Limulus polyphemus

Before I share my latest kayaking adventure, I am curious... do you know what this is? What do you know about it? Leave me a message!

Ok, updating from Rome:

I have long been fascinated with horseshoe crabs. Growing up, we found their exoskeletons washed up on beaches when we were boating. At the time, I thought they looked like prehistoric monsters. I didn't know at the time (I was probably six or seven?) that they had evolved during the Paleozoic era and have hardly changed during the last 400+ million years.

Aside from just looking cool, horseshoe crabs have many uses. Their eggs are a foodsource for shore birds and marine wildlife. Researchers have studied their four compound eyes to better understand vision. They are used as bait for whelk. The chiton (their exoskeleton) is used to make contact lenses, skin cream, hairspray, and sutures and dressings for wounds. But, most interesting to me, their blood is used by the biomedical industry to test for bacterial contamination. It is worth noting, that the blood can be drawn without harm to the horseshoe crabs.

Because of their many uses, horseshoe crabs have been overharvested (but are not yet considered endangered). The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission developed a management plan to help protect them from overharvesting. Part of the plan requires states to identify the nesting and breeding beaches of horseshoe crabs (if you want to protect a species, protecting the babies and the mommas is a good idea, right?). In Florida, the public can contribute to the survey by submitting any observations of horseshoe crabs to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. They want to know the date, time and location of the sighting; the approximate number of crabs; and the presence of any juveniles (under 4 inches wide) or mating activity. I submitted observations from my kayaking trips several times this summer.

If you want more information about horseshoe crabs, go here: http://research.myfwc.com/features/category_sub.asp?id=5080.

If you want to submit survey results, go here: http://research.myfwc.com/horseshoe_crab/.

For survey results, go here: http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=20822. How many responses are from Manatee County? Be sure to read the note that explains why we've had so many....

PS Given my limited internet access at this point, blog posts will be first drafts with limited proofreading. I apologize. I know I kept typing "horseshow crabs" (probably a subconscious habit from my horseshowing days....), so I'm sure there will be some entertaining mistakes.

Binoculars would help

After several years of restoration efforts, Robinson Preserve, nearly 500 acres in northwest Bradenton, opened to the public this summer. The barriers built to prevent salt water from killing crops when this land was used for agriculture have been removed, allowing tidally influenced waterways to again connect Palma Sola Bay, Perico Sound, the intercoastal waterway, the mouth of the Manatee River, and even the mouth of Tampa Bay. The preserve exists at an intersection of human-created boundaries; from the top of the observation tower, just 40 feet tall, you can see four counties. Here you can see two of the four (look closely, off in the distance).

I am off to take the GRE this morning (like ERBs or the SAT, but for graduate school admission). I will be back later with more about water quality, mangroves and succession, and bird watching.

Edit: I never got back to finishing this post (but good news: the GRE went well!) and now I am sitting in Rome.... a few thoughts, in summary:

Water quality: this preserve is important not only for the 480 acres of native habitat it provides, but for the impact it will have on the thousands of acres of land and water surrounding it. Take Palma Sola Bay, for example. Before Robinson's waterways were reopened, it took the water in Palma Sola Bay several months to recharge (that is, entirely circulate out of the bay and be replaced by fresh water). This is too long: just like the pump that circulates water in a pool, the water in a bay needs to circulate to keep it fresh. With the waterways of Robinson connecting to the bay, water circulation is happening at a much faster rate (apologies that I don't recall the exact figures).

Mangroves and sucession: Most of the shoreline of Robinson Preserve was covered in Brazilian Peppers (an invasive plant) that was torn out during the restoration efforts. Before volunteers could even start planting native saltmarsh grasses, mangrove propagules (who knows what a propagule is?) floated in and started taking root. While kayaking, I've seen all the stages of mangrove propagules planting themselves: from the propagule hanging on the branches of the parent mangrove, to them floating on the surface the water, to them getting heavy and one end hanging toward the bottom, to them finally taking root in the silt, growing, and sprouting leaves. As I walk around Robinson looking at the almost barren shorelines, I like to envision what it will look like in 5 or 10 or 15 years when these baby mangroves are all grown up.

Bird watching: I'll admit, I've never been into bird watching... until now. Robinson Preserve has turned me into a bird watcher. Flocks-- huge flocks-- of roseate spoonbills. Trees full of Ibises. Reddish egrets stalking dinner. Wood storks everywhere (have you ever seen a wood stork? they are impressive). A great blue heron that is nearly invisible as it perches on a dead tree branch. An osprey with lunch in its talons.

I have pictures documenting all the things I wrote about above, but... I am in Rome, and they are on the computer at home. C'est la vie.

you spin me right round

For last year's poi protégés, I wanted to post these links. (The rest of you non-poi spinners are missing out!).

Poi Poi has great tutorials here. I just learned the Shoulder Reels and The Windmill; still trying to figure out the Hip Reels (Nikki, Emmy, Melissa: if you figure it out, let me know!). Sonic Poi offers a few lessons here, but also check out their glow poi (lots of fun at night and safer than fire!).

Keep spinning!

calling all old school video game fans

One great thing about the Middle of Nowhere is that there plenty of space. Enough space for say, giant tetris pieces:
But these behemoths aren't just for decoration (to give you a sense of their size, check out the people standing atop the blue and black pieces). Climb aboard the blue piece at night and play as the actual game (along with your image) is projected onto the towering black piece.

Not sure if I should admit this, but in college we once used the projection room to show the Matrix on the big screen in one of the lecture halls in the physics building. Then we hooked up the video games. Stadium seating doesn't make for as dramatic a backdrop as the mountains, but we had fun nonetheless.

On an unrelated note, it was great seeing those of you in the classes of 2013 and 2014 today. Sounds like the middle school is having a great year so far. And good luck to the volleyball, football & golf teams!

Itinerary

So my inconsistent blog updating (and a few "Ms. Ewert spottings" in Bradenton) has left some of you asking, "where are you?" and "aren't you supposed to be traveling?" So today's update is brief: an outline of where I've been and an itinerary of the coming months.

June 1-4: Backpacking in New Hampshire's White Mountains
June 5-8: Fifth Reunion at Harvard
June 11-16: Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN
July: time with my family spent camping, kayaking, and going to the beach right here in Florida!
July 30-Aug 3: visiting friends and family in Illinois, cousin's wedding in Indiana, and a few museum/sightseeing stops in Chicago
Aug 21 - Sept 3: Burning Man festival in northern Nevada (via a flight to Colorado and a long drive to NV)

and now, the upcoming plans
Sept 19-23: wedding in San Francisco
Oct 1: depart on the big trip, first stop is New York (for a wedding, of course!)
Oct 6: fly to Rome for a wedding
Oct 13: begin work on an organic farm in Italy during the olive harvest
Nov 12: fly to India
mid-January: fly to Bangkok, hoping the political situation in Thailand improves between now and then....