funds which state taxpayers contribute through the California Sea Otter Fund.

If you can’t travel to the California Central Coast, check out the Elkhorn Slough otter cam.

Sea Otter Awareness Week is September 23–29. Spread the word.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Nature Discovery/USA

Aug

Take a Fresh Look at Farmers Markets

by Joyce McGreevy on August 6, 2018

People at Monterey Marketplace on Alvarado Street reflect the popularity of farmers markets as an American custom. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Every summer over 10,000 people visit Old Monterey Marketplace on Alvarado Street.
© Joyce McGreevy

How an American Custom Keeps Evolving

It’s time for a field trip! Today marks the start of National Farmers Market Week, so grab your reusable cloth bags and let’s go see what’s in season. We’ve got energy to spare, thanks to all the organic fruit and vegetables we’ve been enjoying this summer.

People at Monterey Marketplace on Alvarado Street enjoy the American custom of a farmers market. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Free samples? Yes, please.
© Joyce McGreevy

Farmers markets in the United States are a time-honored American custom. If you’ve ever visited Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the site that started it all, you probably admired its Romanesque Revival market house. But that’s just the “new” building—added in 1889. The original opened in 1730.

Lancaster Farmers Market in Pennsylvania has been the center of an American custom since 1730. (Image public domain)

Lancaster Central Market is America’s oldest farmers market.

Other markets soon followed. In Alexandria, Virginia, some of George Washington’s Mount Vernon crops landed in buyers’ baskets. In 1779, Soulard’s Farmer’s Market opened up west of the Mississippi in St. Louis. On August 17, 1907, the day that Pike’s Place Market opened in Seattle, crowds were so massive that produce sold out in minutes.

A basket of organic radishes reflect the American custom of shopping at farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The roots of farmers markets run deep.
© Joyce McGreevy

A Market Crash

But by the 1940s, American farmers markets were as rare as hen’s teeth. What upset the apple cart?

Progress.

As Americans became car drivers and followed the new interstate highway system out of the cities and into sprawling suburbs, the distance between farm-raised food and buyers widened. “Convenience foods” went from novelty to so-called necessity as big factories sent big trucks to bigger and bigger supermarkets.

People shopping for groceries in the 1940s reflect the switch from farmers markets to supermarkets. (Image Library of Congress)

By the ’40s, supermarkets like this one in Washington, DC had changed the American diet.
© Joyce McGreevy

The number of farmers markets plummeted.

Despite a rekindling of interest during WWII, a national renaissance was slow in coming. In 1970, only 340 farmers markets remained, many of them operated by resellers, not growers.

Back to the Land—and the Farm Stand

Organic beets in an array of colors show why shopping at farmers markets has become a popular American custom. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

And the beet goes on . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

But the ‘70s also sparked new interest in healthy eating. The ‘70s economic recession “helped” too, nudging shoppers away from costly convenience foods to affordable fresh fruit and vegetables.

As farmers markets sprouted up nationwide, the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 fertilized the soil: numerous states enacted regulations that shortened the distance from farmer’s field to kitchen table.

People at the farmers markets on Alvarado Street, Monterey find a variety of organic fruits and vegetables. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

At farmers markets, consumers can buy the freshest produce possible.
© Joyce McGreevy

Over the next 15 years, the number of farmers markets increased by as much as 500 percent in some states. Today, nearly 9,000 farmers markets are flourishing across the U.S.

A collage of organic vegetables and herbs reflects the bounty of the American farmers market. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Eggplant and peppers and herbs, oh buy!
© Joyce McGreevy

Getting Fresh

What do we love about farmers markets? To start with the obvious, there’s the food. Berries and stone fruit with flavors so rich they not only register on the tongue but also evoke sweet memories. Lettuce that isn’t packing material. Today’s “greens” offer a rainbow of colors and hundreds of tasty varieties.

An organic peach reflects the appeal of farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Gather ye seasonal peaches while ye may.
© Joyce McGreevy

And oh, those names. There’s poetry, history, and more in heirloom tomato varieties like Dagma’s Perfection, Green Zebra, Brandywine, Abraham Lincoln, Paul Robeson, Mortgage Lifter, and Banana Legs.

There’s beauty in the colors and shapes, too, a beauty that wears the odd blemish or nick with pride. That’s what happens when tomatoes have been ripened in the field, not gassed while green and “packed to stack.” Sure, you can count on supermarkets for tomatoes that look as uniform as ping-pong balls. The trouble is, they have about as much taste.

