Shapes at the seashore

In my journeys to the coast I don't always pack food. This leads me to frequent many of the small eateries along the coast. Food varies from a quick sandwich at a stand up counter to some fancy restaurants along the way.

Some of the restaurants go out of their way with the ocean decorations. For example here is a picture of a stone sink that was in one of the restrooms.

Other decorations that are common are shells embedded into various furniture like tabletops and the top part of the backs of chairs. Of course I always see the trophy fish hanging on the wall - which upsets me no end but that is another post entirely.

Laptop problems

Yet again I am having problems with my laptop. I bought a new laptop 2 years ago because my first laptop finally wore out after just 3 short years. Normally HP makes some decent laptops but this one is quickly becoming a lemon in my eyes. Thanks goodness I have an extended warranty on it because I don't know a USB from a sdram.

This time the wireless capabilities went south. So back the laptop goes for repairs. I need it to write my papers and of course to maintain this blog. I am now tied to an old (like in 10 years old) desktop computer to do all of that.

My active time of the year

Travel, keeping up with marine biology news and trips out to the local fish hatcheries has kept me active this summer. I often volunteer at the fish hatchery each week. With the cut backs that government agencies are having they welcome us volunteers with open arms. In Oregon if you plan on doing volunteer work you will need to contact the state biologist which is located in Corvallis at OSU.

Volunteers will learn lots of interesting stuff about fish farming, breeding and even taking the fish out to remote lakes in backpacks. I would mainly feed the trout and it might surprise you to know that the trophy trout are fed a special feed compared to the regular trout. Just moving those bags of 50 pound feed around is enough to make anyone think twice about using weight loss supplements. You'll build lots of muscle doing that type of work.

I also like the idea that it gets me outdoors more. There is nothing worse than staying inside on a beautiful day.

Baby beluga whales born in aquariums

Here is the latest birth announcements of beluga whales born in aquariums all over the world. First is a beluga whale born in the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada in June 2009. The female calf is the second beluga born in that aquarium in less than a year. This is a very welcome birth because it is estimated that only 100K belugas are left in the wild. Also infant mortality rates for baby beluga whales are around 50% in the wild and the reason is yet unknown.

Next is another female born June 12 at SeaWorld in San Antonio. They are currently looking for a name for the young female. Here is a picture of her just after she was born: