Working Waterfront

A catastrophe in which no beauty can be found

By Dana Wilde Long ago, before realizing I was unfit to write poetry, I set myself a project I thought might become my life’s work. My childhood was still fresh and glistening with pain, and one of the more frightening disturbances had been the Cuban Missile Crisis, when I was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Quimby reveals plans for Schoodic campground

By Jacqueline Weaver When philanthropist Roxanne Quimby bought the 113-acre Ocean Wood Campground on Schoodic Peninsula three years ago for $2 million, her intent was to save the land and its 3,200-feet of bold ocean frontage from development. Now she has a clearer idea of the best possible use of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Women on the working waterfront, and on our pages

By Tom Groening If newspaper readers could be proverbial flies on the wall during meetings at which editors plan news coverage, most conspiracy theories about bias and political agendas would fade away. I’m reminded (yet again) of a Jerry Seinfeld comedy bit, in which he notes, “It's amazing that the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Merritt Carey fights for a waterfront way of life

By Tom Groening She’s sailed around the world with an all-female crew and competed in the America’s Cup with the first all-female team. She earned a law degree, worked for a Canadian seaweed processing firm, and lived for a time in New Zealand. But for Merritt Carey, the small coastal… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering the sedition trial of Scott Nearing

By Jacqueline Weaver Scott Nearing may be best known in coastal Maine as an inspiration in the back to the land movement. He and his wife Helen and their book Living the Good Life are cited by hundreds—if not thousands—who came to Maine in the early 1970s, seeking a more simple, rural… SEE MORE

A North Atlantic right whale breaches in the Bay of Fundy.

Working Waterfront

A scientist’s view on right whale challenge

By Stephanie Bouchard The first time Nick Record saw a North Atlantic right whale was in 2007. He was out on a boat in Cape Cod Bay with a guy named Stormy (seriously), when the water around them began bubbling and churning. Up through the water came a huge right… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Puffin population strong, but now threatened by climate change

By Nancy Griffin It took years of painstaking effort to restore seagoing puffins to a Maine island where they had historically nested but had long ago disappeared, victims of human hunting for their meat and feathers. Now, the results of those years of effort that began in 1973 have reached… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lemonade from lemons, or tasty seafood from invasive crabs

By Kate Tagai Thousands flock to the Maine coast each summer to crack open the boiled red shells of lobster, drench the contents in butter, and toss it down the hatch. Fishermen catch more than 119 million pounds annually for consumers, but Gabriela Bradt from the University of New Hampshire… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Oysters—from delicacy to staple?

By Kelli Park Emily Selinger has made it her mission to change the way we look at oysters, one farm-share at a time. Selinger spent her childhood on the Harraseeket River in Freeport, where she fell in love with working on the water. She taught sailing classes at a young… SEE MORE

A right whale entangled in what is believed to be Canadian crab gear.

Working Waterfront

Canadians also working to protect right whales

By Craig Idlebrook In response to an unexpectedly deadly summer for the North American right whale population in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Canadian government, conservationists, and fishermen are racing to put in place new measures to prevent ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements for the critically endangered mammal.… SEE MORE