For quite some time now I have been working to improve my diet. Not only do I pay attention to what's good for me, I also look at the impact my food choices have on the environment and seek to lessen that impact whenever possible (hence my being a vegetarian). On that note, I made the decision a couple years ago to switch to using margarine instead of butter. I found a good organic spread made with canola oil, but without any hydrogenated/trans fats, and have been using that. It tastes fine and unlike butter, it has no cholesterol, and buying it did not support the commercial dairy industry.

However, a few days ago I was cleaning up some stuff in the garage and came across a box of empty plastic margarine containers. A lot of plastic containers. The fact that I was buying a product that came packed in plastic had been bothering me, but seeing all of that waste made me realize I need to actually do something about it, so I am. I will now no longer buy margarine (or butter) in plastic containers.

Now the big question is, do I buy the vegan margarine in stick form, even though the sticks are wrapped in a foil-type paper that may not be recyclable? Or do I support a highly regarded, local, organic dairy and buy their butter, which comes wrapped in a compostable waxed paper? Butter is better for baking, but it has cholesterol and isn't suitable for vegan meals. But I'd rather support quality local farmers than a faceless company.

Decisions, decisions!

We got home last night from our trip, and boy am I glad to be here. I'm not doing a lot today besides mundane tasks like laundry, but at least I'm doing them in the comfort of my own home.

Honduras is a sensible country which does not use Daylight Savings Time, so I was used to it being light by 6am and dark again by 5:30 or 6pm. This morning it was still dark here at 6:30 when I went out in search of breakfast; have I mentioned lately how much I hate *$&#% DST? It makes no sense, and only serves to confuse people and circadian rhythms.

My head and sinuses are still congested, which isn't good, but at least it confirms that I did the right thing by not diving this past week. The pressure caused by being underwater can cause real problems if you dive with a head cold. Unfortunately this means I still won't be able to dive for another couple weeks, minimum. Guess I'll be working topside at the Steinhart Aquarium instead :(

Lest I forget, I did upload some photos from our trip. This bat caught in mid-sip is my favourite:

After 2.5 solid days of rain that dumped over 20 inches of water on this island, we're finally experiencing some pleasant weather here in Roatan. The sun began tentatively peeking its head out yesterday, and by last night things were back to normal.

The northern storm front that moved in over the weekend brought with it a mass of water so immense it increased sea level by about six inches. When the front moved on, sea level dropped by maybe four inches overnight, and another inch or two the following day. I find that incredible.

The weather here now is warm, maybe mid-80s, and slightly humid, but much more tolerable than it is during the height of summer. Water temps are in the low 80s. Since it was so nice out today I started my morning with an after-breakfast kayak paddle. Then I decided I would rather spend time in the water so I donned my snorkel gear and spent the next 1-1.5 hours floating around and looking at critters. It's amazing just how much life you can find in 2-4 feet of water, a literal stone's throw from the resort:

Last night we watched bats feeding! There were probably a dozen bats (although it was impossible to be sure) each taking turns sipping nectar from the hummingbird feeder. Each bat was the size of a large mouse with wings. I've never seen that sort of behaviour before, and had never seen bats so up-close before either. I loved it! This morning the hummingbirds were at the feeder and I think I got some good photos of them. I'll bring the camera out tonight in case the bats return.

The resort has a new pet since the last time we were here: a sleek orange tabby named Neeno. Apparently he was "hired" as a kitchen cat, but when a 7.3 earthquake last May brought all the pots and pans down around him, Neeno ran out of the kitchen and hasn't been back since. Neeno is very friendly and I love having him around. We first arranged this trip after our kitty passed away earlier this year, so Frederick thinks it makes perfect sense for us to have a surrogate kitty keep us company while we're here :)

Last July we had reservations at one of our favourite dive resorts in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, a few days before we were due to leave, I hurt my back pretty badly. Luckily I was able to get a note from my doctor saying I was unable to travel, and the resort allowed us to reschedule our trip.

Now we are here on the Honduran island of Roatan in the Western Caribbean. I was all set to do a week of as much diving as possible. Sunday morning we went down for our first dive and when I ascending I was hit with an excruciating headache, a non-subtle way of letting me know my sinuses were congested and I cannot dive until they clear.

