The Sea of Cortez

Humpback whales sighted off the shore of Hopkins today...

Week three continues to deliver the rigor! On monday, Susan and Gilly coaxed us into the philosophically inviting waters of The Log from the Sea of Cortez, a collection of journalistic musings kept by John Steinbeck and his comrade-in-arms, Edward F. Ricketts (Doc from Cannery Row) that narrated, to a certain extent, their epic six-week marine animal collecting expedition down the Baja peninsula and into the Sea of Cortez. In the originally published format (The Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research), Steinbeck's Log was followed by Ricketts' extensively annotated catalog of marine specimens. For our purposes, the narrative content provided more than enough material for debate, discussion, and dissection. The format of The Sea of Cortez can be daunting; from chapter to chapter, shifts in voice, perspective, and content occur, which (to put it plainly) can drive many readers absolutely crazy. It should be noted that Steinbeck goes so far as to alert his readers to the narrative differences of this work:

"The design of a book is the pattern of a reality controlled and shaped by the mind of the writer. This is completely understood about poetry or fiction, but it is too seldom realized about books of fact. And yet the impulse which drives a man to poetry will send another man into the tide pools and force him to try to report what he finds there...We have a book to write about the Gulf of California. We could do one of several things about its design. But we have decided to let it form itself: its boundaries a boat and sea; its duration a six weeks' charter time; its subject everything we could see and think and even imagine; its limits--our own without reservation" (Sea of Cortez, page 1).

There you have it... he warned you--life will "form itself...."

In 1945, Steinbeck would publish Cannery Row, and with it an invocation that resonates with the above passage:

"How can the poem and the stink and the grating noise--the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream--be set down alive? When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for they break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and then lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book--to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves" (Cannery Row, pages 3-4). 

Again, life will form/fix itself organically...

What Sea of Cortez lacks in traditional structural integrity it more than makes up for with its engaging philosophical content. Throughout the book, little "nuggets" of epistemological goodness pop up and force some seriously deep thoughts (by Jack Handey!) to the surface:

"The safety-valve of all speculation is: 'it might be so'. And so long as that remains, a variable deeply understood, then speculation does not easily become dogma, but remains the fluid creative thing it might be. Thus, a valid painter, letting color and one, observe, sift into his eyes, up the nerve trunks, and mix well with his experience before it flows down his hand to the canvas, has made his painting say, 'it might be so'... Perhaps his critic, being not so honest and not so wise, will say, 'it is NOT so. The picture is damned.' If this critic could say, 'it is not so with ME,' but that might be because my mind and experience are not identical with those of the painter,' that critic would be the better critic for it, just as that painter is a better painter for knowing he himself is in the pigment" (Sea of Cortez, page 219). 

I read this as an interesting Steinbeck-Ricketts discussion that might very well be some degree of a prototype for future intellectual explorations into what Steinbeck's East of Eden calls "timshel"--thou mayest. It might be so... 

As a work of creative non-fiction, memoir, philosophy, marine biology, or whatever else you want to call it, Sea of Cortez offers an incredible abundance of personal anecdotes and insights into who Steinbeck and Ricketts were (and perhaps more importantly) as men and to what extent they played supporting roles in each others' creative growth. The loneliness, alienation, and melancholia imbedded in many of Steinbeck's books might be best articulated through his description of Ricketts from About Ed Ricketts, a biographical essay on his friend that would be included in the editions of The Sea of Cortez after Ricketts' tragic death:

But for all of Ed's pleasures and honesties there was a transcendent sadness in his love--something he missed or wanted, a searching that sometimes approached panic. I don't know what it was he wanted that was not there, but I know he always looked for it and never found it. He sought for it and listened for it and looked for it and smelled for it ad listened for it in love. I think he found some of it in music. It was like a deep and endless nostalgia--a thirst and passion for "going home" (from About Ed Ricketts). 

