Nature Connection: Appreciating Special Moments

Some days I go out walking thinking I’m looking for something specific, such as the first osprey of the season or the return of the black-crowned night herons. Maybe I planned to check out one of the herring runs or my favorite patch of mayflowers. Often I find those things, but even when I don’t, I almost always find something else that is precious and reminds me that we are surrounded by wonders, large and small, every day.

A friend and I have an informal sketch group that meets in various towns around the Cape throughout the year. We start out at a favorite local coffee shop in whatever town we are in, and from there we split up and go sketching. On a recent expedition we headed for Woods Hole in Falmouth, home of so many marine biology experts that you probably can’t throw a clamshell without hitting one.

On this day we met at Pie in the Sky, a well-known local bakery and coffee shop that is tiny but full of town flavor. You never know which scientist may be standing next to you ordering a bagel, lightly toasted, or who might have a whopping good fish story to tell. After we’d taken our fill of deliciousness, we headed out to see what we could see and sketch. We were to meet at the aquarium once it opened, but the day was lovely, and I decided to head over to the little park where a life-sized sculpture of Rachel Carson sat on a bench, dreaming of the ocean and all that lived beneath the surface. An osprey flew overhead, and I told Rachel how much we all appreciated her efforts. She didn’t live long enough to enjoy the osprey’s return, but without her book “Silent Spring” that helped environmentalists remove the deadly DDT from agricultural use, we would have a far different world, here and everywhere. 

Rachel didn’t answer me, which would have been a whole different story, but I like to think her spirit still looks over Woods Hole and all the dedicated women and men who study the ocean and so much more, adding to our knowledge of the world every day.

The Woods Hole Aquarium is tiny but lovely, and there is always something new to discover. Some days there are baby skates and baby sharks. Other days there might be tropical fish found in our waters and brought in by a fisherman. Back in the day, John Hay brought us, his little band of nature-loving kids, to see a rare blue lobster that was brought in. Today we know that blue lobsters occur more often than once thought, but I still remember how excited people were to see that one. The line to get into the aquarium went out the door and around the corner!

We sketched the pufferfish and the huge hermit crab, the toadfish and the pipefish. Word was whispered that upstairs were two octopi and that we might see them if they came out of hiding. Imagine half a dozen grownups pretending to be cooler than a bunch of eager kids as they nonchalantly headed upstairs to see these cool little guys. And there they were, just hanging out. Common octopi don’t live very long, but they are very big-brained and get bored easily, so life in an aquarium is hard on them. They need a lot of stimulation, and those responsible for them often fill their tanks with toys, especially puzzles for them to figure out. This was true in the two aquariums we saw, and we witnessed one playing with a plastic chain hung in the water. Both of the animals we saw were relatively small, but they were definitely aware that we were there as they changed colors, keeping an eye on us as they moved about, stretching their very long legs.

Maybe some of you remember when a fisherman found a teeny octopus sitting with her hundreds of eggs in a net a number of years ago. He brought the octopus to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, and she was a big hit there for several months. Unfortunately, mother octopi fade away and die as their young begin to hatch, giving up their life for those of their offspring. 

I don’t know if these octopi will stay at the aquarium or be released back into the sea once it warms up a bit more, but it was pretty cool to see them and have a chance to sketch them.

As I drove home, I thought about all the wonderful birds, animals and plants we have here that are unique to our environment. We are so fortunate to have access to the Atlantic Ocean, to have sand dunes and ponds and fields and salt marshes and bogs and forests. I had gone to sketch a boat or two and then some bass, maybe a crab or two. The bonus of hanging out with Rachel and an osprey on a sunny morning and then seeing an octopus? That was special and unexpected. 

People come from all over the world to experience our special place. We need to stay vigilant and not let anyone take away our access to beautiful places, such as the National Seashore. Almost every environmental protection is now threatened, and with a stroke of a pen lives can change, human and otherwise. Stay aware and speak up. That’s what Rachel did and why we have ospreys here today. We can’t let her work be in vain.