Working Waterfront

Boston considers seawall to fight rising seas

Communities along Maine’s coast have endured several storm-related floods in recent years, and discussions are underway for how to make these communities more adaptable in the face of projected sea level rise. Maine municipal planners may be interested to learn how their counterparts in Boston are approaching this challenge. A… SEE MORE
Conference attendees at Whaleback Shell Midden Historic Site in Damariscotta listen to Arthur Spiess

Working Waterfront

Ancient shell middens speak of climate and culture

It’s not often that ordinary folks get to help protect the state’s ancient cultural history, but a group of academics, archaeologists, and scientists is spearheading a citizen scientist initiative to do just that. These newly minted citizen scientists will monitor some of the state’s 2,000 or so known prehistoric shell… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Building a better lobster trap

It would be nice, Mark Brooks admits, if his family’s business could make just a few types of lobster traps. But with a laugh, he explains that lobstermen, legendary for their independent views on what works and what doesn’t, would not be the loyal customers they are if the company… SEE MORE
Paul Greenberg

Working Waterfront

Museum hosts Maine Marine Fare, Sept. 9-10

Maine Marine Fare, a two-day symposium Sept. 9-10 at Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, focuses on what we take from and eat from the sea off the Maine coast, featuring Paul Greenberg as the keynote speaker at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Greenberg, a James Beard Award winner and author of  Four Fish and American Catch,… SEE MORE
The Margaret Todd obscures the view of a cruise ship off Bar Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Southwest Harbor cool on cruise ships

Bar Harbor is Maine’s top cruise ship port, with 165 visit scheduled this year, bringing 226,846 passengers—up from 121 visits and 159,515 passengers in 2016. On cruise ship days, the waterfront and downtown are packed with visitors tendered in from ships at anchor. Many hop on buses that head to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The tides as one step away from God

Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean By Jonathan White 2017: Trinity University Press Like the tides themselves, this book literally covers the earth. Author Jonathan White gets us started with a dramatic personal story: accidentally grounding his schooner in 1990 in Kalinin Bay, Alaska, in 40-knot winds at… SEE MORE