Guy Harvey Magazine — Summer 2018

The Art of Ocean Conservation VOLUME 9, ISSUE 31 SUMMER 2018 $6.95

The Future of Ocean Research Schmidt Ocean Institute Goes High Tech

Florida Keys Rebound A Rebirth After Irma’s Wrath

Hook & Cook in LA Catch it, cook it, consume it: Louisiana style 1 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Kayakaholic Confessions of a Kayak Addict

2 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

S t. A u g u

s ti n e

Be

ac

h

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com |

CONTENTS

SUMMER 2018

20

SPECIAL SECTION: SCHMIDT OCEAN INSTITUTE

In this issue, we’re featuring the incredible work of Schmidt Ocean Institute, a nongovernmental organization with a 272-ft. research vessel, Falkor, that has been probing the planet’s oceans for the past five years. The articles listed on this page outline just a few of the projects SOI is pursuing.

20

LUCKDRAGON BRINGS TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO THE HIGH SEAS

38

Why do white sharks leave California, swim thousands of miles toward Hawaii, then spend two months in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Equipped with the latest ocean gadgetry, the SOI followed

Take a look inside R/V Falkor at the people and technology that

some white sharks to find out.

keep the ship and marine research running on all cylinders.

28

OCEAN SCIENCE IN A DIGITAL AGE

WHITE SHARK CAFE´

44

ARTIST AT SEA Promoting collaboration between scientists and artists is part of the SOI mission. We interviewed three artists, Lucy Bellwood, Kirsten

SuBastian is a super high-tech remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can probe more than three miles into the ocean. Follow SuBastian and the discoveries that are unlocking mysteries of the deep.

34

SAILDRONE: OCEAN EXPLORER Part sailboat, part drone, this mechanical marvel cruises the oceans autonomously, using only the wind and the sun to gather vital data on the ever-changing seas—including helping with fish stock assessments.

4 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Carlson, and Rebecca Rutstein, who spent time on Falkor and created unique ocean art.

50

PHOTO PORTFOLIO

DEPARTMENTS

10

68

GUY TALK

spicy food, the endless marsh and, above all, the fishing makes South Louisiana a prime locale to catch ‘em, clean ‘em and consume ‘em.

BY GUY HARVEY, PhD

BY FRED GARTH

74

THE BITE

News, Notes & Gear

Hometown Hero A rising star in New Orleans' cultured culinary circles.

fishing trip to Louisiana, a cool new underwater drone and

BY GHM STAFF

76

BY GHM STAFF

GEAR

Kayakaholic

PHOTO PORTFOLIO

Editor-in-Chief Fred Garth tries to explain his addiction to

Brent Shavnore

kayak fishing and what he and others can do about it.

BY FRED GARTH

Is it photography or is it art? The answer: yes. Photo pro Shavnore uses digital to the max to create stunning images.

62

MEET THE CHEF

New snapper rule in the Gulf, a book on bull sharks, a winning

other wondrous sea happenings.

50

Hook & Cook There’s just no other place like Louisiana. The people, the accent, the

Sustainability and Science Guy discusses scientific research in the quest for sustainability.

12

TRAVEL

80

TRAVEL

LAST CAST

Catch and Eat Do we fish for red snapper for fun or for food? As Forest Gump said,

The Keys to Bouncing Back

“Maybe it’s a little bit of both.”

We sent Contributing Editor Nick Honachefsky to the Florida

BY FRED GARTH

Keys to report on the island’s recovery since getting hammered

by Hurricane Irma last summer. Have the Keys bounced back?

Hint: he slayed the fish.

BY NICK HONACHEFSKY

On the Cover: Orca Blues

by Dr. Guy Harvey

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 5

GUY HARVEY MAGAZINE OFFICES: PENSACOLA, FLORIDA Fred Garth, Editor-in-Chief

Made in USA

Compact & Durable

NEW YORK, NEW YORK Merrill Squires, Partner SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA Scott Smith, Partner

Walk where no other topwater has walked before!

The PT-7’s aerodynamic body casts like a bullet and skips into tight places where others can’t. 3” length and 1/2 oz., this soft plastic minesweeper detonates explosive strikes like no other topwater on the market today. Redfish, seatrout and largemouth bass find its “walk-the-dog” action simply irresistible. Pre-rigged with a single premium 6/0 EWG hook, it keeps big fish on where standard trebles fail.

10 realistic colors with several more on the way.

w w w. d o a l u r e s . c o m

SUBSCRIBE TO GHM! 1-year: $25 $12.50 2-year: $40 $19.50 3-year: $56 $27.50* *FREE GHM T-shirt!

CREDITS TO: PUBLISHER Lost Key Publishing Managing Editor Danny Thornton, Nick Honachefsky Art Director Nathan Dillaha Circulation Director Maura Jones Director of Sales & Marketing JJ Waters Social Media Consultant Brent Shavnore Accounting Karen Belser Copy Editor Kerrie Allen Contributing Editors Dr. Guy Harvey, Danny Thornton Contributors Lucy Bellwood, Kirsten Carlson, Nora Cohen, Richard Fischer, Wesley Janssen, Richard Jenkins, Logan Mock, Sean Reilly, Rebecca Rutstein, Brent Shavnore, Carlie Wiener, Brian Yurasits Editorial Advisory Board Dr. Guy Harvey, Chad Henderson, Bill Shedd, Dr. Mahmood Shivji, Harvey Taulien, John Guidroz, David Wilkinson

WE’RE GREEN:

Finding an environmentally-friendly printer is important to us. That’s why

this magazine is printed at Publishers Press in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Publishers Press recycles more than 50 million pounds of paper products each year, which saves 10 million gallons of oil, 35,000 trees and 14 million gallons of water. Publishers Press also recycles more than 300,000 pounds of aluminum printing plates annually and no hazardous wastes are ever sent to a landfill, but are recycled and reused.

Additionally, they recycle 217 tons of plastic each year and have set aside 550 of the 700 acres they own to be used for conservation and recreation.

GUY HARVEY MAGAZINE (ISSN 2162111X) is published four times per year (quarterly) by Lost Key Publishing,

It’s easy...