Here's where the details of the trip begin to define the word "irony": I have a week off. I'm at a great dive resort in the Caribbean, one of the few places where you are able to dive as much as you want, on your own schedule. The water is warm and there are a lot of pretty fish and invertebrates out there. But I am inside because I cannot dive. It's been raining for the better part of a day and a half, and while that doesn't interfere with diving, it certainly means I can't sunbathe, or even go for a pleasant walk. Snorkeling doesn't even sound fun in the gloomy weather. Blah.

So I'm just spending my time hiding from the rain and hoping for sunny days and clear sinuses. And wondering how to be healthy for future dive trips.

An article about sea lions ran in the most recent San Francisco Weekly: To Cute To Shoot?. (Article opens in a new window. Go ahead and read it; I'll wait.)

I find this article to be controversial. There are many facets to the issues surrounding sea lions, and the author seems lean towards the point of view of one anti-sea lion extremist. Plus, he/she does not take the time to thoroughly inform readers, and is actually spreading misinformation. The article prompted me to write my first-ever letter to an editor:

I feel the need to respond to the article "To Cute To Shoot?" in the October 7-13th Weekly. The issue of the burgeoning sea lion population is multi-faceted, however, author Ashley Harrell only presented a limited viewpoint.

The article makes multiple references to "seal bombs," but fails to describe them. They may sound cute, but seal bombs are an incendiary device, usually an M80, which is essentially a partial stick of dynamite. These bombs are capable of serious damage, and are used to (illegally) kill fish in many parts of the world. If bombs are used to chase seals away from the Hyde Street Harbor, there is no guarantee that there will be no collateral damage; fish may die, boats could be damaged, and other marine mammals including the endangered Steller's sea lion may be injured or killed.

Harrell goes on to say, "When there are too many sea lions, it's bad for the marine ecosystem," which in fact is true, although the author neglects to mention there are currently not too many California sea lions. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "there is no evidence that [the California sea lion] has reached its optimal sustainable population (OSP) level which is the management goal mandated by the MMPA [Marine Mammal Protection Act]." Sure, there may be too many individuals spending time on certain docks, but the overall population still requires protection.

Humans have been causing havoc on ocean ecosystems to the point where scientists estimate that all the world's fisheries will completely collapse by 2050. This shouldn't come as a surprise: the once booming Monterey Bay sardine industry collapsed in the 1950s due to overfishing, and the North Atlantic cod fishery, which previously brought in up to 800,000 tons, collapsed in 1992 for the same reason. Closer to home, California's salmon fishery closed in 2008, citing "astonishingly low" populations of chinook salmon. And currently, up to 100 million sharks are killed each year; because of this shark populations are estimated to have dropped 90-99%.

Sharks are one of the major predators of sea lions, and they are going extinct. It is very possible that the recent increase in the population of sea lions is not in fact due to healthy numbers of the pinnipeds, but rather, an ecosystem out of balance resulting in unhealthy conditions in the oceans. Rather than treating a symptom--grumpy harbormasters who "opted not to spend money on precautions [on sea lion barriers] in the construction of the Hyde Street Harbor"--we need to instead treat the disease by attempting to save our dying oceans.

I did not want to make my letter longer than it already was, so I was unable to address other problems I had with the article, such as questioning the wisdom of allowing people to shoot rubber bullets at animals (the bullets can easily blind an animal, ricochet and hit a person, or kill a smaller, unintended animal). The author writes about a person who had been bitten by a sea lion "and had to take antibiotics to prevent a nasty bacterial infection called leptospirosis." That statement is incorrect. Leptospirosis is spread through an infected animal's urine, not through bites. If a person was bitten by a seal or sea lion, you would need to take antibiotics--doxycycline is recommended--to prevent a bacterial infection known as "seal finger."

The article goes on to describe a woman who walked on to the Hyde Street Pier and laid down next to a sea lion to have her photo taken. A sea lion adversary was quoted as saying, "You want to get rid of this before someone seriously gets hurt." What, you want to get rid of sea lions because someone was stupid enough to lie down next to a top-level predator? Would you say that about lions if someone laid down next to a lion on the Serengeti? No! Let people take responsibility for their own actions.

I will admit that too many sea lions in the wrong place can be a problem. Heck, too many of any animal in the wrong place can pose a problem. However, this article was poorly written and if anything, seems to justify the use of violent and dangerous means to chase sea lions away. Just the fact that there are people out there chomping at the bit for the chance to harm the animals means that the sea lions still require our protection.

