Tag: whales

Sea Shepherd in San Diego after protecting Vaquita Porpoise.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's old Coast Guard patrol boat, renamed M/V Farley Mowat, is docked this weekend on San Diego's Embarcadero.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s old Coast Guard patrol boat, renamed M/V Farley Mowat, is docked this weekend on San Diego’s Embarcadero.

Yesterday after work, I noticed that an unusually decorated old U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat was docked along the Embarcadero, just north of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Naturally, I had to investigate!

Turns out the renamed boat, M/V Farley Mowat, is now owned and operated by an organization called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose stated mission is to defend, conserve and protect marine ecosystems and species. They use direct-action tactics to expose and confront the illegal slaughter of marine wildlife at sea. I’d seen their exhibit aboard the steam ferry Berkeley during Earth Day on the Bay, where their representative explained that Sea Shepherd was like Greenpeace on steroids.

I spoke to a friendly crewmember near the Farley Mowat and learned they would be offering the public free tours on Saturday. The vessel has just returned from its second mission in the Sea of Cortez off Baja California–the wildlife defense campaign was titled Operation Milagro II. For a number of months, Sea Shepherd worked with the Mexican government in a marine refuge near San Felipe to identify and intercept illegal gillnet fishing which has reduced the population of the rare Vaquita Porpoise over the decades to just about 100 animals. This is commendable work! Sea Shepherd not only has permission from the Mexican government to patrol for poachers and pull up illegal fishing nets when encountered, but they are making observations concerning this endangered marine species. They are doing similar work to protect another rare fish in the region: the Totoaba Bass.

Working within the law in a positive way to protect these species is commendable and extraordinary! After doing some research at home, however, I learned that the organization is quite controversial. Some say they go too far. Some, including other environmental activists and organizations, have called them eco-terrorists. I don’t know enough to comment, but I do know that sometimes people with enthusiastic agendas and a sense of urgent purpose can lose their sense of humanity. The people I met yesterday and this morning when I walked again along the Embarcadero seemed like very nice people. I will say no more.

A very friendly, informative crewmember of Farley Mowat explained their recently completed mission, which was to defend the Vaquita Porpoise in Mexico's Sea of Cortez.
A very friendly, informative crewmember of Farley Mowat explained their recently completed mission, which was to defend the Vaquita Porpoise in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.
Photograph of M/V Farley Mowat the following cloudy morning. Visitors were being given tours aboard the vessel.
Photograph of M/V Farley Mowat the following cloudy morning. Visitors were being given tours aboard the vessel.
Interested people and crew mingle before boarding the Sea Shepherd boat in San Diego.
Interested people and crew mingle before boarding the Sea Shepherd’s cool boat.  Public tours of M/V Farley Mowat are being offered this weekend in San Diego.
Looks like kids made some Thank You signs for Sea Shepherd!
Looks like kids made some Thank You signs for Sea Shepherd!
A tent near the boat featured gifts and information in support of Sea Shepherd. Defending Ocean Wildlife Worldwide.
A tent near the boat featured gifts and information in support of Sea Shepherd. Defending Ocean Wildlife Worldwide.
A detailed poster explains why sea turtles should be defended. Click to enlarge. San Diego's South Bay has its own small group of migratory green sea turtles.
A detailed poster explains why sea turtles should be defended. Click to enlarge. San Diego’s South Bay has its own small group of migratory green sea turtles.
Sea Shepherd stops in San Diego. They were featured in Animal Planet's television show Whale Wars. Farley Mowat will soon be on its way to another location on the high seas.
Sea Shepherd stops in San Diego. They were featured in Animal Planet’s television show Whale Wars. M/V Farley Mowat will soon be on its way to another location on the high seas.

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Take a San Diego Eco Tour . . . and benefit local students!

You can go kayaking on a cool Eco Tour and try to spot green sea turtles in San Diego's South Bay! Image courtesy of Ocean Connectors. Photograph by Harry Orgovan.
You can go kayaking on a cool Eco Tour and try to spot green sea turtles in San Diego’s South Bay! Image courtesy of Ocean Connectors. Photograph by Harry Orgovan.

If you’d like to take a cool San Diego Eco Tour, check this out!

At last weekend’s Earth Day on the Bay, I learned about some awesome Eco Tours on San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Experienced guides take you by kayak around the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge to search for green sea turtles, or by bicycle around San Diego Bay to view all sorts of migratory birds, or by boat off our coast to spot gray whales and other marine life! These tours are provided by Ocean Connectors.