This desperate grasping for something beyond comprehension seems to be an identifiably universal human theme, but Steinbeck's consistent visitation of it (nostalgia for the home) throughout his works establishes it as a touchstone of his, and obviously Ricketts', personal experience. It makes me happy to imagine, as existentially isolated as they must have felt at times, Steinbeck and Ricketts together, musing, writing, exploring, and sharing their philosophical truths with one another over a cold can of Acme beer. Even misfit toys have an island to share!

As our time here in Monterey winds down, I find myself revisiting a certain quote (that many others (Bill!) have already pointed out) that seems to be one of the more powerful observations within the text. Jim, my roommate, mentioned that it would "really be unfortunate to forget this place..."

Ephemeral as it may be on one level, I'm certain I (we!) will remember this experience--through shared memories and our own records, it will persist, and it will be passed down through future generations of Steinbeck aficionados, teachers, and students.

Leave-taking (parting is such sweet sorrow!) may very well be the fixative agent needed to properly preserve what we have experienced here:

The moment or hour of leave-taking is one of the pleasantest times in human experience, for it has in it a warm sadness without loss. People who don't ordinarily like you very well are overcome with affection at leave-taking. We said good-by again and again and still could not bring ourselves to cast off the lines and start the engines. It would be good to live in a perpetual state of leave-taking, never to go nor to stay, but to remain suspended in that golden emotion of love and longing; to be missed without being gone; to be loved without satiety. How beautiful one is and how desirable; for in a few moments one will have ceased to exist..." (Sea of Cortez, page 25). 

A fortune found on the grounds of the Naval Post Grad facility today...

Sunday at the Hamilton Ranch, Wine Tasting, and The Sardine Factory!

Arriving at the Hamilton Ranch, immortalized by John Steinbeck in East of Eden

One of the more fascinating concepts I studied in the wine industry was the French notion of terroir. In France (and most "old world" wine producing countries), wines are not named or labeled for their varietal (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, etc.) but rather by their appellation, or place of origin. The French have a very rigorous wine, cheese, butter, and agricultural classification system designed and controlled by a government body (the AOC) that has, in some form, existed since the 15th century (insofar as wine is concerned). Per French law, all products within the purview of the AOC must be labeled in a way that identifies the region and commune of production. Beyond simple quality control, the AOC's mandate brought the notion of terroir into being. Terroir, simply put, is a "sense of place."

Over time, I learned how to differentiate between wines of certain soil typographies. The Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume wines of the Loire valley have a distinctly flinty, lemon-lime-citrus quality; the minerality and fruit character of this region's grapes are a direct link to the calcareous kimmeridgian limestone deposits of the valley floor. In other parts of the world, the same varietal (sauvignon blanc) exhibits tremendously different characteristics (different terroir). In New Zealand, the sauvignon blanc grape boasts aromas of freshly cut grass, grapefruit, and sometimes even cat pee (seriously!). In spite of being built from the same fundamental architecture, sauvignon blancs from South Africa, Chile, California, France, and New Zealand have surprisingly little in common. Acidity, flavor, aroma, appearance, viscosity, and alcohol content all vary tremendously. While a winemaker in the southern hemisphere might employ viticultural practices (pruning, harvesting, irrigation, trellising) identical to his favorite winemaker in the northern hemisphere, the terroir, the wines' expressive identity, will be noticeably different. In the same way, one might study the work of two literary contemporaries (Hemingway and Fitzgerald come to mind) and explore how terroir influenced their craft. For the past three weeks, we have been examining John Steinbeck's life in this way... 

Each time I have visited estates and learned about soil typography and topography, I have felt more genuinely connected to the wines, their winemaker, and the vineyards. In the same vein, the more time I spend "in the land" of Steinbeck, the greater my love and appreciation for his work seems to become. There is a powerful sense of place here, and every location we visit sends out distinct "vibes;" warmth, love, uncertainty, loneliness, nostalgia, despair, and violence all contribute to establishing Steinbeck's central coast as a mosaic of human emotion. 

