Smithsonian Magazine - 10.2019

(Romina) #1
arranged for a Mexican fi shing boat, or
panga, to take us out into that 70-mile
stretch of water.
We climb aboard in the gray light
before dawn, and thump and bounce
our way north as the sun comes up.
Dolphins arc through the water. Squad-
rons of pelicans glide past. We pass the
occasional tattered shack on the vol-
canic shores, and it’s easy to imagine
the same salty air brushing across the
sun-weathered faces of Steinbeck and
Ricketts eight decades ago. Pausing
to look at a school of brightly colored
triggerfi sh, then hundreds of angelfi sh,
Gilly says, “This is still a rich area, but
there are no more big squid, so no more
sperm whales. We think it’s because the
water is warming at depth.”
The world’s oceans are in declining
health because of warming tempera-
tures, increasing acidifi cation, overfi sh-
ing, plastic accumulation and industrial
and agricultural pollution. Gregg is con-
cerned that these processes are looked
at haphazardly. “We don’t have a good
overall picture, just indications from a
hodgepodge of studies,” he says. “We
need to develop a systematic approach
for measuring acidifi cation along the
Pacifi c coast, for example, then the Fly-
er can help with long-term monitoring.”
Chugging up an estuary, with ibis
stalking the shallows and kingfi shers on
the banks, Gilly wonders if it’s the same
one that Steinbeck mentions in The Log.
We get out of the boat and Gregg points
out the tracks of a bobcat and her kitten
in the sand. It’s an exceptionally peace-
ful place and it makes us talk in soft qui-
et voices. “The essence of the Western
Flyer project is the essence of the book,”
says Gregg. “It’s the merging of art and
science. I always resented the fact that I
was pushed over into the science camp,
when I was just as interested in art and
literature.”
The resurrected Western Flyer will be
a scientifi c vessel, but Gregg wants to
have writers and artists involved as well,
to ensure that a sense of wonder and
beauty is retained. “For so long, it was a
faraway dream,” he says. “Now it’s real-
ly happening and it’s a complete honor.
This sounds trite, but with the Flyer,
you’re just a caretaker, not an owner.
She’ll be going long after I’m gone.”

86 SMITHSONIAN.COM | September 2019

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SMITHSONIAN; September 2019; Volume 50, Number


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