Fishermen in the San Juan Islands are being asked to make
sacrifices this summer to help Puget Sound’s fish-eating killer
whales. Whether the voluntary actions will make much difference is
open to speculation.
A voluntary “no-go zone” for boats cruising the western
shoreline of San Juan Island has been announced by the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife. Boaters are asked to stay
one-quarter mile offshore for most of the island’s west side. A
half-mile protective zone around Lime Kiln Lighthouse is part of
the voluntary no-go zone. (See map.)
“This voluntary no-go zone is a good step in helping to reduce
human impacts in an important foraging area for Southern Resident
killer whales,” Penny Becker, WDFW’s policy lead on killer whales,
said in a news
release.
Years ago, the western shoreline of San Juan Island was a
primary hangout for whales, which eat mostly chinook salmon during
the summer months. In recent years, however, declines in chinook
runs have reduced the time spent by the whales in any one location,
so the effects of the voluntary closure are likely to be muted.
Classical composer Alex Shapiro, who lives on San Juan Island,
has a nice way of connecting music with her passion for the local
waters in Puget Sound.
“When I’m not crawling around the shoreline and shooting photos
of wildlife, I’m working on becoming a more adept note alignment
specialist,” she writes in her blog “Notes from the
Kelp.” “I compose music, mostly for chamber ensembles and
symphonic wind bands who kindly offer my notes to the air and
anyone within earshot.”
“Notes from the Kelp” is a nice play on words, since it is both
the name of a blog
and an album of
music, two ways of communicating with people about what Alex
calls a “heartbreakingly beautiful part of the planet.”
The first video on this page is Alex’s composition “Deep”
from “Notes from the Kelp.” When I close my eyes and listen to
this piece, I think about scuba diving along the bottom of Puget
Sound in very cold waters. In my vision, I first encounter all
sorts of bottom-dwelling organisms, such as sea pens and sea
urchins, but the music also inspires a feeling of doom, which I
associate with low-oxygen dead zones where nothing can live.
Here’s what Alex writes about “Deep”: “Sometimes I make the
mistake of believing that I’m not being unless I’m
doing and moving. This piece was my challenge to
myself to be still and present. And in doing so, I’ve never
been as much before. Like the sea, my truth lies below,
and I am happiest when I am immersed.”
The second video shows clarinetist Jeff Gallagher performing
Alex’s “Water
Crossing” during a concert in Santa Cruz, Calif., in 2016. Alex
writes about what she was thinking during the composition process
in the “Recordings”
section of her website. She describes a mythical voyage in a canoe
that turns into a sailboat. Dolphins dance ahead of the boat before
it returns to the safety of shore.
I have spent some time lately perusing this “Recordings”
page for a smorgasbord of music and observations on life. It’s
here you can find a list of Alex’s musical contributions, listen to
recordings and read about her music.
I first learned about Alex and her work from the third video on
this page. It was created as a promotion for the University of
Washington, yet Alex finds a way to talk about the importance of
science and how her music is like scientific exploration. The San
Juan Islands, where she lives, has always been an important place
to study sea life and shoreline dynamics — and it’s not just
because the islands are home to the UW’s Friday Harbor
Laboratories.
Alex has been traveling a lot lately and working on various
projects, as she freely describes on her Facebook page. Also, as
it turns out, she is moving from the home on San Juan Island that
she has written so passionately about. But she’s not going far,
since her new home is another waterfront location on San Juan
Island. I look forward to further notes from the kelp.