Visit https://goo.gl/STu9ke to subscribe today.

Interested in having a mag for the entire classroom?

Call or email me for special pricing... 888.275.2856, Maura@GuyHarveyMagazine.com.

6 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

LLC, 7166 Sharp Reef Road, Pensacola, Florida 32507. Periodicals postage paid at Pensacola, Florida, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Guy Harvey Magazine, PO Box 13274, Pensacola, FL 32591-3274. No part of this magazine can be reproduced without express written permission from Lost Key Publishing. Occasionally, we may make all or part of our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and/or services that may interest you. To subscribe to Guy Harvey Magazine, call our toll-free subscription number, 888.275.2856.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 7

CONTRIBUTOR’S PROFILE

BRENT SHAVNORE

Brent Shavnore is a United States Marine Corps veteran turned audio engineer/photographer/ videographer/social media marketing consultant.

After serving five years in the Marines and a deployment to Iraq, Brent made his way into the audio/visual world working on documentaries with Forbes Magazine, writing articles for various

Above: A self portrait of Brent Shavnore shooting in the field. See more of his artwork in the portfolio section on

surfing magazines, producing commercials, and

page 50.

shooting music videos for bands and events all over the U.S. Brent pursued a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Southern Maine to better understand the brain and answer

Editor’s note on the Art of Digital Manipulation

his lifelong question of why a particular piece of art or music resonates with someone. Taking a

As digital photography and Photoshop became commonplace in the 1990s and 2000s,

scientific approach and making the connection

many photographers enhanced their images. Then, of course, the purists railed against digitally

between art and the brain is a passion that keeps

modifying photos as cheating. Yet, as we review history, we know that for hundreds of years

Brent moving and producing media both audio/

artists added color or context to their paintings to create more impact. During the Luminism

visual and helping companies connect their

period of art, for example, the landscapes were filled with intense light to glorify the scenes. Even

product to the consumer.

the legendary Ansel Adams used exposure methods to achieve his incredible images. These days,

www.brentshavnore.com

photos are enhanced, blended, created from scratch and modified in myriad ways. And, perhaps, no one does it better than photographer Brent Shavnore, who makes no apologies for his art.

As with any artist, he takes pride in his creations, sometimes spending days and using seven or eight images to render one masterpiece. For most of us who see his photos, it’s clear that his lens and his computer are equally as important for him to create some of the most dramatic, current modern art you will find anywhere.

8 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 9

GUY TALK

SUSTAINABILITY STARTS WITH SCIENCE I’ve been fortunate that my passion for art has helped to fuel my pursuit

tag and study shortfin makos and white marlin in Mexico yearly and tiger sharks

of science and research. I began my career as a young college professor

in The Bahamas. We recently embarked on a new project studying roosterfish in

teaching marine science and doing artwork on the side. While I loved educating

Panama. Scientific research is more important now than ever as pressure on the

impressionable minds in the classroom, the popularity of my art and the money it

environment seems to be mounting. For me, there is just no substitute for getting

generated allowed me to promote the concepts of sustainability and conservation

in the boat, going out on the water and doing the work.

further than I ever imagined. Now, the outreach of the Guy Harvey organization

Other organizations do the same, and with this in mind, we decided to focus

through social media, websites, this magazine and other press, reaches millions of

part of this issue on another research organization that is also putting their money

people. It’s something I’m committed to, and we can see the positive impact of a

where their mouth is: the Schmidt Ocean Institute. As you’ll read about in the

consistent and constant message.

following pages, the SOI is using technology to delve into some of the deepest

But, getting the word out is really just the byproduct of doing the fieldwork

parts of the ocean where very little research has been done. They’ve also recently

and the research that needs to be accomplished to advance conservation. That’s

shed light on one of my greatest pursuits—sharks. Specifically, white sharks. This

one of the reasons we created the Guy Harvey Research Institute back in 1999,

apex predator has always fascinated me, and there is still so much we don’t know

and why I’m on the water so much tagging sharks, billfish and other marine life.

about them. The SOI is helping to fill in those blank pages. You’ll read about a

Without the necessary science and data, we are only shooting blindly into the

bizarre place in the Pacific Ocean called the White Shark Café, where hundreds of

darkness. But, when we have accurate data, we can be effective in managing our

sharks gather each year for reasons we’re only just beginning to understand—all

fisheries.

because of marine research.

Over the years, we have focused a lot on sharks and billfish, although we also study stingrays, turtles and other species that need attention. We continue to

10 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

The SOI has the luxury of a 272-ft. ship at their disposal, along with some of the most advanced tools for gathering data. Their mission, along with the GH

Research Institute and the work of many other organizations—both private and public—gives me hope that our children and their children will be able to enjoy the fun of fishing without guilt of harming the environment. That has always been a goal and I’m confident we can achieve it.

Even though I might get overly excited about marine research, I realize that some of you are more interested in just fishing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! So for this edition of the magazine, we sent one of our regular contributors, Nick Honachefsky, to the Florida Keys to report on how the ecosystem has recovered from the pounding they received from Hurricane Irma last year. It’s a stark reminder that man can do a lot of harm, but the power of nature can be formidable and do far more damage than we can.

We also took a look at the vastness of Southern Louisiana, an area with perhaps the most prolific fishing on the planet. And there’s a lot more fishing and marine conversation for your enjoyment.

Overall, I believe we’ve put together another fine issue. I hope you enjoy it, too.

GUY HARVEY, PhD is an internationally-acclaimed artist, fisherman, scientist, and

Fair winds and tight lines.

world traveler, who devotes much of his time and money

Dr. Guy Harvey

toward ocean conservation.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 11

NEWS, NOTES & GEAR No Butts It might sound like an anti-sexist campaign, but it’s actually about cigarettes. Yeah, those butts. For years, it has bothered many of us that smokers don’t consider cigarette butts pollution. They grind them out on the ground

mistaken as food and have been found in the stomachs of many animals, including fish, birds and sea turtles.