One of the things I really liked about my recent vacation was my sleep schedule. We were in the sub-tropics which meant the days and nights were close to twelve hours each, with the sun rising about 6:30am and setting somewhere about 6pm. Our activities were tied to daylight, so it made sense to tie my sleep schedule to that as well.

I found myself getting up with the sun, rising just before it actually peeked over the horizon. In the evening, dinner would be after sundown, we'd socialize a bit, then I'd go into our room about 8 and read for an hour before finally dozing off around 9pm. It was a wonderful 9 hours sleep each night and I never needed to use the alarm. As a special bonus, each of the ten nights we spent on the boat I was gently rocked to sleep by the motion of the waves which made for an incredibly restful sleep.

It's hard to believe that until fairly recently I never wanted anything to do with mornings. Of course, I was also staying out quite late on a regular basis as well so I really needed to sleep in. I remember thinking that if I could sleep until noon on the weekends then it was a good day--my how things have changed!

The only problem with a get-up-and-go-to-sleep-with-the-sun schedule is our variable day length. If I did that here during the summer I wouldn't get enough sleep! Ah, well, I suppose it's another reason to enjoy my trips to the tropics.

Part two of our Southern Hemisphere trip took us on a 1.5 hour flight east to Fiji. I had heard a lot of good things about the shark dives in the Beqa Lagoon area of southern Viti Levu, Fiji, and this was a good opportunity to check it out.

We did four days of two-tank boat dives with Aqua-Trek in Pacific Harbour, the company that started the Beqa shark dives. It's been ten years since I was last in Fiji, and I had forgotten just how spectacular the diving was there. Two of our dives were reef dives--although only average dives for Fiji, they had much more coral and fish life than most dives I've done in the Caribbean or the Sea of Cortez. In fact, the Nai'a (our liveaboard in Tonga) is actually a Fijian boat, and we vowed to return to Fiji and dive from the Nai'a.

Each of our shark dive days had the same schedule: one dive to 90 feet for 25 minutes, then the next 20-25 minutes spent on a 30 foot reef; one hour surface interval; second dive to 70 feet for 25 minutes, and finish the dive on the same shallow reef. Six dives in total, with no shortage of sharks! There were numerous nurse sharks on each dive including the largest nurse I had ever seen--a 9' male with an immense girth--and it was like being surrounded by puppydogs. They swim around your legs looking for fish scraps, and do not mind if you reach out and pet their rough skin.


Our first shark diving day I left my camera behind as sometimes it's nice to be able to move around unemcumbered. Of course that was the day I saw my first tiger shark (from in the water; in Hawaii I saw two tigers from the boat). She was a solid 10' long, confident, and gorgeous with her eponymous stripes. I was sitting at the right end of a line of divers watching the feeding area in front of us when the tiger approached from my right, at eye level, and at the last moment changed depth ever so slightly so that she swam directly over my head. Like the whale looking me in the eye, these one-on-one encounters with such incredible animals are what I live for.

There were bull sharks on every dive as well. For a shark that is supposedly the #2 or #3 most dangerous shark in the world, they are surprisingly shy and never got close to us. I saw as many as seven bulls at one time, all 5-7' in length, including one hugely pregnant female, and another who unfortunately had an entanglement around her neck and gills.

On the first dive of the last day I saw my first silvertip, a 6-7' female. I was away from the main group of divers, on the far side of a group of 3-4 photographers (I always try to position myself as far from people as possible, in order to get the best view of the sharks), when she came in. Like the tiger, the silvertip was acting very bold but not aggressive, and swam towards and around me several times. I didn't even realize there was a safety diver behind me until he jumped out to push the silvertip away, ruining an otherwise excellent photo.


I have mixed feelings abour shark feeding dives. I would really rather see sharks in the wild and not under artificial circumstances. But this is quite difficult as sharks are becoming increasingly rare, with some species endangered and facing extinction. Plus, most sharks avoid people, so it would be hard to see them up close even if they were in the area. So sometimes a reputable shark dive is the only way to see them. I'm just happy to have had the experience.

More photos: Beqa Lagoon, Fiji on Flickr.

My biggest news of late was our trip to the South Pacific in August and September. It resulted in some of the most unique and incredible experiences of my life.

We took off from SFO one Tuesday afternoon, transferred planes at LAX, and headed southwest, over the equator and across the International Dateline. Thursday morning, after a 12-13 hour flight, we arrived in Nuku'alofa, the capitol city of the Kingdom of Tonga, on the island of Tongatapu. Although Nuku'alofa was not our final destination, we stayed there for about 24 hours which gave us a chance to see a little bit of the area.