Here we have a topographical map of the Hamilton homestead: 

Our visit to the East of Eden ranch (Samuel Hamilton's) lent me a newfound (and downright visceral) appreciation for Steinbeck and his forebears. The relatively untouched quality of the ranch, especially the natural environment surrounding the homestead, screamed "Sam Hamilton." In fact, the windmill still bears the Hamilton moniker (look closely at the shot-up blade!):

Robert, the son of the current owner of the Hamilton ranch, showed us around the beautiful property (and sang us a personalized and heart-wrenching rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver). Clearly, the man loves his home, in spite of its obvious barrenness.

I cannot stress enough the authenticity of this experience... Robert's mother served us coffee and zucchini bread (which was beyond tasty) while he guided us through the remnants of the original Hamilton homestead (outlined in great detail in East of Eden):

The Hamilton homestead...

Robert took us behind the scenes to see Samuel's actual anvil. Used extensively throughout East of Eden, the device embodies the industry, intelligence, and influence Sam held over the King City community. Absolutely amazing to see....

Samuel Hamilton's anvil

On our way home from the ranch, Robert (his mother, really...) allowed us to stop and collect marine fossils (for the low, low price of $1.00) as souvenirs of our journey... literally thousands of fossils litter the outskirts of the settlement in fields that appear to be relatively untouched since the days of Steinbeck's youth.

Fossils!

The road back to King City

After leaving the East of Eden ranch, we stopped for a brief tour of the Santa Lucia Highlands' grape growing industry... picturesque and delicious!

Sunday night, Jim and I played a gig at The Sardine Factory, a piano bar on Cannery Row. Photo props to Mark (I totally thieved this picture off his blog: Mark's Blog ).

It was a genuinely fun night!

Jim and Dan live in the Can! (Photo props to Mark M.) 

Running behind - a review of Pacific Biological Laboratories and our discussion of Cannery Row

Phew!

Friday was a full day...

I managed to peel myself out of bed at a reasonable hour in the interest of running by Steinbeck's Pacific Grove home (a residence built by John's father in 1903 as a "vacation home" away from Salinas) at the intersection of 11th street and Rickett's Row before class began. The home, small and unassuming, was where John and his first wife Carol (who was very involved, it would seem, with John's writing, editing, and revision processes) lived from 1930-1936 before moving to their Greenwood Lane home in Los Gatos. The house (pictured above) in Pacific Grove is where John wrote parts of The Red Pony (his time was split between Pacific Grove and Salinas for a while after his mother suffered a stroke), The Pastures of Heaven, Tortilla Flat, In Dubious Battle, and the first manuscript of Of Mice and Men, which his dog tore to shreds...

After my morning constitutional, I met up with the group at the Hopkins Marine Station for our next set of lectures with Susan and Gilly. Cannery Row was the topic of discussion on the agenda and we wasted no time delving into what has become one of my favorite novels.

For those unfamiliar with Cannery Row, it does lack a traditional plot structure--the typically linear (exposition-inciting action-rising action-climax-falling action-catharsis-resolution) diagram we (or I) have a tendency to teach in high school does not necessarily apply here. Personally, I have never found modernist (or even most of the more "out-there" postmodernist) structural experimentation irksome (I think it is pretty cool, actually...) but it does pose a problem in a lower-level high school classroom when trying to deconstruct or analyze a book with students who have been trained to write, analyze, and think formulaically. Cannery Row radiates a keenness of sight, a palpable warmth, and a bittersweet melancholia that is both difficult to explain and challenging to dissect as a cohesive and "meaningful" (as in moralistic) unit. Try explaining the "meaning of life" to a group of 9th graders... good luck! Steinbeck weaves a collection of seemingly disconnected vignettes together in an effort to demonstrate the holistic and organic nature of our human ecology, as said in The Log from the Sea of Cortez: "from the tide pool to the stars..."