While much has been written about this rampant problem, there’s a new

with their shoe, toss them out of the car window, or worse, throw them on the

project we can grab with both hands—the No More Butts Campaign, created

beach or in the water.

by the folks at the TerraMar Project. Anyone can join TerraMar’s #NoMoreButts

So, how many butts do we humans toss each year? Believe it or not, cigarettes rank as the number one littered item on earth. Worldwide, 2.3 million cigarettes are littered every minute. And, more than four trillion cigarettes are thrown away each year. The only thing bigger than that is our national debt!

It gets worse. Those nasty filters are NOT biodegradable cotton as they

campaign and spread the word on their social network that cigarette butt littering needs to end.

The good news is that cigarette butts are recyclable. That’s why TerraMar has teamed up with TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste, to make it simpler than ever to recycle

appear to be. Nor are they benign. Butts are actually made of thin strands of

your cigarette butts. Any #NoMoreButts member can email byurasits@

plastic—cellulose acetate to be exact—and contain toxic chemicals, including

theterramarproject.org to receive a free shipping label for mailing in their butts

cadmium, lead, and arsenic that quickly leach into the ground or water as they

to be recycled at TerraCycle’s facility. Participants can check back weekly to see

decompose. And, like any plastic, they persist in the environment for many

their collective impact.

years.

With so many butts being tossed around, it’s no surprise that they are

12 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

There are no more excuses. Stop the litter and start recycling!

For more info, go to: https://theterramarproject.org/no-more-butts.

Louisiana Blues Let’s be honest, we all dream of catching a blue

To track down Louisiana’s off-the-charts inshore

marlin. At least once in our lives, we’d like to hook

or offshore fishing, visit www.lasaltwater.com.

into a big, blue monster. So when Ralph Russ of

There, you can pick a location and charter captain

Winter Park, Florida, and friends Michael Newbern,

for your adrenaline rush and, perhaps, check a few

Dennis Munday and David Gilbreath went fishing

boxes off your bucket list, too.

out of Venice, Louisiana, in November 2017, they not only checked that bucket list item, they did so

Left: Ralph Russ,

twice…at the same time!

Dennis Munday, David

“Two of us reeled in the marlin, because it had

Gilbreath and Michael

taken two baits. So we had the same fish on two

Newbern relaxing after

poles!” Russ explained.

a long day of slaying

The blue marlin was estimated to be between

the fish. Below: Jason

400–500 lbs., and the guys released it alive. The

Lowrance and Dennis

marlin came on the second of two offshore trips the

Munday showing off a

group took out of Venice. The first trip happened

monster amberjack.

because Russ was the lucky winner of a fishing trip giveaway sponsored by the Louisiana Charter Boat Association and Guy Harvey Magazine. The fishing buds had so much fun on their first day, they decided to stay and charter one more!

During their two days offshore, they harvested 80- and 100-lb. tuna and caught and released amberjack and red snapper. In fact, Russ capped his stay in Louisiana by having a nearby restaurant prepare the tuna his group caught for dinner the same day they pulled it out of the Gulf. Now, that is as fresh as it gets.

It was a memorable experience for Russ, a seasoned fisherman, who has a 44-lb. mahi caught off Cozumel and a 100-lb. sailfish off Canaveral to his credit.

“The whole experience was incredible,” he said.

LCBA captains David Morgan and Jason Lowrance led the fishing expeditions and even showed Russ and the guys a sampling of Louisiana’s inshore fishery where he witnessed schools of bull reds munching near the mouth of the Mississippi River. www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 13

My, How Times Have Changed Back in the day, when the snapper season was 180 days (that was pre-2004, by the way) there was peace and harmony between NOAA and the Gulf states. But by 2014, when NOAA announced a nine-day snapper season and projected a one-day season the next year, things got pretty tense. As the war of bad words escalated, the Gulf states got organized and spoke out. It has been effective.

Amazingly, in this ongoing red snapper saga, the feds and the states have learned to play nice with one another. Given the typical political environment, isn’t it refreshing when people can actually work out solutions for the common good? If you answered “yes,” then you are correct.

In April, NOAA approved exempted fishing permits (EFPs) to the five Gulf states, which gives more management flexibility of the snapper fishery to states and implements longer seasons in state and federal waters. State management of the red snapper fishery for private anglers will occur during both the 2018 and 2019 seasons. All states, except Texas, have a two-fish per person limit and a 16-in. minimum length.

Florida The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced a 40-consecutive-day season, which runs from June 11–July 20. Florida anglers are required to register for the Gulf Reef Fish Survey through FWC’s website.

14 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Alabama The Alabama season runs on weekends from June 1–Sept. 3.

Weekends begin at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning and close at 11:59 p.m.

Sunday night. The entire week of Independence Day will be open (June 29–July 8). The season is tentatively set to close at 11:59 p.m. September 3, 2018 (Labor Day). However, if the total amount landed is less than the 984,290 lbs. (Alabama’s allocation), then the season could reopen.

Mississippi The season will be open seven days a week from May 25–Sept. 3. It is open to private recreational anglers and for-hire anglers with a state permit. The state has a quota of 137,949 lbs. If anglers get close to that quota, the season will be closed from July 9–23.

Louisiana Red snapper season began on May 25 in both state and federal waters. The season will run seven days a week and will remain open until recreational landings approach or reach Louisiana’s annual private recreational allocation of 743,000 lbs.

Texas Snapper season for private recreational anglers in federal waters off

(TPWD) is projecting an 82-day season starting June 1 based on the state’s allocation. This is an increase of 40 days from last year’s red snapper

Texas state waters (out to nine nautical miles) are expected to remain open year-round. Bag and size limits in state waters are four fish per person daily with a 15-in. minimum length.

St. Pete Beach, FL | 888.906.5645 GoGetOutThere.com/GHO

Y HARV

EY

season.

Escape to Guy Harvey Outpost for an amazing seaside adventure. From paddle boarding and fishing charters to dining next to our 33,500-gallon aquarium, our water wonderland awaits on one of TripAdvisor’s most highly rated beaches in America. Spectacular sunsets, too!

GU

the Texas coast began on June 1. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

OUTPOST

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 15

The Bull Shark Compendium

BY ZACH NICHOLLS, AKA DR. JAWS “Shark-lover’s ennui” is a condition that I’ve struggled with. I’ve tried to get excited for Shark Week, aquariums and fish books—anything that promises a new

there’s so much more hiding but ready to be found. ~ Dr. Jaws

experience—but instead, I get the same.

