Podcasts about eelgrass

Eelgrass is a critical habitat for fish, protects against coastal erosion and stores carbon. But it's threatened by pollution and climate change. Dozens of local scientists are working to protect and restore New England's seagrass meadows.

This week, host Joanna Roche welcomes Tara Riley, Nantucket's Shellfish and Aquatic Resource Manager, to continue their conversation about the Eelgrass restoration project. She goes into depth about the importance of Eelgrass here on Nantucket and how we can help protect it and improve its presence here. Together, they explore the importance of managing Nantucket's marine resources and the rewarding challenges of protecting the island's delicate ecosystem. For more details about the Maria Mitchell Association, visit mariamitchell.org.

This Day in Maine for Thursday, November 14, 2024.

A new conservation project will bring together Nova Scotians to help replant and regenerate eelgrass meadows. It's called the Community Eelgrass Restoration Initiative and it will bring together community members, Mi'kmaq leaders and Dalhousie University scientists. Host Jeff Douglas is joined by Kristina Boerder and Tyler Sack to talk about the new long-term restoration project.

The vital role that this seagrass plays in the health of the marine ecosystem—and in capturing carbon

This week we chat with Dan Kolterman, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Aquatic Habitat Conservation and Restoration Section, about their efforts to restore natural areas in one of Florida's most iconic river systems. Helpful Resources FWC Aquatic Habitat Conservation and Restoration Section — Working In The Weeds is a podcast by the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠University of Florida/IFAS Center for Aquatics and Invasive Plants⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. This series connects scientists with stakeholders to clarify and discuss issues surrounding aquatic and invasive plants, while also highlighting the research being conducted at the Center. Do you have topics or questions you would like us to discuss on this podcast? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠caip@ifas.ufl.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For more information and resources, visit our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow UF/IFAS CAIP on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠.

These spindly plants provide vital habitat for marine life, reduce coastal erosion, and absorb carbon pollution. Learn more at https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/ 

What happens when a native becomes a nuisance?

Eelgrass grows on the seabed, 40 metres under the water. it's home to numerous species of fish and other creatures, and it helps the planet's marine ecosystem. Researchers in Gros Morne will be learning a whole lot more about eelgrass over the next three years. The Atlantic Healthy Oceans Initiative and the Ecology Action Centre are doing the work, along with Grenfell Campus, Memorial University. CBC producer Hillary Johnson reached two people involved with the project.

Spoilers, we were on an epic road trip that Theresa had no idea about the final destination. There are amazing stops in Jasper National Park, Valemount, Hope, Chilliwack, Bridal Vail Falls, British Columbia with our final destination being Oak Harbour and Port Townsend, Washington. This is a 4 part series you wont want to miss. The shenanigans start early and only get more intense and scary as the series progresses. Stay tuned for this very special 4 part series on one of the most beautiful places on Earth. 

Oysters' Role in Living ShorelinesOysters can serve as an important environmental solution to shoreline restoration. Oyster reefs can provide habitat for hundreds of marine species, improve water quality (as an adult oyster can filter up to fifty gallons of water a day), and protect against erosion and storm surges. Oysters also help stabilize sediments and wave energy, which reduces coastal erosion and the impacts of sea-level rise.  As filter feeders, oysters help remove excess nutrients from the water and maintain healthy water quality. This ecosystem service is especially important with urban and agricultural run-off entering waterways, as oysters filter excess nitrogen, which can help prevent harmful algal blooms. Oyster restoration is important for conservation as well, as within the past two hundred years nearly 85% of global oyster reefs have been lost from over harvesting, wetland loss, human development, pollution, and other anthropogenic factors. Oyster reefs also serve as natural flood control and sea-level rise solutions, and compared to man-made solutions like seawalls and levees, oyster reefs are more cost-effective and less disruptive to the environment. Oyster reef restoration is now being used for coastlines throughout the US, including New York, Moss Landing, and Newport Beach.Orange County Coastkeeper's ApproachOrange County Coastkeeper has led the shoreline restoration in Newport Beach since 2017, re-introducing both native Olympia oysters and native eelgrass. To build a habitats where Oysters could settle in Upper Newport Bay, Coastkeeper and its volunteers hand-sewed over 500 bags, using coconut coir, to transport 40,000 pounds of Pacific oyster shells. Many of the oyster shells were donated by local restaurants. Coconut coir is a natural fiber, allowing Orange County Coastkeeper to avoid introducing any plastics during the restoration process.  Since the initial restoration, CoastKeeper has been monitoring the restored oyster beds yearly and found signs of healthier and more sustainable coastline. The Orange County Coastkeeper has also worked to restore eelgrass in the Upper Newport Bay. Eelgrass is a shallow coastal seagrass and foundational species, as it provides habitat and food for many juvenile fish, lobsters, and shellfish. Eelgrass has been targeted for restoration because it provides many critical ecosystem services from oxygen production and nutrient cycling, to providing “carbon service”  as it absorbs carbon which helps fight ocean acidification. In 2012, Orange County Coastkeeper worked in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife staff at the Back Bay Science Center to plant 0.3 acres of eelgrass. The goals of their restoration were to increase the diversity or abundance of native species, establish a sustainable eelgrass habitat and restore the economic value of the recreational and commercial fishery in the Bay. The Coastkeeper's efforts have been successful: Upper Newport Bay now has over one acre of eelgrass habitat. Claire Arre is the Orange County Coastkeeper's Marine Restoration Director. In her role, she manages the shoreline restoration program and works to restore the health of Orange County waters. Arre graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and received her Master of Science degree in BIology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. In her free time, Claire volunteers at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium as a Whale Watch naturalist. Additional SourcesOysters Could Be a Solution for Our Sea Level Rise WoesReport: Shellfish Reefs at RiskResearchers in Newport optimistic that eelgrass can reduce carbon and acidity in seawater

Harvester Keith Bowen concerned about mandatory ELOGS; Miawpukek First Nation's Gregory Jeddore and WWF Canada's Chelsea Boaler on mapping eelgrass for Coastal Blue Carbon Habitat project.

Eelgrass

The Barrier Islands Gose is one of four beers the nonprofit Nature Conservancy launched over the weekend for what they call the OktoberForest Virginia Collection.

Scientists have worked in recent decades to restore the type of seagrass, which was wiped out nearly a century ago.

Seagrass is on the decline in the world's oceans, but the Indigenous Comcáac people of northern Mexico have managed to protect 96% of the eelgrass that grows in their waters.

Join us as we discuss the amazing habitat surrounding eelgrass, Zostera marina, with Dalhousie University's Dr. Kristina Boerder and find out my favorite thing to do with it. 

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:17).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesExtra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-4-22.TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 7, 2022.  This revised episode from December 2019 is part of a series this year of winter-related episodes. SOUND – ~ 5 sec. This week, we feature a feathered Virginia winter-resident mystery sound.  Have a listen to the sound for about 10 more seconds, and see if you know a relatively small, dark-colored goose species that migrates from Arctic shores to the mid-Atlantic coast for the winter.  And here's a hint: the name rhymes with migrant.SOUNDS - ~10 sec.If you guessed the Brant, you're right!  From its summer breeding grounds in northern Canada and Greenland, the Brant travels to wintering areas along the Atlantic from Massachusetts to North Carolina, including coastal Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay region.  That's the pathway for eastern sub-populations of the species; westernsub-populations migrate from Arctic parts of Canada and Alaska to the Pacific coastline.One of eight species of geese native to North America, Brant live in a variety of saltwater or estuarine habitats, feeding mostly on a number of kinds of aquatic plants.  In their winter habitats along the Atlantic Coast and around the Chesapeake, they prefer areas where they can feed on Eelgrass [Zostera marina].  Wintering Brant will eat various other aquatic plants, too, especially in response to reduced populations of Eelgrass.  According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, however, Brant are more dependent on a single food type than other geese species, and this dependence can make Brant more vulnerable than other geese to starvation in some years.  Regarding Brant winter feeding, the Cornell Lab notes that severe conditions in eastern North America during the winter of 1976 and 1977 kept Brant from traditional winter habitats for several months.  As a result, Brant that year moved inland to feed in agricultural fields, suburban lawns, and golf courses, and over 40 years later, eastern Brant still forage inland from New York to Virginia. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week's sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  We close with about 40 seconds of music for Brant and other kinds of geese.  Here's “Geese Piece,” by Torrin Hallett, and graduate student at the Yale School of Music. MUSIC - ~43 sec – instrumental.SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 502, 12-9-19, The Brant sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “Geese Piece” is copyright 2016 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio; a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York; and a 2021 graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  He is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of Music.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  This music was previously featured in Virginia Water Radio most recently in Episode 500, 11-25-19.  Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Brant in defensive position in Alaska.  Photo by Tim Bowman, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/4267/rec/1, as of 2-7-22.Brant in Cape Charles, Va. (Northampton County), January 31, 2019.  Photo by Robert Suppa, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20014700(as of 2-7-22) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT BRANT The scientific name of the Brant is Branta bernicla.Here are some points about Brant, excerpted from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Brant/Life History/Brant,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040046&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19030, as of 2-7-22. Physical Description “The adult neck and head are black, except for a broken white crescent on each side of the neck.  The bill is black and the eye is brown.  The chest and foreback are black, sharply defined against the breast and sides.  The back and scapulars are brown with the feathers vaguely tipped with lighter brown.  The rump is dusky brown to dusky, with the sides of the rump white.  The forebreast and sides are pale ashy-gray, and the feathers of the sides are slightly browner, and broadly tipped with white.  The breast, belly and flanks are pale grayish to light grayish-brown.  The feet are black, and the tail is black….” Nesting Habitat and Behavior “This species breeds in Arctic North America, Arctic islands, northern Canada, [and] Greenland off- shore islands, river deltas, marshy uplands, and tundra lakes.  This species is seldom far from the coast.  They use marshy ground, sandy beaches, talus slopes, coastal sedge tundra, lowland coastal tundra just above the high tide line, low islands of tundra lakes and dry inland slopes covered with vegetation, low grass-covered flats dissected by tidal streams, [and] grassy islands and grassy slopes of low mountains near the coast.  The nest site is always in the open, on offshore or lake islands, or on low lying land. …The nest cover is low, thick, grass or sedge mat vegetation.  They nest in colonies. …The nest is initially a depression formed in soggy earth.  Sedges are molded around the scrape and down is later added. …The young are led to tidal flats or pools where they consume quantities of insects as well as grass….” Winter Habitat (of Eastern Sub-populations) “Non-breeding habitat is on the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina.  They are coastal but also occur in lower Chesapeake Bay, the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, Chincoteague Bay, Gargathy Bay, and Accomack County.  Most of the time the 8000 that winter in Virginia are concentrated in Back Bay, [other] bays, tidal flats with abundant pondweed growth, mudflats, …lagoons, estuaries, saltmarshes, islands, …marine habitat, and shallow expanses of saltwater.  They are most abundant on Chesapeake Bay on the barrier beach side of the bays. They may be in shallow areas of brackish water.  They are gregarious, and often form large rafts on open water while feeding and resting.  They rest on sandbars, and roost on banks or on water near the feeding grounds.” Diet “This species forages in water, mud, and fields.  It immerses the head and neck and grazes or up-ends. This species prefers to feed in bays, shallow plant filled waters on the leeward side of barrier islands, spits, and sandbars and grassy fields.  This species feeds at low tide and does not dive. …The juveniles eat insects, grass, larvae, small crustaceans, sedge, marine invertebrates, mosquito larvae, and pondweed.  Eelgrass is the primary food, and they have been recently feeding extensively on sea lettuce due to the destruction of eelgrass beds.   They may also graze on saltmarsh pastures.  Other foods include moss, lichens, algae, sea lettuce, widgeon grass, …sedge, [and other materials]. …Animal foods are taken accidentally and include fish eggs, worms, snails, amphipods, insects, crustaceans, and clams.  When saltmarshes and bays freeze over, they will graze on grass planted in yards.” SOURCES Used for Audio Chesapeake Bay Program, “Eelgrass,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/eelgrass.  Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org; the Brant entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brant/. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home(subscription required); the Brant entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/brant/cur/introduction.  This is the source for the information mentioned in the audio about Brant's dependence on Eelgrass.  Ducks Unlimited, online at https://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/geese. Encyclopedia Britannica, “Brant,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/brant-bird; and “Goose,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/goose-bird. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2001.Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/; the Brant entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040046&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19027. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2020,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODESAll Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds” and “Weather/Climate/Natural Disasters” subject categories.Following are links to several other winter-related episodes, including episodes on some birds that reside in Virginia typically only in winter (listed separately).  Please note that some of these episodes may be redone in early 2022; in those cases, the respective links below will have information on the updated episodes. Frost – Episode 597, 10-4-21.Freezing and ice – Episode 606, 12-6-21 (especially for grades K-3).Ice on ponds and lakes – Episode 404, 1-22-18 (especially for grades 4-8).Ice on rivers – Episode 406, 2-5-18 (especially for middle school grades).Polar Plunge® for Special Olympics – Episode 356, 2-20-17.Snow physics and chemistry – Episode 407, 2-12-18 (especially for high school grades).Snow, sleet, and freezing rain – Episode 613, 1-24-22.Snow terms – Episode 612, 1-17-22.Surviving freezing – Episode 556, 12-21-20.Winter precipitation and water supplies – Episode 567, 3-8-21.Winter weather preparedness – Episode 605, 11-29-21.Water thermodynamics – Episode 610, 1-3-22. Bird-related Episodes for Winter Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count – Episode 607, 12-13-21.American Avocet – Episode 543, 9-21-20.Canvasback (duck) – Episode 604, 11-22-21.Common Goldeneye (duck) – Episode 303, 2/15/16.Green-winged Teal (duck) – Episode 398, 12-11-17.Grebes (Horned and Red-necked) – Episode 233, 9-29-14.Loons – Episode 445, 11-5-18.Fall migration – Episode 603, 11-15-21.Northern Harrier – Episode 561, 1-25-21.Snow Goose – Episode 507, 1/13/20.Tundra Swan – Episode 554, 12-7-20.Winter birds sampler from the Chesapeake Bay area – Episode 565, 2-22-21. Following are other music pieces composed by Torrin Hallett for Virginia Water Radio, with episodes featuring the music. “A Little Fright Music” – used most recenlty in Episode 601, 10-31-21, on connections among Halloween, water, and the human body.“Beetle Ballet” – used in Episode 525, 5-18-20, on aquatic beetles.“Chesapeake Bay Ballad” – used most recently in Episode 604, 11-22-21, on Canvasback ducks.“Corona Cue” – used in Episode 517, 3-23-20, on the coronavirus pandemic.“Flow Stopper” – used in Episode 599, 10-18-21, on “Imagine a Day Without Water.”“Ice Dance” – used most recently in Episode 606, 12-6-21, on freezing of water.“Lizard Lied” – used in Episode 514, 3-2-20, on lizards.“New Year's Water” – used most recently in Episode 610, 1-3-22, on water thermodynamics and a New Year's Day New River wade-in.“Rain Refrain” – used most recently in Episode 559, 1-11-21, on record rainfall in 2020.“Runoff” – used in Episode 585, 7-12-21, on middle schoolers calling out stormwater-related water words.“Spider Strike” – used in Episode 523, 5-4-20, on fishing spiders.“Tropical Tantrum” – used most recently in Episode 580, 6-7-21, on the 2021 Atlantic tropical storm season preview.“Tundra Swan Song – used in Episode 554, 12-7-20, on Tundra Swans.“Turkey Tune” – used in Episode 343, 11-21-16, on the Wild Turkey. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode's audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLsSOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”2018 Science SOLs Grades K-4: Living Systems and Processes 1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. 2.4 – Plants and animals undergo a series of orderly changes as they grow and develop, including life cycles. 2.5 – Living things are part of a system. 3.4 – Adaptations allow organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment. Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems K.9 – There are patterns in nature. 1.7 – There are weather and seasonal changes. 2.7 – Weather patterns and seasonal changes affect plants, animals, and their surroundings. 4.4 – Weather conditions and climate have effects on ecosystems and can be predicted. Grades K-5: Earth Resources 3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems. 4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. Grade 6 6.8 – Land and water have roles in watershed systems, including the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Life Science LS.7 – Adaptations support an organism's survival in an ecosystem. LS.8 – Change occurs in ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms over time. Biology BIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations, communities, and ecosystems. Virginia's SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/. Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels (* indicates episode listed above in the “Related Water Radio Episodes” section). Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade. Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.*Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.*Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.*Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia's water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.*Episode 606, 12-6-21 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.

