Underway in the Baltic Sea
A day at sea, a time to reflect, absorb and perhaps wash out some needed laundry. Yesterday we were at Riga, Latvia. Just amazing! I went ashore and wandered up to the Old Town after having dinner on the Endeavour. Friday night in Riga, what could I expect? I had been there in the afternoon, the people were very European, very western, sophisticated, tightly clad, some in studded black, some stiletto-heeled and most cell phone wielding. Perhaps there would be the usual festival of youth, an environment shunned or even forbidden to most other segments of society.
As I approached the outdoor cafes, I could hear the music, some familiar rock and roll, others of a more local variety. I chose a café and took a table shared with others, mostly Latvians. The music was loud and local and definitely happy. I looked around. Yes, plenty of young people, looking and being looked at, but also plenty of mothers, grandmothers, fathers and grandfathers. The night belonged to everyone! People began to dance, a party of women, 18 to 40 years old. A group of younger men joined in, but they danced with their friends, men with men, women with women, all happy, just enjoying the night, enjoying the freedom. I had the same experience at several other cafes.
Nice buildings, beautiful churches, but it was the people of Riga on a Friday night that I will remember most of all. Now it is today and we are at sea, a following sea somewhat agitated, a bit of wind and occasional showers, with a chill in the air. The sea? No, more like a brackish lake. The Baltic Sea averages less than 200 feet deep and it contains more fresh water than salt water and it certainly makes a difference to the undersea life. Most marine creatures cannot live here, not enough salt and only a few freshwater species can survive in the slightly salty water. Then there is a long history of over-fishing, destructive fishing and pollution, all issues of lively debate; there can be solutions.
So what is down there? Hmmm, here is a scene, a shot with a boulder, a view of about two feet wide and a foot and a half tall. The green water is particularly stunning, a plankton bloom with a million tiny creatures stretching off to infinity. In the foreground there is bed of mussels. Doing what? Well, eating the plankton of course! Mussels are a kind of clam that live on rocks and they are tough competitors, they swing back and forth and knock young barnacles off. But I do not think mussels are very fond, perhaps, of being upside down, because on the lower surface of the boulder there are barnacles—that would be the white patch. Barnacles are shrimp-like creatures with their heads cemented to a rock, their chitin shell a skirt lifted up so they use their ‘feet’ like a fan to filter plankton. There is also a fish in the picture, a black goby, you can not see it, sitting quietly waiting for something larger to pounce upon. No, not too much, could be more, that will be our decision… No, not ours, a decision to be made by the people we have been meeting throughout this voyage, like the people of Riga—today they impress me, tomorrow they could amaze me.
A day at sea, a time to reflect, absorb and perhaps wash out some needed laundry. Yesterday we were at Riga, Latvia. Just amazing! I went ashore and wandered up to the Old Town after having dinner on the Endeavour. Friday night in Riga, what could I expect? I had been there in the afternoon, the people were very European, very western, sophisticated, tightly clad, some in studded black, some stiletto-heeled and most cell phone wielding. Perhaps there would be the usual festival of youth, an environment shunned or even forbidden to most other segments of society.
As I approached the outdoor cafes, I could hear the music, some familiar rock and roll, others of a more local variety. I chose a café and took a table shared with others, mostly Latvians. The music was loud and local and definitely happy. I looked around. Yes, plenty of young people, looking and being looked at, but also plenty of mothers, grandmothers, fathers and grandfathers. The night belonged to everyone! People began to dance, a party of women, 18 to 40 years old. A group of younger men joined in, but they danced with their friends, men with men, women with women, all happy, just enjoying the night, enjoying the freedom. I had the same experience at several other cafes.
Nice buildings, beautiful churches, but it was the people of Riga on a Friday night that I will remember most of all. Now it is today and we are at sea, a following sea somewhat agitated, a bit of wind and occasional showers, with a chill in the air. The sea? No, more like a brackish lake. The Baltic Sea averages less than 200 feet deep and it contains more fresh water than salt water and it certainly makes a difference to the undersea life. Most marine creatures cannot live here, not enough salt and only a few freshwater species can survive in the slightly salty water. Then there is a long history of over-fishing, destructive fishing and pollution, all issues of lively debate; there can be solutions.
So what is down there? Hmmm, here is a scene, a shot with a boulder, a view of about two feet wide and a foot and a half tall. The green water is particularly stunning, a plankton bloom with a million tiny creatures stretching off to infinity. In the foreground there is bed of mussels. Doing what? Well, eating the plankton of course! Mussels are a kind of clam that live on rocks and they are tough competitors, they swing back and forth and knock young barnacles off. But I do not think mussels are very fond, perhaps, of being upside down, because on the lower surface of the boulder there are barnacles—that would be the white patch. Barnacles are shrimp-like creatures with their heads cemented to a rock, their chitin shell a skirt lifted up so they use their ‘feet’ like a fan to filter plankton. There is also a fish in the picture, a black goby, you can not see it, sitting quietly waiting for something larger to pounce upon. No, not too much, could be more, that will be our decision… No, not ours, a decision to be made by the people we have been meeting throughout this voyage, like the people of Riga—today they impress me, tomorrow they could amaze me.