“Sharks are misunderstood.”

Learn more about Dr. Jaws on www.drjaws.net. Look for the “red tooth”

“Sharks attacks are rare.”

on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The Bull Shark Compendium is available on

“Sharks are going extinct.”

Amazon, Barnes & Noble and select bookstores.

Is that it? Can this be all there is to sharks?

I asked this question in 2015, specifically about bull sharks: how much information is missing from the general public? With so much emphasis on the same, recycled pieces of trivia, I feared that I had already “hit the limit”—that sharks were just not as complicated or special as my heart imagined. But as it turns out, most knowledge on sharks is submerged from view, like silver trapped inside a wreck.

When it comes to bull sharks, many rare pieces of information barely see daylight, including: verified records of the shark in Baghdad, Iraq; collections of teeth from North American burial sites (hinting at shamanic ritual use among multiple tribes); and genetic revelations that the bull shark may not be one species, but three, unique kinds of Carcharhinus.

This is the treasure that I’ve been pining for. This should be shared with the public. I started the Bull Shark Compendium by poring over scientific records that, while technically available, are largely inaccessible because they are either (A) hard to find, or (B) boring as hell. The language of science is a dense one. Even the most loyal enthusiast likely does not have the spare time to decipher the riches from the jargon.

But from these records, I could salvage a story—our story with the bull shark, a species that was first officially recognized 179 years ago. Within that time, scientists from 33 countries uncovered an amazing wealth of information that demonstrates interspecies dominance and unprecedented power in a coral reef.

Who made these discoveries? Some names are familiar, some forgotten, and others…well, were suspects in the Jane Stanford murder. Yet all are tied, in some way, across culture and time to the story of the bull shark. Local legends of unreported attacks and deep mythologies of entire cities (like Surabaya, Indonesia) all speak of this shark’s colorful history with the human world.

The Bull Shark Compendium honors this relationship, and the men and women who are united by it. For those who feared that sharks were simple (and who were beginning to feel the itch, like I was), I’m happy to say, don’t worry...

16 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Amazing Underwater Vehicles In this issue, on page 28, you’ll read about SuBastian,

Top: Product photo of the

one of the most advanced ROVs in existence (at least

Navatics MITO. Middle: The

on this planet). At a cost in the millions, SuBastian can

MITO in action as it captures

go three miles deep and record massive sets of data.

footage of a diver. Bottom:

Obviously, you’re not going to take Subastian on your

A screenshot of the user

16-ft. Carolina Skiff, even if you could afford it.

interface for the MITO. The

But, what if you only want to check out the

ROV is controlled by an app

underwater seascape 100 ft. down? Well, there are

for your smartphone. Photos

a number of remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and

courtesy of Navatics.

underwater cameras, like the popular Aqua-Vu, for peeking into the deep and seeing what fish are roaming around that might bite our hook.

Navatics, a new company from China, is introducing an ROV called MITO to the market. The design is quite stylish, weighs about six pounds and can be easily transported in your backpack. But what it does underwater is the most impressive. With four thrusters for multi-directional maneuverability, the unit is also equipped with advanced stabilization technology that helps to create professional quality video.

Perhaps MITO’s coolest feature is the remote wireless controller. MITO is attached by tether to a buoy and can be operated from as far as five-hundred yards away. Basically, you can sit in your boat and explore a huge underwater area while MITO cruises around at your command. MITO’s tether allows it to descent 130 ft. and capture 4K video as well as high-resolution still photos.

While we have not personally tested MITO, the manufacturer claims it will run for four hours and achieve speeds of four knots. That’s quick! An app, available for both iOS and Android, runs on your smartphone, which attaches to the remote controller. It also gives users the ability to color correct images and share photos and video directly to social media.

Overall, if MITO does what it claims to do, it’s quite impressive, especially at a cost of about $1,200. That’s a chunk of money for sure, but considering all of the technology packed into such a small package, the price seems reasonable.

For more info, visit www.navatics.com.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 17

Clean Way It has happened to the best of us. We overfill our tank and spill gas on our boat, our clothes, our ham sandwich and, worse yet, in the water. Not good! Or the fuel tank “burps” gas and you’re scrambling with absorbent rags and hoping you don’t get a hefty fine from the environmental police. An innovative new product called Clean Way™ Fuel Fill solves this issue. It fits snuggly into your boat’s fuel deck to create a tight seal and no spills. The baffle design allows air to escape, diverting fuel back into the tank and also lets you refuel at top speed.

Already being used by groups like the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in Biscayne Bay, the Coast Guard base at Norfolk, Virginia, and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, the patented Clean Way™ Fuel Fill is getting as popular as your high school’s homecoming queen.

The Clean Way™ Fuel Fill comes with an assortment of adapters to match any deck fuel plate and any size fuel nozzle—even jetskis. For more info: cleanwayfuelfill.com.

18 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Set Your Hook in

South Carolina

Set your Hook in South Carolina

Plan Your Next Fishing Getaway at Photo courtesy of TakeMeFishing.org

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/setyourhook/ www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 19

LUCKDRAGON BRINGS TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO THE HIGH SEAS As one of the planet’s leading non-governmental marine organizations, Schmidt Ocean Institute and its 272-ft. research vessel Falkor have been probing global waters for the past five years while applying the most innovative technology to explore and study the sea from its surface down to the deepest depths.

The following special section of Guy Harvey Magazine looks inside SOI at the people and projects that are making new discoveries and, perhaps most importantly, providing a platform for scientists and inventors to develop vital research tools of the future.