Why am I blogging about this? What makes these tours so amazingly cool? Ocean Connectors uses the money they make from their San Diego Eco Tours to directly benefit local students! Every year, Ocean Connectors introduces hundreds of kids in the National City School District to the beautiful natural world along San Diego’s coast, educating them about migratory wildlife and stewardship of the environment–all at no cost!

That’s right! Thousands of students in Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grades have had an experience of a lifetime thanks to Ocean Connectors. In their formative years, these young people, many from low-income situations, have ventured out from the city and have experienced profound wonders they otherwise might have missed. They are taken on fun and inspiring educational field trips that are sometimes described as the best day of their lives!

Thanks to Ocean Connectors, local school students can learn about marine wildlife during a whale watching tour off the San Diego coast. Image courtesy of Ocean Connectors. Photograph by Ralph Pace.
Thanks to Ocean Connectors, local school students can learn about marine wildlife during a whale watching tour off the San Diego coast. Image courtesy of Ocean Connectors. Photograph by Ralph Pace.

Seeing green sea turtles, wild birds taking flight, and majestic gray whales out on the wide blue water deeply affects a young person’s view of the world, teaches one about the web of life, helps one to grow into a thoughtful, responsible adult. I know this is true. Because I had a similar experience when I was growing up.

Back in junior high school, I went on a sea adventure with some classmates along Alaska’s Inland Passage. I saw breaching humpback whales, bald eagles, even an orca. That memory is still vivid in my mind. That unforgettable experience broadened my horizons, made me appreciate the wonders of nature, gave me a sense of belonging to a larger world, a world that should be carefully preserved. I’ve been an avid hiker and lover of the outdoors during my adult life, and I have no doubt my own personal adventure those many years ago is one big reason why.

So . . . have you been considering having your own unforgettable adventure in ecotourism? Would you like to possibly spot one of the 60 green sea turtles that spend part of their lives feeding on eel grass in San Diego’s South Bay? Would you like to bike around the Bayshore Bikeway and see hundreds, even thousands of wild birds? (And some are quite rare!) Would you like to head out onto the ocean with trained, knowledgeable naturalists, and see gray whales, dolphins, and a huge variety of other sea mammals and coastal wildlife?

Ocean Connectors’ mission is to educate, inspire and connect people to the outdoors. And one of those people could be YOU!

Click here to have your own unique Eco Tour in San Diego. Book a tour, and you’ll benefit kids in San Diego’s South Bay! It’s a win-win!

Someone learns about the amazing Eco Tours and the educational programs provided by Ocean Connectors during Earth Bay on the Bay at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
Someone learns about the amazing Eco Tours and the educational programs provided by Ocean Connectors during Earth Bay on the Bay at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

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First annual Earth Day on the Bay in San Diego.

Our big blue marble Earth dangles in the sky on San Diego's Embarcadero for an Earth Day event.
Our big blue marble Earth dangles in the sky on San Diego’s Embarcadero for an Earth Day event.

Last weekend Earth Day was observed at the jam-packed EarthFair in Balboa Park. This weekend, the first annual Earth Day on the Bay took place. The event was centered around the Maritime Museum of San Diego, and concentrated on maintaining a healthy coast and ocean. Admission to all the awesome museum ships was free, and being a cheapskate, I decided to walk down to the Embarcadero and enjoy myself!

Earth Day on the Bay featured free admission to the Maritime Museum of San Diego and many environmental organizations with exhibits.
Earth Day on the Bay featured free admission to the Maritime Museum of San Diego plus many organizations with environment-themed exhibits.
The historic 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley, the museum's hub, is also featuring nature photography by Ansel Adams and others.
The historic 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley, the museum’s hub, is also featuring nature photography by Ansel Adams and others.
The TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition ship is visiting San Diego at the moment.
The TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition ship is visiting San Diego at the moment.

As I walked across the deck of the Berkeley, enjoying views of our beautiful big San Diego Bay, I happened to notice an unusual boat docked among the museum’s ships. The hull included the United Nations Environment Programme logo. Apparently, people participating in the TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition are visiting San Diego for a couple days.  They gave a talk yesterday at the museum about their mission. According to their website, it is to inspire children in classrooms and share examples of nature’s beauty, and foster innovations for a green planet. They believe that great human goals and progress can be achieved in balance with nature.

