Working Waterfront

The ‘ocean’ above us under assault

One of the great ocean experiences is the panoply of the night sky. A vast darkness, shaped by intimations of residual clouds, the crescent moon, complicated by distant planets and stars in their constellations, swept into the arc of the Milky Way, made exhilarating and mysterious by the potential of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The nuances of defining drought

In June, which turned out to be one of the hottest and driest on record, we paddled to a beaver dam on the St. George River just north of Round Pond in Union. The banks rose above us covered in sedges and grasses, bringing our focus to the slow-moving water,… SEE MORE

From left: Arachnologist Dr. Kefyn Catley, Maine Master Naturalist Donne Sinderson, and Dana Wilde examine specimens while spider hunting along the shore in Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge. PHOTO: BRUCE WENNING.

Working Waterfront

Spider haven and the mystery of Islesboro’s up-island arachnid

On Islesboro, there are some really big spiders. So startlingly big, that a legend has grown up in recent decades about an “up-island spider" living on the upper end of the island and rumored to be as large as 8 inches from toe to toe. It has red eyes. Its… SEE MORE

A pier in Jonesport. FILE PHOTO: LESLIE BOWMAN

Working Waterfront

Fellowship supports marine science Downeast

This July, two co-workers and I drove north and east to Great Wass Island. The island is connected by a bridge to Beals Island, off of Jonesport, and is the home of the Downeast Institute. I was excited to meet Hannah Greene, an Island Institute Fellow, and my mentee for the past year. Hannah lives on the island and supports the Downeast Institute’s education programs. SEE MORE

Artist rendering of floating wind turbines.

Working Waterfront

Wind turbines banned in state waters

Gov. Janet Mills has signed into law LD 1619 which prohibits new offshore wind projects in state waters. The prohibition preserves state waters for recreation and fishing—where up to 75 percent of Maine’s commercial lobster harvesting occurs—and cements into law its priority of locating wind projects in federal waters in the Gulf of Maine. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Time for a new kind of leadership

To execute transformative response to the challenges of the 21st century we are going to need a new style of leadership across the full spectrum of action —from governance to corporate consciousness to manufacturing to engineering and design to research and education to new moral standards and consequent behavior by… SEE MORE

A selection of Mere Point Oyster Company’s products. PHOTO: COURTESY MERE POINT OYSTER COMPANY

Working Waterfront

Maine Oyster Trail: Follow the shells

Many in the seafood business lost their way during the height of the pandemic. Now, one sector is offering a trail to a recovery. Actually, the Maine Oyster Trail was launched in 2017 by the Maine Aquaculture Association through a website—maineoystertrail.com. Afton Vigue, an outreach and development specialist for the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine oysters are the pearls of the prairie

[caption id="attachment_27697" align="alignnone" width="300"] John Herrigel, rear, on a boat with Erik Kleven and Jennifer Lester, owners of the Bleu Duck restaurant in Rochester, Minn.[/caption] Given the distances and costly logistics involved, it might be easier for The Bleu Duck restaurant in Rochester, Minn., to serve its customers Rocky Mountain… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

We’re stronger when we show up for each other

“Are we doing hugs?” she asked as she approached me with her eyes sparkling. It had been nearly four years since we had seen each other in person and now, here we were, on Rockland’s Main Street, trying to figure out how to greet each other in the new normal.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The richness of found fruit

When I was young, I had the privilege of growing up on 13 acres of secondary-growth forest in central Maine, between Farmington and Augusta. Our land had a stream and frog pond, a field full of wild strawberries, a thicket of blackberries, an apple tree whose fruit was always harder… SEE MORE