January 11, 2022--Hosts Tim Bray and Bob Spies interview Dr. Katheryn Beheshti, recently of the Ocean Protection Council and now Research Assitant with the University of California, Santa Barbara. If you kayak the coastal estuaries of the Albion River or Big River you may notice patches of Eelgrass growing under the water. Dr. Baheshti explains what Eelgrass is, how it's adapted for life under salt water, and why it's a key component of the nearshore marine ecosystem.

A massive effort to clean up the Chesapeake Bay faces more problems with a hotter, stormier world because of climate change.

Erin Foster of the Hakai Institute discusses her latest research, and the role sea otters play in helping a marine plant prosper.

Eelgrass isn't just for eels! It's also a carbon sink, and provides habitat for young lobster. The Ecology Action Centre wants residents to participate in mapping eelgrass along Nova Scotia's coasts.

Eelgrass is one of only a handful of flowering plants that can live submerged full-time in salt water. It's an important habitat for small fish, shrimp, and all sizes of crabs. In this episode, John Page shares the story of a young family's first experience investigating the wonders of eelgrass beds and their importance to the Chesapeake Bay. https://www.cbf.org/news-media/multimedia/podcasts/chesapeake-almanac/transcript-eelgrass-carpet-of-life-podcast.html (Transcript) For more on topics touched upon in this episode, see June's For https://www.cbf.org/news-media/multimedia/podcasts/chesapeake-almanac/transcript-soft-crabbers-podcast.html (Soft Crabbers, Summer Is a Busy Season); https://www.cbf.org/about-cbf/locations/virginia/facilities/fox-island-environmental-education-center.html (Fox Island). Please rate and review, it really helps us to spread these seasonal stories to new listeners. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or visit our single subscription page at https://chesapeake-almanac.captivate.fm/listen (https://chesapeake-almanac.captivate.fm/listen) Chesapeake Almanac is provided by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation - Saving the Bay through Education, Advocacy, Litigation, and Restoration. Find out more at https://www.cbf.org (cbf.org). These readings are from John Page Williams, Jr.'s book, Chesapeake Almanac: Following the Bay through the Seasons. The publication is available in print at Amazon.com. Content copyright © John Page Williams, Jr. All rights reserved. Support this podcast

Dan is talking about the magnificent eelgrass in this episode.

In this episode of Salmon Matter, Nikki Wright, the Executive Director of the SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, gives an overview this project, supported by the Pacific Salmon Foundation's Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, and why the work they do is essential.