The following morning our real adventure started as we boarded the 120-foot sailboat Nai'a for an overnight voyage north to the Ha'apai island group in central Tonga, where we would be swimming with humpback whales. This particular population winters in Tonga, where they mate and calve, then returns to Antarctica's Southern Ocean* to feed during the summer. My journal from our first full day on the water reads in part:

"Lunch was cut short when we saw whales off the stern. Spent the next three hours on the pangas. There were at least three separate groups of whales with 2-4 in each group. Got in the water with them a couple of times. Saw as many as three whales together underwater. Heard some whale song!"

Most of the following nine days were like that--wake up with the sun, eat breakfast, see whale activity all around us, and swim with the whales. I've lost track of the number of breaches I've seen (some individuals would breach 12 or 20 times in a row!), and even the number of whales I've swum with! It's hard to say how many humpbacks there were in that area, there may have been 20 or there may have been 100, it was impossible to tell.

Day Four was our most spectacular day, starting with a sighting of a mother and newborn calf. Although we jumped in the water with them, moms are very protective and she and her baby quickly moved away. We saw another mom and calf with two escorts, but did not get in the water with them. Then we came across two adults who did not leave when our small skiff approached. We slipped in the water and proceeded to spend almost two hours with them! Time went so quickly as we watched them "dance" with one another--slow, fluid movements of the body, fins, and tail. I never would have thought a 40-45 foot behemoth could be so extremely graceful. Together, the whales were like two ballet dancers twisting around one another and moving their pectoral fins about as if they were arms. And incredibly, each whale was always aware of where all parts of their body were, and never accidentally bumped against the another. The Nai'a crew said in all their years of coming to Tonga, this was the most incredible whale encounter they had seen.

Words cannot describe the experience I had with the humpbacks during this ten-day trip. Magical, phenomenal, spectacular, and other superlatives begin to cover it, but how do I relay the feeling I got when a 40 ton animal swam by me, turned on her side, and looked me in the eye?

I've been whale watching before and have seen greys and humpbacks as they come to the surface and breathe. But now that I've been a guest in their underwater world and I've seen just how much goes on below the surface, I fear I've been forever spoiled and will no longer be satisfied merely seeing the whales from the boat!


More photos: The Kingdom of the Whales on Flickr.

*It is sad and depressing to have to mention this, but Japan still conducts annual whaling trips to the Southern Ocean under the guise of "research." They kill approximately 1000 whales each year, in violation of the terms set by the International Whaling Commission. Most of the whales they kill are minkes, however, they do take some endangered humpbacks illegally. It is very possible the very whales we have swum with may end up for sale in the markets of Japan. Please speak out against whaling, and against Japan's questionable whaling practices in general. Supporting the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is another way to directly prevent the killing of whales.

The hardest part about writing a journal entry after not having written for ages is: where to start? My life continues to be busy. I have several different jobs and responsibilities between The Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences. I work not only on-site for those organizations, but with TMMC I find myself doing more and more work at home. This is causing me to adjust my work style because I have gotten quite used to using my computer at home as a way to pass the time, meaning I am no longer used to sitting at my desk and getting work *done*. I am just so easily distracted when in the vicinity of an Internet connection.

I am glad to see friends continuing to post on LJ and I enjoy reading their updates. I don't want to abandon this forum either. I've got so many things I want to write about--work, travel, photography, marine mammal strandings, etc. but I can't do it all in one post. For now just know that life is good, even if this entry is brief.

Last month, 1.5 years after applying and about 10 months after interviewing, I finally began diving in the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences!

My first dive was in the 100,000 gallon Flooded Amazon River exhibit, a warm, freshwater tank with a tunnel where visitors can walk through and see the fish swimming over their heads. I went in with the Diving Safety Officer to do my "check-out dive" where I demonstrated some basic skills--basically, verification that yes, I know how to dive. Then I spent the next 20 minutes swimming around the tank, getting used to aquarium diving. I can now say I've swum with piranha.

Despite what I had expected, it is not easy diving in an aquarium, especially the way they do it at Cal Academy. In order to minimize damage to coral and other organisms, Steinhart divers do not wear fins. As a diver you normally rely on your fins not only to propel yourself, but also to maneuver and hover in place. Good divers never use their hands/arms, but without fins you are forced to swim with your hands. It feels very wrong, like you are unlearning years of excellent diving habits.