After our intertidal zone experience collecting marine animals and moving ourselves from the "macro" to the "micro" (stay low and go slow!), I feel much better equipped to talk about Cannery Row as a (props to Jim Quinlan for this image) work of impressionist art with my classes... each individual vignette (or sea creature!) contributes a microscopic inflection or "color" to the greater work of art, tide pool, or human experience... and while humans will continue to codify, explain, and and reduce life to a series of predictable and linear patterns, the reality is that life (in a non-teleological sense) is not that simple... the fact is, life just "happens," without respect to plot diagrams. Steinbeck goes so far as to invite us to participate in a "low tide" examination and close reading of his own experience, but not without first explaining the complexity of doing so:

How can the poem and the stink and the grating noise--the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream--be set down alive? When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for they break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and then lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book--to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves. (From the preface of Cannery Row)

Much as the tide will reveal a unique landscape from day to day, Steinbeck acknowledges the variability, volatility, and inexplicable nature of life. This invocation to the text seems to trumpet Steinbeck's intention to  merely open up the collecting dish and let the tide flow in with stories, creatures, and characters from his own life, perhaps affected by nostalgia, but certainly portrayed with the loving admiration I imagine a marine biologist must have for cataloguing the flora and fauna of their favorite collecting pool.

A picture of Ed Ricketts (Doc from Cannery Row) pinned up inside Pacific Biological Laboratories

After our lecture, we met up at Pacific Biological Laboratories, Ed Ricketts' old home/lab on Cannery Row, across the street from Lee Chong's grocery and where Dora Flood's Bear Flag Restaurant once stood. After Ricketts passed away (a tragic car accident - he was hit by a train), ownership of the property fell to private hands -- a sort of fraternity was erected ("Doc's Lab") and weekly social meetings were held. The Monterey Jazz Festival owes its existence to this club, who originally organized the event and made it a reality. Susan made arrangements for a walk-through of the property and we listened to a recorded version of The Snake (from The Long Valley) read by John Steinbeck in the living room... The Snake recounted an event that actually happened on the property, and to hear Steinbeck read the story (while sitting in the room!) added an absolutely inspiring vibe to the whole outing... while the majority of the artifacts within the home never belonged to Ricketts, most of the fixtures and woodwork are in their original format (shelves where Ed kept his turntable and speakers, etc.). The backyard of the lab, which overlooks the bay, led to the basement where Ricketts stored the majority of his specimens.

Susan talking about The Snake and Ed Ricketts inside the lab.

View of the "backyard"

A seat for Steinbeck, Ricketts, and Mac?

Class at Pacific Biological Laboratories... with the man himself (stage right)

After our meeting at Ricketts', we adjourned to Hopkins for a fantastic bbq and two lectures related to teaching Cannery Row to high school students -- great stuff!

Tim Thomas, a walking tour, the philosophy of Ed Ricketts, and literary layers/levels

Tim Thomas in from the of the Sardine Hopper on the Hopkins Marine Lab grounds

As we continue our transition from "the valley to the sea," Tim Thomas, a local Monterey fishing industry fixture and the former curator of the Monterey Maritime Museum, gave the group a stimulating lecture this morning. "Fishing for History" was the title of Tim's presentation and his wardrobe did not disappoint:

Fish in a holster!

Tim provided us with a true historian's chronology of events in Monterey... from the origins of the coastal Carmel and Monterey area Rumsen Native American tribe to the influx of Chinese, Italian, and Japanese workers who immigrated to the area to labor in the railroad, fishing, diving, and canning industries, the talk was as stimulating as it was full of entertaining anecdotes presumably gathered while Tim was working on research for his books The Japanese on the Monterey Peninsula and Monterey's Waterfront. For any of you interested in the content of the lecture, I found a great representation of what we heard today on YouTube: Tim Thomas Monterey Bay Fishing History Lecture.