A trio of heirloom tomatoes reflects the appeal of buying organic vegetables at farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Real tomatoes don’t wear uniforms.
© Joyce McGreevy

Getting Social

We also go to farmers markets for the human interaction. At a time when everything can be ordered online, visiting your local farmers market has become an everyday travel experience. Destination: The Land of the Living.

A smiling vendor in Monterey, California reflects the friendliness of farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Three out of four farmers who sell at farmers markets use practices
that meet or exceed organic standards.
© Joyce McGreevy

People who study these things have reported that folks who shop at farmers markets have 15-20 social interactions per visit compared to 1-2 interactions at supermarkets.

Vendors from P&K Farms reflect the appeal of buying direct from the growers at farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Three generations of the Tao family have planted produce by hand at P&K Farms.
© Joyce McGreevy

For me, that’s the “oh I see” moment: Farmers markets not only offer you fresh, organic produce, but a fresh, organic perspective on community.

Keauhou Farmers Market on the Big Island of Hawaii reflects the variety of U.S. farmers markets. (Image © John McGreevy/Molly McGreevy)

Keauhou Farmers Market on the Big Island offers native Hawaiian Mamaki tea, seafood,
organic pineapples, macadamia nuts, and more.
© John McGreevy/Molly McGreevy

Getting More Connected

Farmers markets grow local jobs and feed money back into local communities. They are also becoming accessible to more of the people who make up a community.

A growing number of farmers markets take place on college campuses, in hospital parking lots, and outside office buildings. Thousands of farmers markets now accept SNAP benefits and other nutrition-program vouchers. And as Civil Eats reports, the range of cultures represented among vendors, customers, and foods is slowly broadening.

Artwork by Picasso and skyscrapers in Daley Plaza, Chicago suggest the variety of American farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Chicago’s Daley Plaza Farmers Market comes with a view of
a Picasso and classic skyscrapers.
© Joyce McGreevy

Increasingly, farmers markets—and farms—are coming to “food deserts,” communities with severely limited access to grocery stores. In recent years, nonprofits all over the U.S. have sent mobile farmers markets into underserved counties. Meanwhile, organizations like GrowNYC, and Chicago’s Growing Home are establishing farms and markets in city neighborhoods.

It would be wishful thinking to say that farmers markets have fully evolved to reflect all of America. But the seeds are growing.

Get Going!

Over time, cooking demos, walking tours, and other events have become features of this American custom. Technology has taken its place, too. Among the fresh offerings during this year’s National Farmers Market Week is a #LoveMyMarket photo contest on Instagram.

Musicians from the Santa Fe New Mexico band Lone Pinon reflect the importance of the arts at American farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Santa Fe Farmers Market, New Mexico, has great live music.
© Joyce McGreevy

Meanwhile, live music at markets still favors the old-timey. My unscientific survey suggests that string bands rule. So rosin up the bow, grab your gingham cloth bags, your digital camera, your “I Heart Farmers Markets” tattoo, and let’s get going!

Snap peas and sweet peas reflect the organic vegetables and flowers found at farmers markets. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Pick up snap peas and snap up some sweet peas.
© Joyce McGreevy

Which farmers markets have you visited? Find your nearest market here.

Another staple of farmers markets: Little kids being adorable. Enjoy.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 3 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Map Points/On Foot/USA

Jul

Savoring Summer

by Joyce McGreevy on July 30, 2018

When’s the last time you took a breather?
© Joyce McGreevy (Featured: Margie McGreevy)

The Life-Changing Experience
of Celebrating the Season

Having a good summer? Or did it register merely as high temperatures while you went about your daily business? Considering the seriousness of world issues and the stress of busy lives, does it even make sense to celebrate this season?

Yes! Savoring summer can be a life-changing experience.

A sun-themed collage evokes the beauty of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

Our brains respond to summer, even if the rest of us ignores it.

Studies have identified two neural responses to summer that seem contradictory. When summer’s heat is on, our brain responses really do slow down. Yet the brain’s ability to respond to tasks that require sustained attention actually peaks in summer.

Does that mean we should turn up the office A/C and focus our high-functioning attention on GTD—Getting Things Done? Or could it mean that summer offers a two-fold opportunity? One, to let our brains slow down. Two, to apply summer-peak focus to more than just mundane tasks.

Sunset on the Oregon shore suggests why savoring summer can be a life-changing experience. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

“Smell the sea and feel the sky.”

Maybe you’ve seen that recent study on the benefits of extended “forest-bathing.” Or the one about standing barefoot on grass for a moment. “Big Duh” Spoiler Alert: Being outdoors is good for you.