Unlike being in the wide-open oceans, in an aquarium you are in a small, confined space with plenty of obstacles. And people staring at you. It's weird being an aquarium exhibit.

The next time I dove I went into the 212,000 gallon, 25-foot deep Philippine Coral Reef exhibit. In the past I've dived in some difficult situations--strong currents, surge, waves, etc.--but this first PCR dive was one of the most challenging I had ever done. I'm in a confined space, wearing unfamiliar gear, no fins, strong currents coming from multiple directions, hanging on to a convex acrylic window by means of a suction cup, trying to not touch my feet to the window (hands and knees are fine), I've got dozens of people staring and pointing at me, and all the while I'm trying to keep calm and pretend I know what I'm doing. It took 5-10 minutes before I remembered to look around and enjoy the scenery, and I wasn't completely comfortable at all that dive.

My second dive into the PCR tank was much better. I knew what to expect, I had learned where the water jets (and therefore the currents) come from, and I was getting much better at stabilizing myself against the window in order to clean it. A few more dives and it should no longer be a big deal.

This aquarium diving is fun! Sure, there is a learning curve involved, but it's also a spectacular, unique experience that I am very lucky to have. I am looking forward to doing much more diving at Steinhart.

Oh, and the answer is yes, we can see out of the tank just as easily as you can see in.

It's summertime! Prior to May we've travelled very little in the past year as our kitty Kisa was ill. But after she died in April we decided to make this into a summer of travelling, attempting to give our very black cloud a silver lining.

This past May Frederick and I joined Susan, Ashley, Charlotte, and Aaron in Chicago to celebrate Angela's graduation from art school. It was a fun, long weekend, and I got to explore Chicago for the first time. It's a pretty nice city. It definitely has a much more urban feel than San Francisco, but at the same time it was never dirty or scary. However, I was a little surprised at how flat it was!

A month later had me heading East to Ottawa, to visit family for a week. I try to make it back there every couple of years to visit; the funny thing is I see some of my Canadian family members more often than I see some of my Californian family. Oh well.

Our June trip was a lot of fun! We've started organizing a group diving trip each summer, and this year's trip was to Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Frederick and I had been there once before and thought it would be a good destination for a group, so we flew down there with Fifi, Jenny, Mona, and Bahman, while Aneel and Chuck rode their motorcycles down and met us at the hotel.

We had a full week of diving, although I did take a couple days off as I was just getting over a cold. (What timing! I go years without getting sick, then I get my second cold in seven months a week before leaving :( ) Most of the diving was average for what you'd expect in the Sea of Cortez: rocky reefs, a good number of colorful fish, and lots of eels, stingrays, and little critters hiding in the reef. Unfortunately the entire area has suffered through decades of intense fishing and there are pretty much no sharks to be seen. I only saw two live sharks, both horn sharks 2.5-3' long, during this trip. I did see the remains of two dead scalloped hammerheads, including one baby whose head was only about 8 inches wide, on a fishermen's beach littered with fish skeletons. Seeing the baby was a real shame as it means it was never able to reproduce before being killed.

Highlights of this trip were:

• Snorkeling with a pod of 12-20 pilot whales! They went right under me, turning and swimming on their sides to watch me floating above them. I could even hear their squeaking sonar.
  
• Thirty minutes later we saw some dolphins. Well, not just a few dolphins like we did at other times, but a whole section of the sea that was alive with dolphins! There were so many it's like the surface of the water was alive. We could see maybe 200 at any one time, and our boat captain estimated the pod to contain about 2000 dolphins! Here's a little movie showing the craziness.
  
• On our final evening we went swimming with Humboldt squid. You know, those "red devils" with teeth on their tentacles that supposedly drag divers to a watery grave? Well, it's true that they do have teeth on the suckers on their arms (they feel like metal velcro), but we were able to dispel the rumors of them being voracious killers. They never touched us, and in fact, didn't come very close to us at all. The biggest danger was from being squirted as they were lifted from the water on a squid jig. (Our divemaster brought a couple squids on board so we could see them up close and touch their tentacles before releasing them back into the water.)

We were supposed to have a second trip this month, a return to Roatan, Honduras. But alas, I injured my back last week trying to pick up a dead sea lion, and had to postpone it. There will be more travelling in the near future!