20 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Falkor steams through the Pacific off Molokai, Hawaii, during the 2017 “Ancient Sea Level Secrets” research cruise with Dr. Ken Rubin from the University of Hawaii. Photo courtesy of Schmidt Ocean Institute.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 21

E

ven in ancient times, humans probed under

Richard Branson, the same is happening with ocean research. Thankfully, more

the sea. As far back as 400 BC, Aristotle wrote

private dollars are flowing into studying our highly-threatened aqua-systems.

about a diving bell that “enables divers to

One organization, the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), founded by Eric and Wendy

respire” underwater. Around that same time, Alexander the Great used heavy

Schmidt, is perhaps the most innovative non-governmental group to tackle some

bells to explore the Mediterranean. Fast forward to Jacques-Ives Cousteau, who

of our ocean’s greatest challenges.

in the 1950s, showed us how to swim freely among the fishes and coral reefs.

SOI’s high-tech research vessel Falkor, has been plying our planet’s seas

His exploits, books and television shows opened our eyes to the sea’s sensitive

relentlessly for more than five years. Its collaborative discoveries and commitment

balance.

to our oceans are inspirational and helping to shed light on potential threats to

Today, undersea research remains a deeply human pursuit. Yet, ocean exploration is extremely costly. Most funding comes from governments through

what is really the true source of life on planet earth.

SOI was established to address the need for increased understanding of our

science grants—a time consuming and limiting experience. As with the recent

ocean by advancing technological development and accelerating the pace of

growth in privately-funded space exploration by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and

research in marine science. SOI was created with the ideals of innovation and

Michael Utley, bosun, helps guide ROV SuBastian back onto the aft deck after a successful deployment during the ROV’s 2016 sea trials in Guam.

22 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Nighttime sampling means working by red light. Red light is the first wavelength absorbed by the ocean, so organisms at the deep chlorophyll maximum aren’t able to detect it, therefore, it doesn’t create “light pollution” when working on photosynthetic systems at night. Also, it doesn’t destroy human night vision and is commonly used by scientists in the field.

exploration ingrained into its operation and approach. The Institute’s focus on

The Institute’s model of scientific marine operations is based on advanced

technology, efficiency and scientific innovation sets it apart from other research

robotics, machine learning, data science and other emerging technologies

programs, positioning it to remain at the frontier of high-tech, ocean-going

addressing the goal of multiplying oceanographic observational capabilities. This

research.

is exemplified by the testing and refining of new instruments on the Institute’s

Shortly after SOI was founded, the Institute purchased a German fisheries

research vessel, such as unique adaptive tools like “squishy fingers,” soft robotic

protection vessel and spent more than two years retrofitting the ship with the

actuators that allow scientists to pick up delicate specimens off of the sea floor

latest in maritime technology. The purpose of the vessel was to provide the global

without crushing them, or particle sizers that present novel ways to trace

science community free access to a mobile platform to advance ocean

phytoplankton. With the research vessel Falkor providing state-of-the-art

exploration, discovery, and knowledge, and catalyze the sharing of information

technological support, SOI is pioneering ocean science and technology

about the oceans. The converted vessel was named Falkor, after the luckdragon in

development one expedition at a time.

the German fantasy novel The Neverending Story. With multi-beam echo-

SOI recently celebrated five years of science aboard Falkor. In that time, the

sounders for seafloor mapping, global internet connectivity, shipboard high-

ship has traveled a distance equivalent to circumnavigating the Earth more than

performance computing, and an Institute-built, dedicated remotely operated

seven times on a series of 45 research cruises. Scientists on board have

vehicle (ROV), the Falkor is well equipped for nearly any research

contributed to mapping more than 226,000 square miles of seafloor, leading to

oceanographers can pose. One unique aspect of the research vessel is that she

the discovery and naming of 14 new underwater features. As a private, non-profit

does not claim a home port, traveling throughout the ocean to some of the most

operating organization, SOI is distinctive in its ability to bring together

compelling regions to conduct science. This gives SOI global reach and

international teams. To date, more than 500 scientists and students have come

international accessibility—flexibility that is crucial when your research system

aboard Falkor from more than 160 of the leading universities and organizations

covers 71% of the Earth’s surface!

from 27 countries.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 23

Above: While docked in Honolulu, Hawaii, Schmidt Ocean Institute staff and crew celebrated five years of research aboard Falkor. An open house event welcomed over 700 members of the community to tour the vessel.

This was followed by a public event at the Waikiki Aquarium featuring interactive exhibits of research completed by science teams who have sailed on the ship. Left: In Falkor’s Wet Lab, Dr. Richard Camilli (left), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, speaks with Dr. Christopher Roman (center), University of Rhode Island, about the Lagrangian photo-float operations and planning. Right: Jeffery Oshiro explains how the Waveglider Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) functions to the crew and researchers aboard R/V Falkor. The ASV can work as a “go-between,” helping underwater technology communicate with aspects above the surface.

24 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Since 2013, some of SOI’s most impressive accomplishments include dis-

to shift its attitude in favor of openness, collaboration,

covering the world’s deepest fish, completing the largest inventory of species

and equal opportunity. This open sharing does not just

distributed by depth in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (the largest and

apply to academia, of course—SOI is just as dedicated to

deepest UNESCO world heritage site), and visualizing data in near-real-time using

imparting research on ocean managers working toward

virtual reality. The Institute has supported the development of image annotation

conservation efforts. SOI has demonstrated the power of

software Squidle+, which has recently been recommended as the preferred image

what takes place on Falkor to influence decision-making in ocean conservation,

annotation and data management tool for underwater vehicles in the Australian

as in the mapping work that contributes to the expansion of protected areas and

National Environmental Science Programme, and live streamed incredible, never-

further research in regions like the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National

before-seen footage of deep coral and hydrothermal vent systems.

Often, SOI research expeditions are heavily multidisciplinary, combining scientists, data, and tools from

Monument in the Hawaiian Islands, or collected video

“Science is the way we listen to what our planet is trying to tell us.”

multiple fields of oceanography and geosciences, as

data that informs responsible management of deep sea communities.