Poets have known this all along. “Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly,” sang Van Morrison. Even Ralph Waldo Emerson, a philosopher one pictures barnacled to a desk, declared, “Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.”

In summer, sensory experience is amplified. It’s the warmth on your skin, reminding you that, “Oh right, I have a body!” That there’s more to you more than a suit of clothes with a head poking out at the top.

Bare feet on grass suggest the pleasure of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

It’s the rumbling roar and briny scent of ocean waves. The chorus of birds broadcasting nature’s morning news. A sunset so vibrant it practically cries out, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t miss this?”

Craft your own summer.

Summer also meshes with the sensory appeal of what we humans carry. The smell of cocoa butter. The thwack of a baseball bat hitting a home run. The itch of sand in . . . interesting places. The overheard music that transports us to other summers. There’s even a song about that, Eric Church’s “Springsteen”:

“To this day when I hear that song
I see you standin’ there all night long
Discount shades, store bought tan
Flip flops and cut-off jeans”

What were your artifacts of summers past? What human-made objects are part of your summer today?

A street scene on Waikehe Island suggests the pleasure of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

Savor summer foods.

“I always like summer
best
you can eat fresh corn
from daddy’s garden”

So says Nikki Giovanni in the poem “Knoxville, Tennessee.” What tastes like summer to you? A luscious peach warm from the tree? The salty, syrupy crunch of fairground snacks? The heirloom-tomato and lime-kissed gazpacho your mom used to make? The sour-cherry pie that always held enough slices for everyone?

Summer like a child.

When we were kids, summer marked the beginning of adventure. Boredom was our ally then, because it spurred us into devising games, stories, lemonade stands, and neighborhood track meets—anything to avoid the dreaded alternative, Chores.

We climbed trees, sat under them for hours with books, and turned the stories into plays, casting them with any available siblings, dolls, and pets.

A tree house evokes the pleasure of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

We did not “set goals” or work on “self-improvement.” We gave into obsessions. Like reading every Nancy Drew mystery or book about ancient Egypt. Learning to skateboard, draw a horse, do magic tricks, blow chewing-gum bubbles, craft a lanyard, or make up dance routines to radio songs.

Now that we’re all grown up, why settle for staring at phones and online episodes?

Imagine taking out the teeny-tiny key to that little pink diary you kept in fifth grade. Picture the “Bestest, Funnest Day Ever!!!!!” What simple pleasure or Big Adventure is written there?

Sandcastles on the beach suggest the pleasure of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

Cast summer magic.

When I was a kid, summer nights were for suppers on the patio, outdoor concerts, and coming home from the beach so drowsy that our parents carried us in from the station wagon and put us to bed. Okay, maybe some of us pretended to be asleep, cherishing the safety of a parent’s TLC.

One summer my sister Carolyn and I investigated The Mystery of The Fast-Growing Zucchini. For several nights, we went on stake-out, setting up sleeping bags in the garden and staring intently, determined not to . . . (yawn) . . . fall . . . asleep . . . . .

Although we never did crack the case, we had delightful conversations, made up the silliest songs, and even experienced the thrill of star-diving: We’d lie on the grass and convince our brains that the sky was below us. Then we’d “dive” in.

What magic are you making time for? When did you last look up at the sky? Or carry supper outside? Or swap family anecdotes as sunset deepened into inkiest night? Until you could no longer see each other but sensed and appreciated each other’s presence?

The full moon over a desert suburb in Palm Springs evokes the beauty of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

Share summer abundance.

But what does it matter? In a world that can feel as cold and uncertain as an iced-over alley at midnight, isn’t it frivolous to celebrate summer?

Here’s the thing:

Those outdoor summers remind you that the environment is not a concept, but where we all live.
The summer garden you savor feeds your persistence through the winter.
Summer cooks know that the secret to sweetening sour-cherry pie is to share it.
Summer nights, when you gather in a circle of belonging, reveal real-life magic: Your circle has the potential to expand. Your circle can grow as big as the Earth is round. Your circle can welcome as many people as there are stars in the sky.

A vintage house in Illinois evokes the beauty of savoring summer. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

So why give your summer brain a change of focus? Why invite your body for a visit?

Oh, I see: To refill the well.

Only then can you draw strength to do what needs to be done. Only then can you refresh yourself with the clarity to know what that is.

Can savoring summer be a life-changing experience? Goodness, yes. And not just for you.

Need a reminder of summer-night magic? Listen to Allen Toussaint’s “Southern Nights” here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 5 Comments

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Nature Watch: California Sea Otter Savvy