Monterey and sensible seafood choices
Wow, what gorgeous weather we've been having in the Bay Area!
Last Saturday my friend Michael and I went on a 37 mile bike ride from the Presidio in San Francisco through Sausalito and Corte Madera, finally stopping in Tiburon for a late (and long) lunch. We headed back across the Golden Gate bridge just in time to catch the sunset.
Sunday I drove down to Carmel with Justin and enjoyed two fantastic days on the Monterey Peninsula with his parents. The temperature was in the high 70s... perfect!
Monday we spent most of the afternoon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have been a few times before, but not in the last ten years. As I remembered from previous visits, the otters were so much fun to watch. If I had to be an animal, an otter would be in my top five. :-) Our consensus was that the most memorable exhibits were the jellyfish, the otters, and the gigantic, primitive, and vaguely forlorn sunfish in one of the big tanks. Here's a picture of a sunfish... they can be up to ten feet tall:
The jellyfish exhibit was new since my last visit. They had specimens as small as peas and some ten feet or longer. Some of the most beautiful were tiny and almost completely clear. They appeared to have scintallating electrical current running along their bodies, but the displays explained that we were actually seeing light reflected by tiny "hairs" on their bodies that acted as prisms. (Click here and then on the "comb jelly" link.)
One narrow room had jellyfish tanks on either side. I thought it would be an amazing place to meditate... all I have to do is win the next $360 million lottery jackpot. :-)
We also spent some time in the exhibit depicting the boom and bust history of Monterey's sardine fishing business. I've walked right past it every time I've been there before, but it caught my eye this time. It was fascinating to read about the process of turning shiploads of sardines (up to 10 tons being unloaded per minute) into countless tin cans of cooked sardines. The number of sardines caught exploded during World War II: European fishermen were pretty much side-lined, and we shipped most of the Monterey catch over there.
But in a tale that echoes more recent warnings, we caught so many sardines that the catch plummeted drastically, falling off even more quickly than it had risen. The Monterey fishing fleet simply fished the sardine to near extinction.
The Aquarium had a number of new exhibits which sought to educate the public on the perils of over-fishing and the specific impact of eating various types of fish. More information on making sensible seafood choices here.
And for more California coastal conservation info, go here.
Last Saturday my friend Michael and I went on a 37 mile bike ride from the Presidio in San Francisco through Sausalito and Corte Madera, finally stopping in Tiburon for a late (and long) lunch. We headed back across the Golden Gate bridge just in time to catch the sunset.
Sunday I drove down to Carmel with Justin and enjoyed two fantastic days on the Monterey Peninsula with his parents. The temperature was in the high 70s... perfect!
Monday we spent most of the afternoon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have been a few times before, but not in the last ten years. As I remembered from previous visits, the otters were so much fun to watch. If I had to be an animal, an otter would be in my top five. :-) Our consensus was that the most memorable exhibits were the jellyfish, the otters, and the gigantic, primitive, and vaguely forlorn sunfish in one of the big tanks. Here's a picture of a sunfish... they can be up to ten feet tall:
The jellyfish exhibit was new since my last visit. They had specimens as small as peas and some ten feet or longer. Some of the most beautiful were tiny and almost completely clear. They appeared to have scintallating electrical current running along their bodies, but the displays explained that we were actually seeing light reflected by tiny "hairs" on their bodies that acted as prisms. (Click here and then on the "comb jelly" link.)
One narrow room had jellyfish tanks on either side. I thought it would be an amazing place to meditate... all I have to do is win the next $360 million lottery jackpot. :-)
We also spent some time in the exhibit depicting the boom and bust history of Monterey's sardine fishing business. I've walked right past it every time I've been there before, but it caught my eye this time. It was fascinating to read about the process of turning shiploads of sardines (up to 10 tons being unloaded per minute) into countless tin cans of cooked sardines. The number of sardines caught exploded during World War II: European fishermen were pretty much side-lined, and we shipped most of the Monterey catch over there.
But in a tale that echoes more recent warnings, we caught so many sardines that the catch plummeted drastically, falling off even more quickly than it had risen. The Monterey fishing fleet simply fished the sardine to near extinction.
The Aquarium had a number of new exhibits which sought to educate the public on the perils of over-fishing and the specific impact of eating various types of fish. More information on making sensible seafood choices here.
And for more California coastal conservation info, go here.
posted by michael at 12:22 AM
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2 Comments:
As a staffer at the aquarium, thanks for the great links to Seafood Watch and the Ocean Action Team.
Beyond inspiring folks with the exhibits that you enjoyed so much, we're getting much more involved in helping folks stand up and speak out on ocean issues.
Michael, thanks for mentioning the aquarium and our conservation efforts. We're so glad you had a good time on your recent visit. Also, folks can sign up directly to be Seafood Watch Advocates--sharing our information with restaurants and grocery stores in the Bay Area is a great way to help conserve ocean wildlife.
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