Openly sharing the deep unknown waters does not stop with management; SOI’s remotely operated

well as engineers and computer scientists. With complementary interests and

vehicle SuBastian allows anyone with access to the internet to follow dives

skill sets, the research teams work together, representing a mixture of scientific

through live streaming of all its adventures. Collaborators, scientists, and the

novelty and promising insights into the world below the surface.

public can watch, explore, and discover right alongside the researchers on board

Mandating the open sharing of data for all projects, SOI provides support to

the ship through SOI’s YouTube channel. Recent missions to newly discovered

facilitate data acquisition, management and sharing. This philosophy is

hydrothermal vents have allowed for over two weeks of live footage online.

breaking academic glass walls and removing barriers to cooperation among

Millions of viewers have been continuously captivated as massive smoking

scientists, research labs, and institutions, encouraging the field of oceanography

chimneys, lava flows and a lively world of highly adapted animals are viewed. In

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 25

spite of the high sulfur content and extreme

robots in the open ocean, setting a record for duration in this type of mission, and

temperatures, bright white crabs cluster near vents, flat

has just completed the first oceanographic expedition to the White Shark Café

fish kick up sediment as they moved along the seafloor, and bright, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and anemones

to learn what draws the sharks to these seemingly inhospitable waters between Hawaii and California. Falkor will travel later this year to one of the largest natural

decorate dark expanses of lava. The enthusiasm of the researchers onboard Falkor

marine oxygen deficient zones in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific Ocean, explore

is evident from transmitted audio, as awe-struck expressions of geologists and

gas hydrate fields and cold seeps with multiple underwater platforms using 3D

marine biologists are shared as they view these ecosystems for the first time.

visual mapping techniques, and look for new hydrothermal vents in Mexico.

“Science is the way we listen to what our planet is trying to tell us,” says SOI

Ongoing development at SOI will continue to provide exemplary models of

co-founder Wendy Schmidt. “SOI supports developing technologies that help us

future scientific marine operations that can multiply the capabilities of ocean

listen to and understand that message. High-tech ROVs go beyond their role as

scientists and reduce many of the risks, costs, and burdens of conventional data

innovative research tools to stream engaging sights and connect viewers across

collecting. With global strategic partnerships, SOI is leveraging expertise and

the globe in a shared fascination with the ocean; and a German fishing vessel

continues to bring together science and technology through better platforms

becomes a home for an international team united around a common goal of

and tools, leading to more effective research, practical management and globally

understanding and working to restore our ocean to health.”

relevant conservation policies.

This year, Falkor has already tested long-range, autonomous, underwater

Despite the crushing pressure at more than 15,000-ft., extreme variations in temperature and complete lack of sunlight, life still thrives at hydrothermal vents in the deep sea. This is a diffuse flow site dominated by snails and sea anemones.

26 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

One highlight of the 2017 “Underwater Fire” expedition off Tonga was the discovery of three new hydrothermal venting sites.

Here, a “black smoker” chimney releases hydrothermal fluid into the deep sea.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 27

28 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Ocean Science in a Digital Age

ROV SuBastian returns from a successful deployment in the Pacific Ocean near Guam.

When we think about scientific data collection, many of us envision a scientist in a white lab coat sitting at a microscope and jotting notes on a scratch pad. Or maybe plugging numbers into a spreadsheet on their iPad. The reality is that data and information products these days are all about 3D imaging, highresolution photography, augmented reality, 4K video—all the stuff that requires massive amounts of storage capacity. From 2012–2017, for example, the oceanographic research vessel Falkor recorded more than 320 terabytes of data. This data has been distributed, in multiple copies, through open source platforms. www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 29

These new challenges illustrate how we are light years away from a captain’s logbook and the science officer’s tape recordings that were common tools used as recently as the 1970s. Today, marine research is moving toward cloud computing, new software platforms and artificial intelligence, as it did with the development of underwater vehicles to study the depths of the ocean over the last decade.

With its pedigree stretching back to the foundations of Google, perhaps no organization is better equipped for this mass data frontier than SOI. In fact, Falkor was the first research vessel to install a high-performance computing system to allow scientists on a ship to model complex ocean processes based on instrument data in near real-time. And, as a privately run, non-government organization, SOI has encouraged rapid development and innovation. This is exemplified by the design and build of their 4,500 meter (approximately 15,000 ft.) remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian, which was brought from initial design drawing to ocean deployment in less than two years. Built from the ground up, ROV SuBastian was specifically created to support interactive, deep ocean research.

ROV SuBastian is equipped with 10 cameras to capture ultra-high, 4K

detail to geologists, biologists and chemists around the world. In some instances, these details have

resolution video of extreme environments some three miles below the sea’s

been put together to create a 3D reconstruction of

surface. While diving, SuBastian is attached to Falkor by an umbilical cord that

a hydrothermal vent field, which can be visualized with virtual reality technology.

combines power cables and fiber optics, allowing it to stay at depth for indefinite

In addition to providing unprecedented onboard capabilities, SOI’s mission is

periods. Titanium arms controlled by ROV pilot technicians in the ship’s science

to also share their findings with the world. Case in point, their exploration

control room can move in seven different ways to gently collect rocks and animal

experiences are streamed live to millions of viewers during expeditions via a

specimens, bringing them to the surface for analysis. A host of sensors report back

broadband satellite transmission. During the broadcasts, live commentary from

oceanographic details such as temperature, pH and oxygen levels, to create a

the shipboard scientists are shared, offering viewers a first-hand account of active

comprehensive view of some of the least visited parts of the ocean.

science on an oceangoing research ship. Scientists engage with participants in

Every aspect of the ROV has been carefully optimized to be as efficient and

real-time, answering questions and suggestions on the science at-hand. Highlights

effective as possible, providing scientists with a set of eyes and hands that can

from the dives are also shared in three-minute videos, featuring the most exciting

access more than 65% of the planet’s ocean floor. This includes remote, fragile, and

elements, including expansive corals, alien-looking plankton and smoking vents.

irreplaceable habitats such as those found around hydrothermal vents and deep

With literally tens of thousands of underwater images and video, and more

coral reefs, making the 4K video that SuBastian collects vitally important. We can

being added daily to SOI’s library, it’s physically impossible for humans to review

now see and interact with some of the most remote places in the ocean like the

and analyze that much imagery. That’s why SOI supported the development of

Phoenix Islands Protected Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, or hydrothermal

Squidle+, a marine-scientific image software with deep learning ability. Through a

vent systems off of the Kingdom of Tonga. The robotic vehicle’s specialized camera

partnership with Squidle+ developer Grey Bits, SOI has used the software’s

systems and ability to retrieve environmental data has provided countless hours of

intuitive capability to interpret photos and video using dozens of filters, such as

30 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Principle Investigator Dr. Ken Rubin, University of Hawaii, works with Dr. Terry Naumann in the control room during a dive with ROV SuBastian.