After three and a half years of construction, The Marine Mammal Center celebrated the grand opening of its new facility and had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday. There has been a flurry of work at the Center this past week as workmen installed many informative placards and displays all around the facility. It was weird going there and seeing signs pointing to the bathrooms and the various departments.

Why is that weird? Because once the signs are up the public will come. I started working at the Center just after construction started, when their doors were already closed to the public, so I don't know what it's like to work "on display," so to speak. Now people are going to be able to watch us do most of our daily jobs, and they'll even be able to see into our lunch room. I fear the novelty will wear off quickly.

The ribbon-cutting and grand opening was a success, however, and it made me feel proud about my involvement with TMMC. As of the 15th of this month (when our doors open to the public), however, I will be working in a different place than I did before. Let's see how it goes.

Soometimes I wonder if I put too much emphasis on my work with The Marine Mammal Center. After all, I'm just a volunteer there; it's not like it's my job. But then again, it *is* a job--it just so happens that I'm not getting paid for it. But I certainly am more passionate about helping animals and saving lives than I ever was about, say, helping some cable tv host recover his lost email. (I still can't believe I got paid so much for such a meaningless job.)

I guess what it boils down to is my work with TMMC has turned into my "career," and I suppose this is how other people feel when they land a job they really love. Neat!

We have a record number of California sea lion pups at The Marine Mammal Center, and a large percentage of them are not surviving. It is becoming common to lose two, three, five, or more animals in a day. When we know we cannot save them, we will humanely euthanize the animals to prevent additional suffering. I've lost track of the number of animals now that I've watch die.

This past Tuesday as we were working with a group of sea lion pups it became obvious that one of them was dying. We called a vet over who determined it was best to help the pup along, and he gave the animal a sedative. (The procedure for humane euthanasia begins with a sedative to calm and immobilize the animal so that the veterinarian can inject the euthanasia solution, usually pentobarbital, directly into the animal's vein.) Once the animal is sedated we take a blood sample, then administer the final injection. I wanted to practice my blood drawing technique so the vet called me over, and I did so. With my hand on the little sea lion's chest I could still feel his heart beating.

After successfully obtaining a blood sample the vet handed me the syringe of pink liquid. I wasn't expecting this; in this circumstance pink equals death. I attached the syringe to the needle still imbedded in the animal's subclavian vein and injected it. The little heart stopped beating, and I had just euthanized my first animal.

I have nothing against euthanasia. On the contrary, I believe it is one of the most humane things we can do for another creature. I also think it should not be taken lightly. Up until last Tuesday I've always been a bit detached from the procedure as I knew it would go on with or without me. Then suddenly *I* was the one euthanizing the animal. It was an odd feeling, a feeling of incredible responsibility, and it definitely made me give some thought to the concept of death. Living beings--humans, sea lions, whatever--can be so robust and withstand so much that it's hard to comprehend that mere teaspoons of a pink liquid can be all that stands between life and death.

Righteous Porkchop - Nicolette Hahn Niman - Righteous Porkchop is very similar to The Face on Your Plate, which I just finished reading, but it is also an entirely different book. The similarity lies in that R.P. really does tell you the truth about food; you learn about the major types of animal foods--milk, eggs, beef, pork, chicken, and fish--as well as specifics about how the animals are housed, fed, drugged, and treated. It goes in-depth on subjects such as how "old-fashioned" traditional farms actually improve the soil in their environment, and how "modern" industrialized factory farms pollute and destroy not only the land in their immediate vicinity, but also water sources many miles away.

The difference between these two books lies in how they are presented. Righteous Porkchop is extremely well-researched and written. Some eight years in the making, the author has done her homework. She has a similar mindset to the author of The Face on Your Plate (she does not eat meat nor tolerate animal suffering), but unlike him she never demands the general population stop consuming animal products, and in fact, counts combatative militant vegans as a liability against the crusade for animal welfare.

At 278 pages (plus an additional 32 pages of references and notes) R.P. packs a tremendous amount of information into a small size, including a chapter about "Answering Obstacles to Reform" which both addresses and dismisses the fallacies that "industrialized farming is necessary to feed the world," and "there is not enough land to support the amount of traditional farming needed to replace factory farming" (both statements are used by the factory farming industry as a way to drum up support for their industry). This book is highly recommended for everyone--omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans-- and especially for people who don't care much about where there food comes from. There's a lot to be learned.

