Atlas Lugged….out of Tomales Bay

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Last week I shared some images of my kayak adventure during which I recovered nine discarded tires from the muck of Tomales Bay.

Come see the meager progress I made in cleaning up the local environment.

Ayn Rand wrote of a dystopian society in her book, Atlas Shrugged. To me, the way we humans treat this place we call home is about as dystopian as it can get. ©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

Ayn Rand wrote of a dystopian society in her book, Atlas Shrugged.
To me, the way we humans treat this place we call home is about as dystopian as it can get.
©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

Anyone know what that green thing is? ©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

Anyone know what that green thing is?
©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

Veterinary drug container found in the wrack

Veterinary drug container found in the wrack

For Veterinary Use Only For vaccination of healthy cattle as an aid in the prevention of disease caused by infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD types I & II), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3), bovine respiratory syncytial (BRSV) viruses and Leptospira pomona, L. hardjo, L. grippotyphosa, L. canicola and L. icterohaemorrhagiae. This product contains BVD Types I and II.

For Veterinary Use Only
For vaccination of healthy cattle as an aid in the prevention of disease caused by infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD types I & II), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3), bovine respiratory syncytial (BRSV) viruses and Leptospira pomona, L. hardjo, L. grippotyphosa, L. canicola and L. icterohaemorrhagiae. This product contains BVD Types I and II.

Triangle 9 gives the local seafood that “je ne sais quoi

Nine nasty tires hung upon a fence. ©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

Nine nasty tires hung upon a fence.
©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

With the rise of the sea that is expected, this may be a fine home for this marker buoy. ©2013 Richard James Photography - coastodian.org

With the rise of the sea that is expected, this may be a fine home for this marker buoy.
©2013 Richard James Photography – coastodian.org

Anyone know where this buoy belongs? Let me know and I’ll drop it off so it can be replaced.

Anyone want to help pack these tires out next weekend?

The cows in this pasture are some of the friendliest I have ever had the pleasure to walk near.

Tired & broken

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The weather today was fine for a paddle on Tomales. Provided one got on the water in time to use the tide and beat the wind.

I did some of the former and little of the latter.

A late start also means the light is gone, unless there is a heavy cloud layer which there was not.

So I headed east to an area I had not walked before in search of human trash.

The usual suspects were in great abundance – plastic bottles, glass bottles, tennis balls, food wrappers, shotgun shell wads and tires. Nine of them.

I pulled three of them out of the deep dark muck that is the bottom of parts of the bay. Sinking up to my knees at times, I quickly became covered in dark, black, smelly mud. With my hands and most of the rest of me covered in mud, there are not many pictures from today.

Two of the tires adorn an old post as you see in the photo below.

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One was too heavy with mud to haul very far, so I pulled it up as high above the highest wrack for future efforts. Another still on the rim got the same treatment. Five others adorn a newer fence up closer to the highway.

Oh, the broken in the title of this post refers to my side-view mirror.

As I pulled my kayak off my car at the end of the day, it slipped and slid to the ground, shearing off the mirror as it went.

No good deed goes unpunished some say.

Maybe I will get a little better gas mileage without that appendage hanging off the side.

Sustainable oyster farming, West Marin style.

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Sustainable oyster farming, West Marin style. Click image to see larger version.

Sustainable oyster farming, West Marin style.
Click image to see larger version.

Nearly 6000 HDPE (high-density polyethylene) tubes used in the production of oysters in Drakes Estero. One person picked up every one of these by hand over a period of 3.5 years. All were found as far south as Slide Ranch, just south of Stinson Beach, and as far north as the tip of Tomales Point, as well as all points in-between.

Those black (and one green) grow-out bags are a fraction of the bags I recovered. The green one was found in Tomales Bay and is likely from one of the growers that raise oysters in that body of water.

Read about HDPE here.

NOTE: It has been pointed out to me a number of times that these tubes are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), not poly-vinyl chloride (PVC). I am finally getting around to correcting that error. [2014.03.30]

See the next post in this series here

AC72 – An oracle of marine debris

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On 17 October, 2012, a boat owned by the Oracle/BMW racing group capsized as it was sailing on San Francisco Bay. Much of the resulting debris was recovered by those who created the mess. Shortly afterwards, the California Coast from Daly City, north to Point Reyes was awash in very expensive boat-bits.

I collected dozens of shards of carbon-fiber laminated aluminum and wood-fiber.

A group of Oracle people did come up once to Point Reyes to help recover debris left by another errant sailor, Duncan MacLean as well as pick up what they could find of their mess. I applaud their efforts and thank them for compensating me for the many hours I spent picking up after their fun went awry. I continue to find pieces of their boat on Point Reyes beaches.

Have a look at what a $9 million boat is made of.

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From May thru September of 2013 the California Academy of Science – whose mission includes exploring, explaining and protecting the natural world – will host a display entitled “Built for Speed”. Oracle will have on display a smaller version of the boat that disintegrated on San Francisco Bay. There will also be on exhibit the orca that washed ashore at Point Reyes in Nov. of 2011. See more about that orca here.

A few months ago I attended an art opening at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. It was sponsored by PG&E, among others.

The Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit veterinary research hospital and educational center dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of ill and injured marine mammals.

PG&E had a plan that calls for towing a quarter-mile-wide array of underwater “air cannons” that emit 250-decibel blasts into the ocean every 15 seconds for 12 straight days. This was to map the sea-floor to understand earthquake faults near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

I wonder how many marine mammals that testing would have killed and injured?

Thankfully the permit for this testing was denied.

It has been said that politics makes strange bedfellows.

It seems that practice carries over into science as well.

Does the end justify the means? I do not think it does.

Greenwash is just that, greenwash.

Tomales Bay Triptych – Osprey Style!

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It is that time of year. The osprey are back and the sky is full of birds and the sounds of birds.

It was pretty windy so these are not the finest images, but you get the idea of how beautiful these birds are.

Last week I counted 13 birds at one time over my place. Talk about some noise!

Those are not jesses in two of the images below. That bird has one talon draped with eel grass, surely picked up after a dive for dinner.

Yesterday a neighbor of mine that lives across the street from a nest recounted a story from last year.

An adult returned from fishing and dropped a fish into the nest. Both well developed chicks grabbed onto said fish and a struggle for complete ownership ensued. After a while, both birds spilled out of the nest, each firmly grasping the fish in question. After a brief fall, they both started flying away, tethered as one by the none-too-happy fish. After more struggling in mid-air, one of the birds let go and the other bird took off to find a table for one to enjoy the prize.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

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Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

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Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)