The ROV control room and video matrix are lit up as researchers work with ROV pilots and technicians to execute plans to achieve the mission’s goals.

Collected water samples from the 2017 “Eddy Exploration and Ecosystems Dynamics” expedition off Maui, Hawaii, contain microbial community DNA, and were analyzed with genomic studies aimed at understanding the function, activity and environmental sensitivities of microbial populations that form the foundation of the ocean’s food web.

Shown is Ana Maria Cabello from the University of California Santa Cruz, SCOPE Postdoc.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 31

Recovery of ROV SuBastian during the 2017 “Ancient Sea Level Secrets” expedition off of Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll.

depth, location or geography. Squidle+ is available continuously online, where it

agencies. For example, a team from the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the

provides access to about five million oceanographic images. As Squidle+

Marine Environment (ICBME) at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, envisioned

continues to be further developed, local annotations will be automatically

using a vertical take-off and landing aerial vehicle with cameras and equipment to

synchronized with the cloud to allow scientists to access and continue their image

study the air-sea interface in the open ocean and take measurements of sea

and video analysis at anytime from anywhere in the world.

surface skin salinity. The trouble, however, was that robotic, unmanned aerial

Not only a home for SuBastian, Falkor also serves as a testing and

vehicles had never been used like that before—most deployments required

development platform, which is almost unheard of on research vessels. In two

slingshots to launch the vehicle and nets to catch it. The team spent four weeks

coordinated robotics expeditions, engineers from the Australian Centre for Field

on Falkor working with the vehicles, testing and refining the equipment and

Robotics at the University of Sydney used intelligent multi-robot tracking and con-

techniques. By the end of the cruise, they had successfully performed the first ever

trol algorithms to track a fleet of aerial and underwater robots at the same time.

vertical take-off and landing on an research vessel and collected the first

This allowed the robots to autonomously plan and re-allocate their tasks based

measurements of sea surface skin salinity. (See sidebar pg. 33.)

on fresh data, environmental conditions and user requests. These cruises offered

Other examples of technology development seen on Falkor include the first

uninterrupted time for the engineers and technicians to troubleshoot, test and

3D virtual reality visualizations of phytoplankton at sea, allowing the science team

refine the vehicles, their methods, and the software that controlled their actions.

on Falkor to interactively immerse themselves with unique holographic data. And

The experience gained from this project is invaluable to further advancing

this is only the beginning. With several more expeditions this year, with multiple

multiple robotic platforms that work independently, intelligently, and at low costs

robotic development plans, SOI and Falkor continue to make waves in

to better characterize and understand the ocean.

traditional ocean-going sciences and support the next frontier of ocean

Being a private organization has also allowed SOI to support experimental research that typically does not receive funding from traditional government

32 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

conservation.

Left: Scott Bowers and Sophia Brumer retrieve information from an HQ60B drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). Below: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles carrying scientific instruments took off from a ship for the first time, without the help of any catapult or launching system.

In October of 2016, a research team co-led by Dr. Chris Zappa from Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University for the first time co-developed, deployed, and successfully operated a high endurance and high payload vertical takeoff and landing robotic aerial vehicle HQ-60B from Falkor. As a result of 15 flights, it gathered 27 hours of ocean surface data covering many tens of square miles of ocean. This information will transform our understanding of how the microbes inhabiting the ocean surface mediate the exchange of heat and gases across the air-sea boundary and regulate our climate on a global scale.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 33

Without a crew or an engine, this self-sailing drone uses wind and solar to ply the oceans and gather vital data for marine researchers and managers. Photo courtesy of www.saildrone.com.

34 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Saildrone OCEAN EXPLORER

BY GHM STAFF

W Above: Saildrone CEO Richard Jenkins. Photo courtesy of www.saildrone.com.

hen Richard Jenkins broke the land speed record for a windpowered vehicle, he didn’t realize his next big adventure would be all about the oceans. On that gusty day in 2009, Jenkins steered a lightweight craft called Greenbird 126.1 mph on the dry plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada. Soon after he set that record, Jenkins was working with Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) to help them convert a German fisheries enforcement vessel into the research ship Falkor.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 35

A saildrone cruising along autonomously.

Photo courtesy of www.saildrone.com.

“We’ve incorporated the same Simrad echosounders that NOAA uses and have tested them in the Bering Sea alongside NOAA’s ship the Oscar Dyson,” Jenkins said. “When we did surveys of pollock populations and compared the data with NOAA’s, we showed significantly more fish than they did. We believe it’s because Saildrones are silent and small as opposed to a huge ship that makes a lot of noise and may scare the fish away. Ultimately, our data was much more precise than theirs.”

Their work has continued with Schmidt Ocean Institute. In fact, SOI’s two most recent expeditions—one to the White Shark Café (see page 38) and the other to the Subtropical Front to investigate sharp drops in sea salinity—have used Saildrones to help conduct oceanographic measurements in advance of the team’s research. By sending Saildrones out first, like scouts, they can survey the area and compile the appropriate data before the scientists arrive on location.

An invention that combines one of the oldest forms of transportation—sailing—with one of the fastest growing technologies—drones—has quickly proven its worth. Jenkins believes they’re just scraping the surface and the applications for Saildrones are just beginning to be discovered.

With that in mind, we recently asked Jenkins a few pointed questions:

“My very first foray into science was a proposal to their team to use unmanned sailboats to gather ocean data,” Jenkins said.

That presentation led to the design and creation of the Saildrone. Jenkins used the wing-sail technology from the Greenbird to successfully create an autonomous sailboat that runs on wind and solar power.

“Originally, I wanted to build the first unmanned sailboat to circumnavigate the world,” Jenkins said. “We still haven’t accomplished that goal, but with Saildrone, it’s definitely possible.”