You Inside Me by Tori Curtis   It'll be fun, he'd said. Everyone's doing it. You don't have to be looking for romance, it's just a good way to meet people. "I don't think it's about romance at all," Sabella said. She wove her flower crown into her braids so that the wire skeleton was hidden beneath strands of hair. "I think if you caught a congressman doing this, he'd have to resign." "That's 'cause we've never had a vampire congressman," Dedrick said. He rearranged her so that her shoulders fell from their habitual place at her ears, her chin pointed up, and snapped photos of her. "Step forward a little—there, you look more like yourself in that light."     Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode 57 for May 21st, 2018. This is your host, Keffy, and I'm super excited to share this story with you. GlitterShip is now part of the Audible afflilate program. What this means is that just by listening to GlitterShip, you are eligible to get a free audio book and 30 day trial at Audible to check out the service. If you're looking for more queer science fiction to listen to, there's a full audio book available of the Lightspeed Magazine "Queers Destroy Science Fiction" special issue, featuring stories by a large number of queer authors, including  John Chu, Chaz Brenchley, Rose Lemberg, and many others. To download a free audiobook today, go to http://www.audibletrial.com/GlitterShip and choose an excellent book to listen to, whether that’s "Queers Destroy Science Fiction" or something else entirely. Today I have a story and a poem for you. The poem is "Dionysus in London" by Tristan Beiter. Tristan Beiter is a student at Swarthmore College studying English Literature and Gender and Sexuality Studies. He loves reading poetry and speculative fiction, some of his favorite books being The Waste Land, HD’s Trilogy, Mark Doty’s Atlantis, Frances Hardinge’s Gullstruck Island, and Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles. When not reading or writing, he can usually be found crafting absurdities with his boyfriend or yelling about literary theory.   Dionysus in London by Tristan Beiter   The day exploded, you know. Last night a womanwith big bouffant hair toldme, “Show me a storywhere the daughter runs into a stopsign and it literally turns into a white flower.” I fail to describea total eclipse and the throneof petrified wood sankinto the lakebed. James made love to Buckinghamwhile I pulled the honeysuckleto me, made a flower crown forthe leopards flanking mewhile I watched redand white invert themselves, whitepetals pushing from the center of the signas the post wilted until allthat remained was a giant lotuson the storm grate waitingto rot or wash away. I let it stay there while the Scottishking hid behind the Scottish playand walked behind me, one eye outfor the mark left when locked in.You go witchy in there—or at leastyou—or he, or I—learn to be afraidof the big coats and brassbuttons, like the ones in every hallcloset; you never know if they will turn,like yours, into bats and bugs and gianttarantulas made from wire hangers. The woman showed meour reflections in the shop windowwhile one or the otherman in the palace polishedthe silver for his lover’s tableand asked me whoI loved; I decidedon the creamlinen, since the woolwas too close to the pea coatthat hung by your door.I suppose that the catis under the car; that’s probably where it fled toas we walked, knowingwe already found thatthe ivy in your hair was artificialas the bacchanal, or yourevasion, Sire, of the question(and of the serpents who are wellworth the welloffered to them with the wet waxon my crown). I suppose the car is under the cat,in which case it must be a very largecat, or else a very small car.I eat your teeth. I see brilliantine teeth floatingin her thick red lipstick. Jamestears apart the rhododendronchattering (about) his incisorsand remembering the fleshand—nothing so exoticas a Sphinx, maybe a dustmote or lip-marksleft on the large leather chaise.Teeth gleam from the shadowswhere I wait, thyrsusraised with the conealmost touching the roofof the forest, to drown in a peacockas it swallows (chimneyswifts?) the sun—orwas it son—or maybe it wasjust a grape I fed it soit would eat the spiderscrawling from the closet.It struts across the palace greenlike it owns the place, likeit will replace the hunting-grounds with fields of stragglingmint that the kingwould never ask for. The woman teasesup her hair before the mirror, fillingthe restroom with hairsprayand big laughs before walking backinto the restaurant, where wewait to make ourselvesover—the way the throne didwhen the wood crumbled under thepressure of an untold story,leaving nothing but crystals and dust. We argued for an hour overwhether to mix leaves andflowers, plants and gems,before settling on fourcrowns, one for each of us. Her hair mostly covers hers.The cats will love it though,playing with teeththat were knocked into your winein the barfight (why did youorder wine in a placelike that, Buck?) and yougot replaced with gold, like Iwear woven in my braidsas the sun sets on the daughterthat, unsurprisingly, noneof us have. But if we did, she would turn yieldsigns into dahlias andthat would be the signto move on with the leopardsand their flashing teeth andbrass eyes and listen.To the walls and rivers,to the sculpture that is farwhiter than me falling. Andto the peacock which has justeaten another bug so you don’t have tokill it. Get yourself a dresserand cover it with white enamelit’ll hold up, and no insectslive in dressers. Keep the ivy and the pineconein a mother-of-pearl trinket boxwith your plastic volumizing hairinserts and jeweled combs.And put a cat and dolphinon it, to remember.     Next, our short story this episode is "You Inside Me" by Tori Curtis Tori Curtis writes speculative fiction with a focus on LGBT and disability issues. She is the author of one novel, Eelgrass, and a handful of short stories. You can find her at toricurtiswrites.com and on Twitter at @tcurtfish, where she primarily tweets about how perfect her wife is. CW: For descriptions of traumatic surgery.       You Inside Me by Tori Curtis   It'll be fun, he'd said. Everyone's doing it. You don't have to be looking for romance, it's just a good way to meet people. "I don't think it's about romance at all," Sabella said. She wove her flower crown into her braids so that the wire skeleton was hidden beneath strands of hair. "I think if you caught a congressman doing this, he'd have to resign." "That's 'cause we've never had a vampire congressman," Dedrick said. He rearranged her so that her shoulders fell from their habitual place at her ears, her chin pointed up, and snapped photos of her. "Step forward a little—there, you look more like yourself in that light." He took fifteen minutes to edit her photos ("they'll expect you to use a filter, so you might as well,") and pop the best ones on her profile. Suckr: the premier dating app for vampires and their fanciers. "It's like we're cats," she said. "I heard you like cats," he agreed, and she sighed.     Hi, I'm Sabella. I've been a vampire since I was six years old, and I do not want to see or be seen by humans. I'm excited to meet men and women between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five. "That's way too big of an age range," Dedrick said. "You want to be compatible with these people." "Yeah, compatible. Like my tissue type." "You don't want to end up flirting with a grandpa." I'm excited to meet men and women between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. I'm most proud of my master's degree. You should message me if you're brave and crazy.     It took days, not to mention Dedrick’s exasperated return, before she went back on Suckr. She paced up the beautiful wood floors of her apartment, turning on heel at the sole window on the long end and the painted-over cast-iron radiator on the short. When she felt too sick to take care of herself, her mom came over and put Rumors on, wrapped her in scarves that were more pretty than functional, warmed some blood and gave it to her in a sippy cup. Sabella remembered nothing so much as the big Slurpees her mom had bought her, just this bright red, when she’d had strep the last year she was human. She wore the necklace Dedrick had given her every day. It was a gold slice of pepperoni pizza with “best” emblazoned on the back (his matched, but read “friends,”), and she fondled it like a hangnail. She rubbed the bruises on her arms, where the skin had once been clear and she'd once thought herself pretty in a plain way, like Elinor Dashwood, as though she might be able to brush off the dirt. She called her daysleeper friends, texted acquaintances, and slowly stopped responding to their messages as she realized how bored she was of presenting hope day after day.     2:19:08 bkissedrose: I'm so sorry. 2:19:21 bkissedrose: I feel like such a douche 2:19:24 sabellasay: ??? 2:20:04 sabellasay: what r u talkin about 2:25:56 bkissedrose: u talked me down all those times I would've just died 2:26:08 sabellasay: it was rly nbd 2:26:27 bkissedrose: I've never been half as good as you are 2:26:48 bkissedrose: and now you're so sick 2:29:12 sabellasay: dude stop acting like i'm dying 2:29:45 sabellasay: I can't stand it 2:30:13 bkissedrose: god you're so brave   (sabellasay has become inactive)     "Everyone keeps calling me saying you stopped talking to them," Dedrick said when he made it back to her place, shoes up on the couch now that he'd finally wiped them of mud. "Should I feel lucky you let me in?" "I'm tired," she said. "It's supposed to be a symptom. I like this one, I think she has potential." He took her phone and considered it with the weight of a father researching a car seat. "A perfect date: I take you for a ride around the lake on my bike, then we stop home for an evening snack." "She means her motorcycle," Sabella clarified. He rolled his eyes and continued reading. "My worst fear: commitment." "At least she's honest." "That's not really a good thing. You're not looking for someone to skip out halfway through the movie." "No, I'm looking for someone who's not going to be heartbroken when I die anyway." Dedrick sighed, all the air going out of his chest as it might escape from dough kneaded too firmly, and held her close to him. "You're stupid," he told her, "but so sweet." "I think I'm going to send her a nip."     The girl was named Ash but she spelled it A-I-S-L-I-N-G, and she seemed pleased that Sabella knew enough not to ask lots of stupid questions. They met in a park by the lakeside, far enough from the playground that none of the parents would notice the fanged flirtation going on below. If Aisling had been a boy, she would have been a teen heartthrob. She wore her hair long where it was slicked back and short (touchable, but hard to grab in a fight) everywhere else. She wore a leather jacket that spoke of a once-in-a-lifetime thrift store find, and over the warmth of her blood and her breath she smelled like bag balm. Sabella wanted to hide in her arms from a fire. She wanted to watch her drown trying to save her. Aisling parked her motorcycle and stowed her helmet before coming over to say hi—gentlemanly, Sabella thought, to give her a chance to prepare herself. “What kind of scoundrel left you to wait all alone?” Aisling asked, with the sort of effortlessly cool smile that might have broken a lesser woman’s heart. “I don’t know,” Sabella said, “but I’m glad you’re here now.” Aisling stepped just inside her personal space and frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude,” she said, “but are you—" “I’m trans, yes,” Sabella interrupted, and smiled so wide she could feel the tension at her temples. Like doing sit-ups the wrong way for years, having this conversation so many times hadn’t made it comfortable, only routine. “We don’t need to be awkward about it.” “Okay,” Aisling agreed, and sat on the bench, helping Sabella down with a hand on her elbow. “I meant that you seem sick.” She looked uneasy, and Sabella sensed that she had never been human. Vampires didn’t get sick—she had probably never had more than a headache, and that only from hunger. “Yes,” Sabella said. “I am sick. I’m not actually—I mentioned this on my profile—I’m not actually looking for love.” “I hope you won’t be too disappointed when it finds you,” Aisling said, and Sabella blushed, reoriented herself with a force like setting a bone, like if she tried hard enough to move in one direction she’d stop feeling like a spinning top. “I’m looking for a donor,” she said. “Yeah, all right,” Aisling said. She threw her arm over the back of the bench so that Sabella felt folded into her embrace. “I’m always willing to help a pretty girl out.” “I don’t just mean your blood,” she said, and felt herself dizzy.     