Sometimes, for a brief and flickering moment, I realize how unique my work really is. There always is some sort of daily reminder, but the big moments are diffused throughout the just-as-common hardships, or often realized after the fact. Last week presented one of the bigger moments. I arrived early to school to meet the
Islands underwater
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Bay Journal, published by the nonprofit Chesapeake Media Service, whose mission is “To expand independent, unbiased reporting that informs the public about environmental issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay and mid-Atlantic region and inspires effective action to restore, protect and preserve their cultural and natural heritage.” Learn more
Rockland plans for public, fish pier improvements
ROCKLAND — Though undeniably a working waterfront town, Rockland has become home to a busy recreational boating scene, a boom fueled by its large harbor, protected by a nearly mile-long breakwater, and by the more recent development of a tourist-friendly downtown. City officials want to keep both the working and recreational waterfronts vibrant, and thanks
Bath, Belfast, Biddeford have buildings on ‘endangered list’
A group dedicated to saving Maine’s historic public structures has issued its annual list of threatened properties, which includes three coastal communities. Maine Preservation, a statewide, membership nonprofit based in Yarmouth, works “to promote and preserve historic places, buildings, downtowns and neighborhoods, strengthening the cultural and economic vitality of Maine communities,” according to its website.
Lessons learned from offshore wind
Block Island, 12 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, has a year-round population of about 950. Residents pay up to 60 cents per kilowatt hour for their electricity, which is generated on the island with diesel generators. Summer brings an influx of visitors and vacationers—and their money— with as many as 15,000 people on
If an island off Denmark can do it, why not a Maine island?
They call Samsø Island the energy island, and so on arriving, I expected to see solar panels on all the roofs and windmills everywhere. This was, after all, the island which became energy self-sufficient within ten years, even exporting electricity to the mainland in that time period. Surprisingly, that was not the case. Samsø is
Scrambling for your boots
In the Swedish magazine Utkiken, a 10-year-old British schoolboy wrote an essay titled, “Why I Want to be a Captain.” My favorite line of this essay reads, “”¦most people think it’s dangerous to drive a boat, except captains, because they know how easy it is.” I hope my children think I’m that cool one day,
I’m the local stranger
Editor’s note: Ian Watkins is an Island Fellow through AmeriCorps and the Island Institute on Deer Isle, working at Deer Isle-Stonington High School. In this, his second year, he will write a regular column about his life and work. Do I live on a Maine Island? Yes, I do. But to be frank the answer
The sun at midnight: working the seas off Alaska
The gentle motion of the boat encouraged me to stay asleep when my alarm went off at 2330 hours, the seventh bell of the first watch. Despite the comforting roll, I groggily rose and donned my working clothes and my boots. Fishing through my bunk for my flashlight, I checked my pockets for the other
Offshore aquaculture offers new promise
Aquaculture, once seen as a viable alternative to chasing declining wild fish stocks, is rebounding. But fish farming is taking shape in locations and using technology far different from the floating pens seen just off the coast back in the early 1990s. One new area entrepreneurs are exploring is in waters three-plus miles off the