The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food - Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson - Well, I suppose this book does live up to its title as it gives you the truth about what animals go through in order to be the food on your plate, but it doesn't do it well.
The author is a militant vegan and his writing is biased thusly. Don't get me wrong - I'm a vegetarian who tries to be as ethical as possible about my animal-based food choices, but after reading this I get the feeling that he won't let up until everyone else is vegan as well, which just isn't going to happen. He anthropomorphizes animals to the point of ascribing feelings to them, such as claiming a pig, whose tail has been cut off, will continue to feel phantom tail pain. How does he know? The pig didn't tell him, and there were no references proving such. His "data" is poor, in one chapter saying mice and humans share 97.5% of their DNA, and in another stating it is 90%. Masson also claims, "Vegans don't have to worry about high cholesterol," which is incorrect. Oh, and his writing is crap as well, with awkward paragraph structures that can, at times, be confusing. To be honest, I only read about half the book and just paged through the rest. Even though I agreed with the sentiment I couldn't take it anymore. Save your time and money for one of the better-written, less biased, more accurate books out there.

The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals - Peter Heller - Part lesson in species preservation, part adventure on the high seas, and part sad reality, The Whale Warriors is a real-life account of one of the world's most dedicated ocean conservationists. Paul Watson is the head of the Sea Shepherd organization, and each Antarctic summer he and an incredible team of volunteers take to the Southern Ocean in an attempt to stop (at least some of) the whaling that still happens there. In defiance of international anti-whaling treaties the Japanese kill about 1000 whales every season, including significant numbers of endangered species, and Watson is one of the few people on Earth who has the cajones to confront the whaling fleet. I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommended.

Recently I mentioned that I have been on Livejournal since early 2002 (and had journal entries up on my own website for two years prior). I started poking through some old entries and came across a list of things going on in my life in years prior. I thought it was neat to see how things had changed, so I'm re-doing the list from today's perspective. (The original list was written in 2002.)

About 10 years ago I...

1. Was about to embark on my third trip to Europe.
   
2. Would officially retire after many years as a club DJ upon return from that trip.
   
3. Had just started working as an IT Project Manager for Macworld.
   
4. Had been living in my apartment, by myself, for about three years and loved it.
   
5. Was on the cusp of major personal growth, but didn't yet realize it.
   

About 5 years ago I...

1. Was back in school full time and had just completed my hardest, yet most enjoyable, semester to date.
   
2. Still planned on majoring in Nursing.
   
3. Was living with my boyfriend, and in the best relationship I had ever had in my life.
   
4. Knew The Marine Mammal Center existed, but didn't really know anything about them.
   
5. Had done only eight scuba dives in the previous 12 months.
   

About 2 years ago I...

1. Was still in school with the intention of graduating, but had changed my major to Biology/Zoology.
   
2. Had recently celebrated my first wedding anniversary with the most wonderful man in the world.
   
3. Had been working at The Marine Mammal Center for over a year.
   
4. Had done 37 scuba dives in the previous 12 months.
   
5. Had officially declared myself a vegetarian just a few months prior.
   

About 1 year ago I...

1. Had recently been promoted to Assistant Supervisor of one of The Marine Mammal Center's animal care crews.
   
2. Had just completed my most recent round of finals, was pretty burnt out on school, and although I didn't know it at the time, I would not be going back in the Fall.
   
3. Was in the middle of a major home remodeling project and did not have a kitchen to speak of.
   
4. Wanted to be more active in the conservation movement, but didn't know how to go about it.
   
5. Was so focused on school that I wasn't putting a lot of thought into other endeavors.
   

Today I...

1. Haven't been scuba diving for nearly a year.
   
2. Recently marked the one-month point since our beloved kitty passed away (we couldn't bear to go away while she was sick, hence the no diving thing).
   
3. Have two upcoming dive trips scheduled, and are planning a third.
   
4. Am a member of a team of people working to promote conservation in and through The Marine Mammal Center.
   
5. Am developing an interest in gardening.
   

I like Livejournal. I've been on here since February 2002, and have enjoyed it immensely. What I really like about LJ is that it has given me the opportunity to get to meet new people, and get to know my existing friends better.

LJ gives me the chance to glimpse into the minds of others, find out what they're really thinking and doing, what they're really passionate about. Sure, I have to sometimes wade through (what I consider to be) nonsense posts, but I'll gladly shift through those to find the great entry describing what a friend has been going through lately.