It was easier for Sabella to convince someone to do something than it was for her to ask for it. Her therapist had told her that, and even said it was common, but he hadn’t said how to fix it. “Please, may I have your liver” was too much to ask, and “Please, I don’t want to die” was a poor argument. “So, you would take my liver—" “It would actually only be part of your liver,” Sabella said, stopping to catch her breath. She hadn’t been able to go hiking since she’d gotten so sick—she needed company, and easy trails, and her friends either didn’t want to go or, like her mom, thought it was depressing to watch her climb a hill and have to stop to spit up bile. “So we would each have half my liver, in the end.” Sabella shrugged and looked into the dark underbrush. If she couldn’t be ethical about this, she wouldn’t deserve a liver. She wouldn’t try to convince Aisling until she understood the facts. “In humans, livers will regenerate once you cut them in half and transplant them. Like how kids think if you cut an earthworm in half, you get two. Or like bulbs. Ideally, it would go like that.” “And if it didn’t go ideally?” (“Turn me,” Dedrick said one day, impulsively, when she’d been up all night with a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop, holding her in his lap with his shirt growing polka-dotted. “I’ll be a vampire in a few days, we can have the surgery—you’ll be cured in a week.”) “If it doesn’t go ideally,” Sabella said, “one or both of us dies. If it goes poorly, I don’t even know what happens.” She stepped off the tree and set her next target, a curve in the trail where a tree had fallen and the light shone down on the path. Normally these days she didn’t wear shoes but flip-flops, but this was a date, and she’d pulled her old rainbow chucks out of the closet. Aisling walked with her silently, keeping pace, and put an arm around her waist. Sabella looked up and down the trail. Green Lake was normally populated enough that people kept to their own business, and these days she felt pretty safe going about, even with a girl. But she checked anyway before she leaned into Ais’s strength, letting her guide them so that she could use all her energy to keep moving. “But if it doesn’t happen at all, you die no matter what?” Sabella took a breath. “If you don’t want to, I look for someone else.”     Her mom was waiting for her when Sabella got home the next morning. Sabella’s mother was naturally blonde, tough when she needed to be, the sort of woman who could get into hours-long conversations with state fair tchotchke vendors. She’d gotten Sabella through high school and into college through a careful application of stamping and yelling. When Sabella had started calling herself Ravynn, she’d brought a stack of baby name books home and said, “All right, let’s find you something you can put on a resume.” “Mom,” she said, but smiling, “I gave you a key in case I couldn’t get out of bed, not so you could check if I spent the night with a date.” “How’d it go? Was this the girl Dedrick helped you find?” “Aisling, yeah,” Sabella said. She sat on the recliner, a mountain of accent pillows cushioning her tender body. “It was good. I like her a lot.” “Did she decide to get the surgery?” “I don’t know. I didn’t ask her to choose.” “Then what did you two do all night?” Sabella frowned. “I like her a lot. We had a good time.” Her mom stood and put the kettle on, and Sabella couldn’t help thinking what an inconvenience she was, that her mother couldn’t fret over her by making toast and a cup of tea. “Christ, what decent person would want to do that with you?” “We have chemistry! She’s very charming!” She examined Sabella with the dissatisfied air of an artist. “You’re a mess, honey. You’re so orange you could be a jack-o-lantern, and swollen all over. You look like you barely survived a dogfight. I don’t even see my daughter when I look at you anymore.” Sabella tried to pull herself together, to look more dignified, but instead she slouched further into the recliner and crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe she thinks I’m funny, or smart.” “Maybe she’s taking advantage. Anyone who really cared about you wouldn’t be turned on, they’d be worried about your health.” Sabella remembered the look on Aisling’s face when she’d first come close enough to smell her, and shuddered. “I’m not going to ask her to cut out part of her body for me without thinking about it first,” she said. “Without giving her something in return?" her mom asked. "It's less than two pounds." “But it’s still her choice,” Sabella said. “I’m starting to wonder if you even want to live,” her mom said, and left. Sabella found the energy to go turn off the stovetop before she fell asleep. (Her mother had raised her responsible.)     12:48:51 bkissedrose: what happens to a dream bestowed 12:49:03 bkissedrose: upon a girl too weak to fight for it? 12:53:15 sabellasay: haha you can’t sleep either? 12:53:38 sabellasay: babe idk 12:55:43 sabellasay: is it better to have loved and lost 12:56:29 sabellasay: than to die a virgin? 1:00:18 bkissedrose: I guess I don’t know 1:01:24 bkissedrose: maybe it depends if they're good     “It’s nice here,” Aisling confessed the third time they visited the lake. Sabella and her mom weren’t talking, but she couldn’t imagine it would last more than a few days longer, so she wasn’t worried. “I’d never even heard of it.” “I grew up around here,” Sabella said, “and I used to take my students a few times a year." “You teach?” “I used to teach,” she said, and stepped off the trail—the shores were made up of a gritty white sand like broken shells—to watch the sinking sun glint off the water. “Seventh grade science.” Aisling laughed. “That sounds like a nightmare.” “I like that they’re old enough you can do real projects with them, but before it breaks off into—you know, are we doing geology or biology or physics. When you’re in seventh grade, everything is science.” She smiled and closed her eyes so that she could feel the wind and the sand under her shoes. She could hear birds settling and starting to wake, but she couldn’t place them. “They’ve got a long-term sub now. Theoretically, if I manage to not die, I get my job back.” Aisling came up behind her and put her arms around her. Sabella knew she hadn’t really been weaving—she knew her limits well enough now, she hoped—but she felt steadier that way. “You don’t sound convinced.” “I don’t think they expect to have to follow through,” Sabella admitted. “Sometimes I think I’m the only one who ever thinks I’m going to survive this. My mom’s so scared all the time, I know she doesn’t.” Aisling held her not tight but close, like being tucked into a bright clean comforter on a cool summer afternoon. “Can I ask you a personal question?” she said, her face up against Sabella’s neck so that every part of Sabella wanted her to bite. “Maybe,” she said, then thought better of it. “Yes.” “How’d you get sick? I didn’t think we could catch things like that. Or was it while you were human?” “Um, no, but I’m not contagious, just nasty.” Aisling laughed, and she continued, encouraged. “Mom would, you know, once I came out I could do pretty much whatever I wanted, but she wouldn’t let me get any kind of reconstructive surgery until I was eighteen. She thought it was creepy, some doc getting his hands all over her teenage kid.” “Probably fair.” “So I’m eighteen, and she says okay, you’re right, you got good grades in school and you’re going to college like I asked, I'll pay for whatever surgery you want. And you have to imagine, I just scheduled my freshman orientation, I have priorities." "Which are?" "Getting laid, mostly." “Yeah, I remember that.” “So I’m eighteen and hardly ever been kissed, I’m not worried about the details. I don’t let my mom come with me, it doesn’t even occur to me to see a doctor who’s worked with vampires before, I just want to look like Audrey Hepburn's voluptuous sister.” “Oh no,” Ash said. It hung there for a moment, the dread and Sabella’s not being able to regret that she’d been so stupid. “It must have come up.” “Sure. He said he was pretty sure it would be possible to do the surgery on a vampire, he knew other surgeries had been done. I was just so excited he didn’t say no.” Ash held her tight then, like she might be dragged away otherwise, and Sabella knew that it had nothing to do with her in particular, that it was only the protective instinct of one person watching another live out her most plausible nightmare. “What did he do to you?” “It wasn’t his fault,” she said, and then—grimacing, she knew her mother would have been so angry with her—“at least, he didn’t mean anything by it. He never read anything about how to adapt the procedure to meet my needs.” She sounded so clinical, like she’d imbibed so many doctors’ explanations of what had happened that she was drunk on it. “But neither did I. We both found out you can’t give vampires a blood transfusion.” "Why would you need to?" She shrugged. "You don't, usually, in plastic surgery." "No," Aisling interrupted, "I mean, why wouldn't you drink it?" Sabella tried to remember, or tried not to be able to, and tucked her cold hands into her pockets. "You're human, I guess. Anyway, I puked all over him and the incision sites, had to be hospitalized. My doctor says I'm lucky I'm such a good healer, or I'd need new boobs and a new liver." They were both quiet, and Sabella thought, this is it. You either decide it's too much or you kiss me again. She thought, I miss getting stoned with friends and telling shitty surgery stories and listening to them laugh. I hate that when I meet girls their getting-to-know-you involves their Youtube make-up tutorials and mine involves "and then, after they took the catheter out..." "Did you sue for malpractice, at least?" Ash asked, and Sabella couldn't tell without looking if her tone was teasing or wistful. "My mom did, yeah. When they still wanted her to pay for the damn surgery."     Aisling pulled up to the front of Sabella's building and stopped just in front of her driveway. She kicked her bike into park and stepped onto the sidewalk, helping Sabella off and over the curbside puddle. Sabella couldn't find words for what she was thinking, she was so afraid that her feelings would shatter as they crystallized. She wanted Ais to brush her hair back from her face and comb out the knots with her fingers. She wanted Ais to stop by to shovel the drive when there was lake effect snow. She wanted to find 'how to minimize jaundice' in the search history of Aisling's phone. “You’re beautiful in the sunlight,” Ais said, breaking her thoughts, maybe on purpose. “Like you were made to be outside.” Sabella ducked her head and leaned up against her. The date was supposed to be over, go inside and let this poor woman get on with her life, but she didn’t want to leave. “It’s nice to have someone to go with me,” she said. “Especially with a frost in the air. Sometimes people act like I’m so fragile.” “Ridiculous. You’re a vampire.” Her ears were cold, and she pressed them against Aisling’s jawbone. She wondered what the people driving past thought when they saw them. She thought that maybe the only thing better than surviving would be to die a tragic death, loved and loyally attended. “I was born human.” “Even God makes mistakes.” Sabella smiled. “Is that what I am? A mistake?” “Nah,” she said. “Just a happy accident.” Sabella laughed, thought you're such a stoner and I feel so safe when you look at me like that. "I'll do it," Ais said.  "What do I have to do to set up the surgery?" Sabella hugged her tight, hid against her and counted the seconds—one, two, three, four, five—while Ais didn't change her mind and Sabella wondered if she would.     "I have to stress how potentially dangerous this is," Dr. Young said. "I can't guarantee that it will work, that either of you will survive the procedure or the recovery, or that you won't ultimately regret it." Aisling was holding it together remarkably well, Sabella thought, but she still felt like she could catch her avoiding eye contact. Sabella had taken the seat in the doctor's office between her mother and girlfriend, and felt uncomfortable and strange no matter which of their hands she held. "Um," Ais said, and Sabella could feel her mother's judgment at her incoherence, "you said you wouldn't be able to do anything for the pain?" To her credit, the doctor didn't fidget or look away. Sabella, having been on the verge of death long enough to become something of a content expert, believed that it was important to have a doctor who was upfront about how terrible her life was. "I wouldn't describe it as 'nothing,' exactly," she said. "There aren't any anesthetics known to work on vampires, but we'll make you as comfortable as possible. You can feed immediately before and as soon as you're done, and that will probably help snow you over." "Being a little blood high," Ais clarified. "While you cut out my liver." "Yes." Sabella wanted to apologize. She couldn't find the words. Aisling said, "Well, while we're trying to make me comfortable, can I smoke up, too?" Dr. Young laughed. It wasn't cruel, but it wasn't promising, either. "That's not a terrible idea," she said, "but marijuana increases bleeding, and there are so many unknown variables here that I'd like to stick to best practices if we can." "I can just—" Sabella said, and choked. She wasn't sure when she'd started crying. "Find someone else. Dedrick will do it, I know." Aisling considered this. The room was quiet, soft echoes on the peeling tile floor. Sabella's mother put an arm around her, and she felt tiny, but in the way that made her feel ashamed and not protected. Aisling said, "Why are you asking me? Is there something you know that I don't?" Dr. Young shook her head. "I promise we're not misrepresenting the procedure," she said. "And theoretically, it might be possible with any vampire. But there aren't a lot of organ transplants in the literature—harvesting, sure, but not living transplants—and I want to get it right the first time. If we have a choice, I told Sabella I'd rather use a liver from a donor who was born a vampire. I think it'll increase our chance of success." "A baby'd be too weak," Aisling agreed. Her voice was going hard and theoretical. "Well, tell me something encouraging." "One of the first things we'll do is to cut through almost all of your abdominal nerves, so that will help. And there's a possibility that the experience will be so intense that you don't remember it clearly, or at all." Sabella's mother took a shaky breath, and Sabella wished, hating herself for it, that she hadn't come. Ais said, "Painful. You mean, the experience will be so painful." "If you choose to go forward with it," Dr. Young said, "we'll do everything we can to mitigate that."     Sabella had expected that Aisling would want space and patience while she decided not to die a horrible, painful death to save her. It was hard to tell how instead they ended up in her bed with the lights out, their legs wound together and their faces swollen with sleep. Sabella was shaking, and couldn’t have said why. Ais grabbed her by her seat and pulled her up close. “You said you couldn’t get me sick?” she asked. “No,” Sabella agreed. “Although my blood is probably pretty toxic.” Ais kissed her, the smell of car exhaust still stuck in her hair. “What a metaphor,” she murmured, and lifted her chin. “You look exhausted.” Sabella thought, Are you saying what I think you’re saying? and, That’s a terrible idea, and said, “God, I want to taste you.” “Well, baby,” Ais said, and her hands were on Sabella so she curled her lips and blew her hair out of her eyes, “that’s what I’m here for.” Sabella had been human once, and she remembered what food was like. The standard lie, that drinking blood was like eating a well-cooked steak, was wrong but close enough to staunch the flow of an interrogation. (She’d had friends and exes, turned as adults, who said it was like a good stout on tap, hefty and refreshing, but she thought they might just be trying to scandalize her.) Ais could have been a stalk of rhubarb or August raspberries. She moved under Sabella and held her so that their knees pressed together. She could have been the thrill of catching a fat thorny toad in among the lettuce at dusk, or a paper wasp in a butterfly net. She felt like getting tossed in the lake in January; she tasted like being wrapped in fleece and gently dried before the fire; her scent was what Sabella remembered of collapsing, limbs aquiver, on the exposed bedrock of a mountaintop, nothing but crushed pine and the warmth of a moss-bed. She woke on top of Ais, licking her wounds lazily—she wanted more, but she was too tired to do anything about it. “That’s better,” Ais whispered, and if she was disappointed that this wasn’t turning into a frenzy, she didn’t show it. They were quiet for long enough that the haze started to fade, and then Aisling said, “I couldn’t ask in front of your mother, but was it like that with your surgery? They couldn’t do anything for the pain?” Sabella shifted uncomfortably, rolled over next to Ais. “I was conscious, yes.” “Do you remember it?” It was a hard question. She wanted to say it wasn’t her place to ask. She tried to remember, and got caught up in the layers of exhaustion, the spaces between the body she’d had, the body she’d wanted, and what they had been doing to her. “Sounds and sensations and thoughts, mostly,” she said. Ais choked, and said, “So, everything,” and Sabella realized—she didn’t know how she hadn’t—how scared she must be. “No, it’s blurry,” she said instead. “I remember, um, the tugging at my chest. I kept thinking there was no way my skin wasn’t just going to split open. And the scraping sounds. They’ve got all these tools, and they’re touching you on the inside and the outside at the same time, and that’s very unsettling. And this man, I think he was the PA, standing over me saying, ‘You’ve got to calm down, honey.’” “Were you completely freaking out?” Ais asked. Sabella shook her head. Her throat hurt. “No. I mean—I cried a little. Not as much as you’d think. They said if I wasn’t careful, you know, with swallowing at the right times and breathing steady, they might mess up reshaping my larynx and I could lose my voice.” Ais swore, and Sabella wondered if she would feel angry. (Sometimes she would scream and cry, say, can you imagine doing that to an eighteen-year-old?) Right now she was just tired. “How did you manage?” “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I think just, it was worth more to me to have it done than anything else. So I didn’t ever tell them to stop.”     “Please don’t go around telling people I think this is an acceptable surgical set-up,” Dr. Young said, looking around the exam room. It reminded Sabella of a public hearing, the way the stakeholders sat at opposing angles and frowned at each other. Dr. Young sat next to Dr. Park, who would be the second doctor performing the procedure. Sabella had never met Dr. Park before, and her appearance—young, mostly—didn’t inspire confidence. Sabella sat next to her mother, who held her hand and a clipboard full of potential complications. Ais crossed her fingers in her lap, sat with a nervous child’s version of polite interest. Time seemed not to blur, but to stutter, everything happening whenever. “Dr. Park,” Sabella’s mother said, “do you have any experience operating on vampires?” Dr. Park grinned and her whole mouth seemed to open up in her face, her gums pale pink as a Jolly Rancher and her left fang chipped. “Usually trauma or obstetrics,” she admitted. “Although this is nearly the same thing.” “I’m serious,” Sabella’s mom said, and Sabella interrupted. “I like her,” she said. And then—it wasn’t really a question except in the sense that there was no way anyone could be sure—“You’re not going to realize halfway through the surgery that it’s too much for you?” Dr. Park laughed. “I turned my husband when we were both eighteen,” she said as testament to her cruelty. Sabella’s mom jumped. “Jesus Christ, why?” She shrugged, languid. Ais and Dr. Young were completely calm; Ais might have had no frame of reference for what it was like to watch someone turn, and Dr. Young had probably heard this story before. “His parents didn’t like that he was dating a vampire. You’ll do crazy things for love.” Sabella could see her mother blanch even as she steadied. It wasn’t unheard of for a vampire to turn their spouse—less common now that it was easier to live as a vampire, and humans were able to date freely but not really commit. But she could remember being turned, young as she had been: the gnawing ache, the hallucinations, the thirst that had only sometimes eclipsed the pain. It was still the worst thing that she’d ever experienced, and she was sure her mother couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to do it to someone they loved. “Good,” she said. “You won’t turn back if we scream.” Dr. Young frowned. “I want you to know you have a choice,” she said. She was speaking to Ais; Sabella had a choice, too, but it was only between one death and another. “There will be a point when you can’t change your mind, but by then it’ll be almost over.” Ais swore. It made Dr. Park smile and Sabella’s mom frown. Sabella wondered if she was in love with her, or if it was impossible to be in love with someone who was growing a body for them to share. “Don’t say that,” Ais said. “I don’t want to have that choice.”     The morning of the surgery, Aisling gave Sabella a rosary to wear with her pizza necklace, and when they kicked Sabella’s mom out to the waiting room, she kissed them both as she went. “I like your mom,” Ais said shyly. They lay in cots beside each other, just close enough that they could reach out and hold hands across the gap. “I bet she’d get along with mine.” Sabella laughed, her eyes stinging, threw herself across the space between them and kissed each of Ais’s knuckles while Ais said, “Aw, c’mon, save it ‘til we get home.” “Isn’t that a lot of commitment for you?” Sabella asked. “Yeah, well,” Ais said, caught, and gave her a cheesy smile. “You’re already taking my liver, at least my heart won’t hurt so much.” They drank themselves to gorging while nurses wrapped and padded them in warm blankets. Ais was first, for whatever measure of mercy that was, and while they were wheeled down the dizzying white hallway, she grinned at Sabella, wild, some stranger’s blood staining her throat to her nose. “You’re a real looker,” she said, and Sabella laughed over her tears. “Thank you,” Sabella said. “I mean, really, for everything.” Ais winked at her; Sabella wanted to run away from all of this and drink her in until they died. “It’s all in a day’s work, ma’am,” she said. It wasn’t, it couldn’t have been, and Sabella loved her for pretending. Ais hissed, she cried, she asked intervention of every saint learned in K-12 at a Catholic school. A horrible gelatinous noise came as Dr. Young’s gloves touched her innards, and Ais moaned and Sabella said, “You have to stop, this is awful,” and the woman assigned to supervise her held her down and said hush, honey, you need to be quiet. And the doctors’ voices, neither gentle nor unkind: We’re almost done now, Aisling, you’re being so brave. And: It’s a pity she’s too strong to pass out. Sabella went easier, hands she couldn’t see wiping her down and slicing her open while Dr. Park pulled Ais’s insides back together. She’d been scared for so long that the pain didn’t frighten her; she kept asking “Is she okay? What’s happening?” until the woman at her head brushed back her hair and said shh, she’s in the recovery room, you can worry about yourself now. It felt right, fixing her missteps with pieces of Ais, and when Dr. Young said, “There we go, just another minute and you can go take care of her yourself,” Sabella thought about meromictic lakes, about stepping into a body so deep its past never touched its present. END     "Dionysus in London" is copyright Tristan Beiter 2018. "You Inside Me" is copyright Tori Curtis 2018. This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library. You can support GlitterShip by checking out our Patreon at patreon.com/keffy, subscribing to our feed, or by leaving reviews on iTunes. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back soon with a reprint of "The City of Kites and Crows" by Megan Arkenberg.  

