Leviathans in the Harbor

Taxed by Tourism, Shark Nurseries,
and Sea Slug Sex

Many of us have friends and family who have vacationed on cruise ships. You yourself may have even traveled the Inside Passage from Seattle or Vancouver to Alaska aboard one of the cruise ship lines mentioned in this week’s feature, “Leviathans in the Harbor.”

Writer Brian Payton’s article is troubling, laying bare the frustrations and fraught relationships port communities can have with cruise ships. In the process of editing the piece, I asked for more description of the tourists descending the gangplank, but Brian explained why he chose not to focus on the hordes arriving in Ketchikan:

I stared at them for an hour and a half. These are just people who want a vacation—your neighbors, your grandparents, your in-laws. I’ve opted to let readers perhaps see themselves in this, as someone who just might take an Alaska cruise themselves. I suppose their arrival is anticlimactic, because it is in fact.

If anything, “Leviathans in the Harbor” is an indictment of the industry and the inertia when it comes to tough regulations. But as travelers we too can make known our preferences. Not all cruises are so hard on the environment. Nor is the travel industry evil. Nor should we feel guilty about traveling—there are ways to go beyond our hometown comfort zones more responsibly. Travel writer Seth Kugel, formerly the New York Times columnist “The Frugal Traveler,” recently gave some tips on how to be a tourist in a way that addresses some of the issues Brian brought up in his article.

Happy travels.

Jude Isabella
Editor in chief

This Week’s Stories

Leviathans in the Harbor

More and bigger cruise ships are crowding coastal destinations. When is enough, enough? Who gets to decide?

by Brian Payton • 5,500 words / 27 mins

My Shark Friend on Twitter Died, Now What?

Sharks are killed by fishermen all the time. What if it happens to a shark with a social media following?

by David Shiffman • 750 words / 3 mins

These Sea Slugs Dine While They Do It

And it’s the mate who’s on the menu.

by Sandrine Ceurstemont • 550 words / 2 mins

Sharks Come Home to Lay

For the first time, scientists have discovered that female egg-laying sharks return to the site of their birth to reproduce.

by Marissa Land • 500 words / 2 mins

Coastal Job: Marine Animal Movement Expert

James Liao studies the mysteries of marine animal movement with an eye to unlocking solutions to human problems.

As told to Stephenie Livingston • 650 words / 3 mins

What We’re Reading

Saltwater intrusion, brought on by sea-level rise, has killed over a hundred acres of coastal forests in the US mid-Atlantic states. By using a printing process developed in the 1850s, a photographer has rendered these so-called ghost forests in haunting, anachronistic tones befitting our changing times. (NPR)

Last fall, John Chau was killed on a remote island in the Bay of Bengal by the Sentinelese, one of the world’s least contacted—and more enigmatic—peoples. This is the story of the Christian missionary’s fated journey. (GQ)

Scales in salmon-smeared century-old notebooks yield clues to British Columbia salmon stocks. (Science)

Here’s a nice sister story to last week’s photo essay on the giant clam nursery at the University of the Philippines. This Philippine community manages a giant clam sanctuary as an ecotourism venture. (Mongabay)

This should go without saying, but don’t feed seal pups chicken drumsticks or put them in your bathtub. And, as a reminder, most “stranded” seals aren’t stranded and don’t need human help. (The Star)

Step away from the ocean. Sometimes you just have to stop the fight and move. (New York Times)

The discovery of ancient clam remains in a British Columbia archaeological site will help local First Nations assert harvesting rights. (Here’s the local take on the story when the discovery was first made.) (Smithsonian, Ha-shilth-sa)

Teenaged reader Remy Garrison sent us this photo. Remy writes:

I took this long exposure night photo with my GoPro at Island View Beach near my home in Victoria, British Columbia. The camera was facing roughly east, so the glow on the horizon is actually from the lights on the San Juan Islands in Washington State. When I was younger, we would come to this beach on sunny summer days, but this was my first visit at night. The most notable difference was how noisy the killdeers were!

In Coastal Exposures, readers share their best shots of a favorite stretch of coastline. To submit your photo, tag it on Instagram with #hakaiCE or just reply to this email. Please provide the location, a brief story behind the photo, and the largest file size you have. Horizontal photos are best. Note that your story may be edited for length.

Spirit bears are one of coastal British Columbia’s most iconic creatures, and in 2006 were chosen as the province’s official mammal. These white black bears are not true albinos, as they still have pigment in their skin and eyes. White fur, passed down through a recessive mutated gene, is more than a flashy costume. Spirit bears are better at catching salmon during the day than their black neighbors. Salmon can see and evade black paws better in the daytime—white paws don’t stand out as much against the sky above.

Photo by Shanna Baker

Reply to this email to send us questions, comments, or tips.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.