There was a shift here a few years ago towards using LJ as an RSS feed, and I admit I do use it for that as well. (Hey, it works, and I'm already visiting this site at least once a day, so why not?) And sadly it does seem like the number of original posts here have dropped significantly during the past 6-12 months, but I suppose I'm to blame for that as well through a combination of busyness and lack of ideas about which to post. But I'm here to stay, and I hope you are too.

Take a minute and post something to Livejournal to let me know you're still alive. Something fun, personal, and/or insightful, it'll brighten the day of everyone who reads it.

Lately I have been getting into gardening. I've always loved beautiful gardens, especially the wild- and overgrown-looking gardens, but never thought I'd be interested in working on one myself. Then about a month ago I realized we had a blank canvas of a yard that seemed to be calling to me, so now I'm giving it a shot.

Our yard is split in two, the upper and lower halves, by a small retaining wall and a couple steps. The lower half has some bamboo, a few small trees, and a lot of river rocks on the ground. The upper half has an ornamental plum tree, a datura tree, and a whole lot of empty ground. So last month Frederick and I put in a stone walkway from the deck to the lower half of the yard, nicely bisecting the upper half. I've since planted one side of the upper half, and am starting to plan out the other half.

The portion I've planted is done with all drought-tolerant native California plants. I'm trying to stick with purples and yellows for the flowing plants, if for no other reason than they seem to be popular colors (in the flower world). The other side of the walkway will be a mix of some native plants and some raised beds for vegetables. For the last few years I've really liked the idea of growing my own food, and very soon now I'll be able to try.

Of course, right now I'm in the fun part of gardening - the planning and planting and watching everything take root. Soon will come the time when I have to get in there and start with the pruning and weeding and other non-glamourous tasks. Right now I'm just waiting for the weather to clear so I can get out in the backyard again!

Hmm, it's been too long since I last posted here. I guess that's because I either haven't had much to say, or when I think of something to say then I haven't had time to sit down and write about it. I have been pretty vocal on Facebook, but that's only because it's easier to find twenty seconds to type a blurb than it is twenty minutes to type a page of stuff.

I've found my schedule has gotten very full lately. It's our busy season at The Marine Mammal Center so I'm working 11.5-12 hour days on Tuesdays. Which means I go to bed early on Monday nights, and often on Tuesdays as well. I was recently elected to the Volunteer Council so I attend one meeting a month in that capacity, and I joined the Center's new "Green Team" to help increase sustainability and conservation in all aspects of what we do there. And just in case that's not enough, we're gearing up for our public grand opening on June 15th (after which date you'll be able to come see us in all our slicker-clad glory).

My work at the Academy of Sciences continues and I still find it fascinating. I hesitate to use the word "like" because it's weird to say I like disassembling dead animals, but it is very interesting. I do feel that only by becoming familiar with death and the intricacies of the body (human or otherwise) can one really appreciate life and the fact that these bodies actually *work*.

We have a group dive trip planned for July, and again will be travelling with several friends. Frederick and I are both really looking forward to this as it will be our first dive trip in a year. (We've had some things going on this past year which prevented us from travelling.) Earlier today we thought about arranging an additional trip just for the two of us but then realized we won't have any time until the end of July or beginning of August! How did our lives get so busy?

Are you looking for a cool volunteer opportunity? Do you like animals and educating people? Then please consider volunteering for The Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands.

TMMC is an incredible place. I've been volunteering for them for three years now and I cannot imagine leaving. This summer our brand-spanking-new $32M facility opens to the public, and needless to say we are all excited about this!

Please volunteer and become part of the largest marine mammal rehabilitation center in the world!

Oh, lest I forget, I have an update about myself - I have a new job! Well, a new volunteer job as it seems you can't get paid for doing the interesting stuff :)

I have started working at the California Academy of Sciences. I'm not diving there yet - that is still on hold because the man who trains the volunteer divers has just been too busy to get that program off the ground - but I am helping to prepare skulls for their collection. I am working primarily with marine mammals, an interestingly, many of the specimens come from the Marine Mammal Center.

It is smelly work. Not because of the specimens themselves, as they are kept frozen until we begin work on them, but because we are working in a room which also holds specimens which are being macerated. Maceration is a method of leaving a bone in a container of water long enough that bacteria eat away every molecule of flesh and fat. In other words, they're rotting.

But it is also very interesting work. I'm hoping that at some point I will be able to identify individual marine mammal species by just looking at their skulls!