Joe Tyburczy is a marine ecologist with the California Sea Grant Extension who is studying the effects of eelgrass on ocean acidification. Joe and his colleagues are examining eelgrass’s role in reversing the effects of ocean acidification, which disrupts the ability to form shells in juvenile oysters and other marine life.

I take on Ocean Talk Friday on my own this week as Nathan Johnson will be taking on a different role this year due to his life becoming business. We will try and get him back whenever we can because, well...he's awesome!!! Here is what I discuss on today's podcast: 1) A mass herring die off as well as various invertebrate species (lobster, crabs, startfish, mussels, shrimp and clams); 2) The oldest living orca, "Granny" (known to scientists as J2), in the Southern Resident Population is considered to be deceased; and, 3) Eelgrass in Puget Sound is doing well other than localized areas. Enjoy the podcast! Are you looking to change the way you eat for a better health and environment? Start using Arbonne nutrition and health care products that are all natural and environmentally friendly. I use them all the time and their nutrition line has transformed the way I eat and my health. Email me today, andrew@speakupforblue.com to find out how you can transform your health. Looking to transform your health and wellness using Arbonne products? Learn about our starter package to get you living for a better Ocean by contacting me at andrew@speakupforblue.com.

While efforts move forward to figure out ways to reduce global greenhouse gases and carbon emissions, efforts are also moving forward to figure out ways to sequester carbon. All along we've known marshes and coastal wetlands were good for habitat and fisheries and storm buffering and carbon storage, but the amount these blue/green edges can pull carbon out of the atmosphere, store it and provide a multitude of ecosystem services is a win win for the environment. Learn about how agencies and organizations are working to advance restoration of wetlands through local and national efforts.