Lee Chong, a fictional character from John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row, was partly based on a successful Chinese businessman who made his fortune not only as a retailer / proprietor of a general store ("Wing Chong" grocery, which translates to "beautiful prosperous" in Cantonese), but also as an exporter of dried squid (to China). The squid drying process was an olfactory nightmare... literally, mountains of dried squid were heaped on piles (squid mountains...delicious!) and laid out to dehydrate prior to shipping.

Mountains of Squid...

As the talk commenced, we learned about the Monterey whaling industry, the Japanese abalone free-divers (called Ama), and we heard some really entertaining anecdotes. Tim recounted the story of "the last" major abalone diver, a Japanese-American man named Roy Hattori. Roy apparently found himself 30 feet below the surface during a morning dive (this was a full suit with air line, lead boots, and the old school deep-sea diver attire) when a piece of debris was picked up by the current and jettisoned into his helmet's glass porthole. The porthole cracked, and water began to seep in his mask... knowing the difficulty of returning to the surface in a hurry, Roy improvised. Reaching down to the abalone (abalone could be described as giant sea snails...) he had just pried from a rock bed, Roy slapped the giant suction-cup foot of the snail over the porthole of his helmet, plugging the leak and allowing him ample time to return to the surface for repairs. Ha! Coincidentally, the site that published Tim's history lecture also has an interview with Roy: Roy Hattori Story.

At this point, we were led around Cannery Row while Tim made connections with some of the remaining historic properties... one being Ed Rickett's residence, Pacific Biological Laboratories. Tomorrow, we will be taking an in-depth tour of the property, so I will hold off on any discussion of that until then.

When our tour concluded, we adjourned for a lunch break and then returned to attend a lecture proctored by Gilly. We briefly discussed some of our intertidal zone findings from our oceanic exploration the day prior. After an interesting and illuminating review of "phylums" found within the intertidal, we talked about Conus Californicus, a predatory sea-snail (that incidentally fires hypodermic needles full of neurotoxins at its prey! Yikes!), and reviewed Ed Rickett's unique philosophy of ecology (Ed's famous tome Between Pacific Tides was apparently widely criticized by some of his scientific contemporaries because of its innovative/unusual classification of flora and fauna). Susan wrapped up the lecture with an introduction to her notion of Steinbeck's literary "levels," something she explored in depth in an upcoming publication (and we may get a copy!). Steinbeck often commented that his novels and stories contained several layers or levels, and Susan distilled these into five succinct categories:

1) Details (yellow shoes from Grapes)
2) Associations (the shift from "I to We" in Grapes)
3) Histories (references to culture)
4) Universals (bibilical references, language, niche roles)
5) Emergence, Possibility, and Growth (seed dispersal chapter / Rose of Sharon and the ambiguous ending of Grapes)

This breakdown could easily lend itself to being used in a classroom for creative writing or literary analysis purposes.

Gilly and Shilly at the Ed Rickett's memorial site... with a can of "Acme" beer... Steinbeck and Rickett's favorite!

Tomorrow we head to Doc's lab!

Intertidal - a close encounter with the pacific tide... 6:27am

 At 6:00 this morning, the group met at the Stanford University Hopkins Marine Laboratory to go "tide pooling" or "collecting" at low tide. During our PM lecture session last night, Gilly (Dr. William Gilly, neurobiologist extraordinaire and international man of mystery) walked us through the fundamentals of the tides and introduced us to some of the flora and fauna that we would encounter on our intertidal experience today. 

Sea Star!

Roundabouts 6:27 (low tide), we hopped in the drink for an extremely hands-on experience with the tidal invertebrates... "stay low and go slow" was the guiding theme of our maiden voyage across the pools. Close encounters of the anemone, nudibranch, snail, crab, fish, eel, tunicate, sea hare, barnacle, limpet, abalone, sea star, etc. were had, and in great plentitude. The density and complexity of life in the pools was truly overwhelming... one of my colleagues drew a parallel between examining the tidal pool and performing close readings of literary texts--very apt! Following our tidal explorations, we attended a brief lecture on the history of the Hopkins Marine Station and the evolution of Monterey Aquarium given by Dr. Stephen Palumbi, the current director at Hopkins.