TOPtoTOP, docked by other museum ships, is equipped with many solar panels. It's sailing around the globe using only human and natural power sources.
TOPtoTOP, docked among other museum ships, is equipped with many solar panels. It’s sailing around the globe using only human and natural power sources.
The various Earth Day exhibitors on the waterfront included the Port of San Diego, with a report on their conservation and other green projects.
The various Earth Day exhibitors on the waterfront included the Port of San Diego, with a report on critical conservation and other green projects.
The first annual Earth Day on the Bay attracted a modest crowd, but it's a good start!
The first annual Earth Day on the Bay attracted a modest crowd, but it’s a good start!
This big inflatable whale allowed humans to grasp the scale of the marine mammal.
This big inflatable whale allowed humans to grasp the scale of the marine mammal.
I enjoyed a unique harbor tour on a Maritime Museum boat, which I'll blog about shortly!
I enjoyed a harbor tour on a very unique Maritime Museum boat, which I’ll blog about shortly!

I got two cool blog posts coming up! I had a couple of fun adventures today! Plus I still have lots of photos from my extensive Saturday walk around Liberty Station. I’d better get busy!

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Yankee Baleeiros whaling exhibit opens at Cabrillo.

Looking out the rear of the Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center on a beautiful day.
Looking out the rear of the Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center on a beautiful day.

I saw on the morning news that an important exhibit was opening today in the Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center. I haven’t been up that way since I blogged about the park’s centennial, so I figured I’d go check things out!

The traveling exhibition is called Yankee Baleeiros! The Shared Legacies of Luso and Yankee Whalers. That’s quite a long title, but it’s fitting for the epic displays that occupy about half of the sizable visitor center. Developed by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the exhibit “celebrates the interwoven Luso-American stories of the Azorean, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian communities in the United States from early immigration in the 18th century through the latter half of the 20th century.” Sounds like a long and tedious thesis! But it’s actually fascinating! Basically, it shows the rich history of Portuguese speaking whalers in the Northeast, primarily New Bedford, and how they interacted with Yankee whalers.

As San Diego is one of the world’s best places to encounter a large variety of whale species, and as this is the season for migrating gray whales, the exhibit is more than appropriate. The displays also address how whaling techniques evolved over the years, the success of modern conservation efforts, and how whale-watching is now a much larger industy than whaling.

After listening to a short opening presentation by Park Superintendent Tom Workman and Christina Connett, PhD, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, I headed out to Cabrillo’s excellent Pacific Ocean viewing areas to scan the horizon for spouts. I didn’t see any, but there were a bunch of boats off Point Loma whale-watching on this sunny Sunday afternoon. I got more pics from my visit coming, so stay tuned!

If you haven’t been to Cabrillo National Monument in a while (or ever), head on over! The special exhibit will be on display through April 12, 2015.

Park Superintendent Tom Workman talks while Christina Connett of the New Bedford Whaling Museum listens.
Park Superintendent Tom Workman talks while Christina Connett of the New Bedford Whaling Museum listens.
People listen to presentation at opening of Yankee Baleeiros whaling exhibit.
People listen to presentation at opening of Yankee Baleeiros whaling exhibit.
Displays recount the history of Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) whalers in America.
Displays recount the history of Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) whalers in America.
New Bedford was the major port for whalers in the Northeast.
New Bedford was the major port for whalers in the Northeast.
Inside the visitor center is a section of the 1848 Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington.
Inside the visitor center is a section of the 1848 Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington.

Portions of the 1848 Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington were on display inside and outside the visitor center. The complete work is 1,275 feet long and eight and a half feet tall! It’s believed to be the longest painting in the world! The piece went on a national tour shortly after completion, and appeared at the 1964 New York World’s Fair! Cool!

The fantastic displays are museum quality and extremely informative.
The fantastic displays are museum quality and extremely informative.
Photos of sailors rowing out to hunt whales, and a harpooner at the ready.
Photos of sailors rowing out to hunt whales, and a harpooner at the ready.
A dead whale is hauled to the ship's side and stripped of blubber by many hands.
A dead whale is hauled to the ship’s side and stripped of blubber by many hands.
People point out spots on a map of historical whaling grounds.
People point out spots on a map of historical whaling grounds.
The opening presentation is over and folks head out to take in the many sights around Cabrillo.
The opening presentation is over and folks head out to take in the many sights around Cabrillo.
Is there a whale out there? Probably not. This back door faces San Diego Bay!
Is there a whale out there? Probably not. This back door faces San Diego Bay!

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