An effort to restore eelgrass beds along Virginia's eastern shore began with people painstakingly planting 200 acres of eelgrass seeds by hand. Today, these eelgrass meadows have grown to 6,195 acres — providing a home for an estimated 240,000 bay scallops! Episode permanent link and show notes

On February 24th & 25th the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment and a host of other NGOs held a workshop in Portland titled "Status, Trends and Conservation of Eelgrass in Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States." Keynote Speaker was Dr Frederick Short of the University of New Hampshire's Jackson Estuarine Lab. He also directs the SeagrassNet Global Monitoring Program, and is Vice President, World Seagrass Association Here is his 43 minute keynote address to the workshop on February 24, entitled "Eelgrass: the Big Picture"

Today's podcast features an interview with Harlan McLaughlin, president of Fair Play for Sears Island. Sears Island has been defended people living nearby and from around the bay against efforts to build a nuclear power plant, a coal power plant, a woodchip port, an LNG port, and now, a container port. This latest gambit amazingly finds Maine Sierra Club on the side of the industrial port wannabes. Settling for half a loaf, the Maine chapter has conceded that big industry may build a port on the island, so long as it meets agency standards. Up to 1/3 of the 940 acre island could be terraformed. Big loser in the negotiations: eelgrass. The magic meadows along the west side of Sears Island nourish the great upper estuary of :Penobscot Bay, a place where river and bay come together in an ecosystem that nourishes and nurtures the groundfish, salmon, herring, mackerel, striped bass, bluefish and shrimp that live in or visit Penobscot Bay. All could be lost if a toxic container port sets up on Sears island, as proposed by government and industry. And Sierra Club! Listen to a twenty minute discussion between Huber and McLauglin discussing this important subject.