At 12:00 we met for a "behind the scenes tour" of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Morning on the pools...

After the tide comes back in...

Diversity and density of life... 

Sea Hare!

Collecting like Ricketts!

The fruits of our labor!

The more you know, the more you know nothing... Populuxe

Today's continued discussion with Dr. Scot Guenter of San Jose State University lead us to contemplate the role Steinbeck's East of Eden might have played in the popular culture of America in the 1950's. Published in 1952, East of Eden is considered by many to be Steinbeck's magnum opus--an epic work intertwining biblical, societal, and existential themes--and a tribute to American "exceptionalism." Dr. Guenter, an American Studies (interdisciplinary humanities) professor (and noted vexillologist), reminded us that by 1953, the United States was experiencing an overwhelming sense of prosperity, with an average income increase of 150% since the end of the great depression. The resultant retooling of our society led to what Thomas Hine called a "culture of populuxe." Populuxe at its core, could be described as a "vulgar celebration of consumption" in a post-war, post-famine society. The Leavittown prefabricated starter home prototype of the late 1940's early 1950's set off what would be known as the "suburban myth"--the nuclear family. Americans started moving away from the notion of "built to last" utilitarian material goods and toward the idea of luxury items and "trading up," similar to the way we feel about cell phone "upgrades" today (I don't need a new car, but hey, I deserve one!). The car you drove, the clothes you wore, the way you spoke, the religious affiliation you pledged your allegiance to, and the house you lived in all affected the way you were perceived and ranked in the societal hierarchies of American society. Many Americans in the 1950's were chock-full of nostalgia -- obsessing over the popular "Western" themed movies, television shows, books, and artwork -- while others looked forward to an impossibly futuristic, sometimes prescient, and oftentimes irrational "Jetsons" style future. In the midst of the imaginative escapisms of the population, a very different American archetype emerged--the Darren Stevens (Bewitched) or Don Draper (MadMen) male and the generally inequitable female return to the cult of domesticity (Betty Crocker).

All of this is extremely interesting to contemplate in relation to the work of Steinbeck -- certainly in relation to his epic treatment of East of Eden -- what made this book so successful (and subsequently the Elia Kazan interpretation of the book starring James Dean) during this very plasticine, conformist, and materialist era? As a metacognitive cultural study, this is extremely interesting...

Major works related to the "suburban myth" to contemplate:
People of Plenty, David M. Potter
The Organization Man, William Whyte
The Suburban Myth, Bennett M. Berger
The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan

Major works related to the semiotic study of "Populuxe"
Hidden Persuaders (1967) 
Status Seekers (1959)
Waste Makers (1960)         (All by Vance Packard)

Populuxe America...

Leavittown - "Little Boxes" - Elvina Reynolds

Tomorrow (at 6am!) we get into the intertidal at Stanford! Woo hoo!

Agricultural Field Trip! Nunes Farms, East of Eden, and Dr. Scot Guenter

Lettuce Harvesters at Nunes Farms

Today, the group kicked off the day at Nunes Farms, a "vertically aligned" agricultural business enterprise that produces, markets, and distributes the "Foxy" and "Foxy Organic" produce brands throughout the United States. Our tour was initially guided by Tommy Nunes, heir to the Nunes "lettuce throne," and current director of operations at the farm. While certainly not the largest farming outfit in the Salinas valley (Dole seems to reign supreme), Nunes seems to be a fantastic representation of the modern agricultural business model. The "farm" is actually an extensive network of subleased (and privately owned) farm plots on the valley floor. The produce is harvested on a schedule (the farmers plant everyday and harvest everyday... pretty insane how non-stop the growing season is in Salinas...) and returned to the central Nunes warehouse facility where the product is weighed, barcoded, and loaded into climate controlled shipping containers or refrigeration units.

Lettuce going to market...

Nunes farms' produce is entirely hand-packed in the field which means that the worker harvesting the crop is literally the only person to touch the product before it hits market. With an extremely stringent set of operating procedures and field regulations, Nunes strives to maintain a high level of cleanliness in the field. With the infamous 2006 e.coli "bagged spinach debacle," in the not-so-distant past, FDA safety compliance seems to be a critical aspect of the farmers' outlook.

The "teams" are paid as a unit, not individually...

The last (gloved!) hand to touch your lettuce before it hits the plate!

On the truck to the warehouse / distribution center...

Monterey county produces (according crop report data from 2012) approximately 790 million dollars of leaf lettuce alone... strawberries are a close second at 780 million. Driscoll farms' strawberry patches were adjacent to the Foxy fields we visited today.


Verl, a retired agricultural industry professor, took us to various locales throughout Salinas and Spreckles (of Spreckles sugar fame, now defunct) for on-site lectures about crop growth, rotation, planting/transplanting, irrigation, organic farming, water filtration, and business practices. It was an extremely informative afternoon!

Verl!

Irrigation / water filtration systems

Our 6pm lecture session tonight included a brief introduction to East of Eden (the 1955 film starring James Dean as Cal) by Dr. Scot Guenter of San Jose State University. After viewing the film the group shared some discussion prior to our release for the evening.

Tomorrow: major lectures on East of Eden!

Harbor Seal and the Beach!

After the fog burned off...

Day of rest part two!

Thought I might upload a few killer photos from today's meanderings before I head over to our PM lecture at Stanford. We will be wrapping up our discussion of Grapes of Wrath this evening and should be pushing into the next phase of our close book study first thing Monday morning. Dr. Mary Adler should be stopping by for a continuation/revisitation of her lecture on dialectical voice and pedagogy.

Sunny planking!

This morning was a bit cool and overcast but around noon the fog burned off and made way for an extremely sunny and all around inspirational day outside... I decided to take a long hike (not that long, maybe 8 miles round trip) up the beach and back. I wanted to take advantage of the good light today and photograph the harbor seals "planking" on the rocks. The seals are "hauling-out"to conserve body heat and therefore lower their calorie-intake requirements (among other reasons). Really a funny sight to behold...

Hauling out and smiling in the foggy AM

A day of rest part 1 - kayaks, moss landing, and sea robotics

Day off! Today was an interesting exploration of the Elkhorn Slough state marine sanctuary... a group of eight started off the morning with kayaking on the bay... an awesome experience with a startling abundance of sea otters (cracking mussels on their tummies!) and harbor seals... I learned the difference between "harbor seals" and "sea lions" today... harbor seals have internal earflaps and tend to be smaller in stature while sea lions have "dog-like" ears and a much larger body mass... who knew?

Out on the "slough" were several marine biologist sanctuary rangers on kayaks who cycled around to make sure the visiting tourist crowds did not infringe on the sea life... 

After our kayaking adventure, we spent some time at the Moss Landing campus of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (the deep sea research component) during their yearly robotics open house... pretty awesome to see the diving robotics in action! There is an obvious reverence for Steinbeck (the Western Flyer is a major research vessel and their most advanced robotic submarine is named "Doc Ricketts") throughout the program... too cool... afterward I went for a stroll on the beach and found a "sweat lodge" of sorts left behind by some California natives....

Elkhorn Slough Kayaking Adventure!

Research Submarine Doc Ricketts I

Research Vessel Doc Ricketts II

Collection trays for the Doc Ricketts 

Robotic Arm Tests...

James Cameron!!! Robot III

Western Flyer Research Vessel (named for the vessel from The Sea of Cortez)

The Salinas River runs through it all...

A cool sweat lodge / teepee on the beach by the Salinas River / Pacific Ocean