The ability of Saildrones to cruise around the oceans autonomously is sort of mind-blowing, but the real prize is in data collection at a fraction of the cost to hire large vessels. Take fish stock assessment, for example. NOAA uses five massive ships with crews, fuel costs and huge maintenance fees. Saildrones have no onboard crew, no fuel, no provisions and no threat of mutiny.

They just sail around using the power of the wind and sun and collect data without registering astronomical costs of research ships.

36 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

The Greenbird set the land speed record by a wind-powered vehicle of 126.1 mph across a Nevada desert. Photo courtesy of www.saildrone.com.

Left: An infographic showing the various data that each saildrone collects.

GHM : So are Saildrones the research ships of the future?

fishermen showing the drone in the background.

RJ: For now, we don’t consider Saildrone a replacement. Scientists still have to

GHM : What about red snapper? Can Saildrones help?

catch fish and do certain types of testing that Saildrones don’t have the ability to do. However, we can augment the research and do most of the long, tedious and

RJ: We get lots of requests to do something in the Gulf, such as fish stock

expensive work, thereby reducing costs significantly.

assessments on snapper and tuna. Those aren’t currently in the pipeline but we certainly hope they are in the future. We are doing fish surveys currently along the

GHM : How many Saildrones are there currently?

entire Pacific Coast from Canada down to Mexico.

RJ: Right now we have 10 working Saildrones. But we’re ramping up our

GHM : Will Saildrones replace stationary data-collection buoys one day?

production facility and we expect to be able to build one per day. Our goal is 250 per year. Long term, I think we can cover the entire planet with 1,000 Saildrones.

RJ: We’re not currently replacing buoys, but the beauty of the Saildrone is that it can hold station within 50 ft. And you don’t have to go out to sea to service it like

GHM : And what about bad weather or pirates who pilfer and plunder?

you do with buoys. Plus, in some places, pieces and parts of buoys get stolen, like lights, batteries and solar panels that end up on the black market. So, I think using

RJ: We’ve never lost one to weather, although we have had some injuries. We had

Saildrones in place of buoys is potentially a strong application in the future for the

one in the southern ocean that got hit by a 23-meter wave (75-ft.), which was the

drone.

largest wave ever recorded. The Saildrone was still able to limp back to port even though it battled 55-knot winds for three weeks.

GHM : I need another expensive toy. How much does one cost?

GHM : And those pirates?

RJ: We don’t sell vehicles. We sell data as a service. We have a flat fee of $2,500 per day, which is very affordable considering some ships cost more than $25,000 or

RJ: We’ve traveled more than 250,000 miles and haven’t had any interactions. I

more per day to charter. We don’t charge for service or transit times. There are no

think it’s partly because the drones are thousands of miles offshore and they’re

upfront cost. Basically, we do everything, but at a fraction of the cost.

constantly moving. So far, we’ve been fortunate. We mostly just get selfies from

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 37

White Shark Café Last May, a group of marine scientists took a host of high-tech equipment to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to solve a mystery: why do white sharks leave California and swim thousands of miles to a seemingly desolate piece of ocean?

38 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

This Saildrone gathers ocean data while Falkor stands by in the distance. The autonomous Saildrones were sent to the White Shark Café ahead of the ship and the expedition team. Photo credit courtesy of Schmidt Ocean Institute.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 39

The desire to unravel nature’s mysteries is part of the human DNA. And that passion for discovering the unknown often fuels innovation. From the compass, invented two centuries before Christ, to Galileo’s

current 20-year data set on white shark diving behaviors and environmental preferences in just three weeks.”

In addition to the mystery of why white sharks visit the Café, there’s also the

telescope in 1609, to new, autonomous sailing drones, technology is often the key

curious behavior of the male sharks while they are there. The males repeatedly

to unlocking secrets.

dive deeper than 500 ft. and back up again as often as every 10 minutes and more

This was evident on a recent month-long expedition that set out to decipher

than 100 times per day. This was assumed to be some sort of mating ritual.

some peculiar behaviors of white sharks. Each spring, hundreds of the stealthy

“The male white shark and the female white shark are doing completely

beasts leave California, swim for a month to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and

different things, and that’s not something we’ve seen so much before,” Block said.

hang out in a Colorado-sized area scientists have dubbed the White Shark Café.

“We have to spend some time studying these behaviors to try to understand if this

In late summer, they return to California and repeat the cycle each year. For two

is courtship behavior or is this really a feeding or foraging behavior.”

decades, scientists have been baffled by the shark’s annual pilgrimage.

The recent expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor

The scientists had also previously believed that the area was virtually void of life. This was based on satellite scans showing low levels of chlorophyll. Without

included an interdisciplinary research team from five institutions led by Stanford

adequate chlorophyll, ocean productivity cannot occur. But, using deep-water

University Marine Biologist Dr. Barbara Block. The science team employed some

sampling and a torpedo-shaped robot called the Slocum Glider that dove through

of the most advanced technology and successfully made a number of new

the center of the Café area, the scientists discovered high levels of chlorophyll in

discoveries, some of which completely reversed popular theories.

deep water.

“We now have a gold mine of data,” said Dr. Block. “We have doubled the

40 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

“Because the chlorophyll concentration peaks deep in the water column,”

Right: Dr. Salvador Jorgensen and PhD candidate Elan Portner examine a cookiecutter shark specimen, collected through a net tow deployment Below: A screenshot from whitesharkcafe.org showing the travel patterns of nine separate white sharks off the west coast of the United States and Mexico.

explained Stanford University Oceanographer Dr. Jan Witting, “it

sets and two popped off outside the Café area. There were also

is not visible to satellites, leading us to believe this was an ocean

18 positional-only satellite tags attached to white sharks and 50%

desert.”

reported from areas in or close by the Café.

To their surprise, the team observed a surprisingly diverse

“It was a white shark treasure hunt assisted by the captain, the

animal community that included deep-sea fish, tuna, other shark

first officer and the white shark ecologists on board,” said Dr. Sal

species, squids and jellies. Along with the Slocum Glider, two

Jorgensen of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

wind-powered Saildrones were employed to expand the study

The satellite archival tags log the depth and temperature

area and simultaneously conduct oceanographic and biological

of the water around the sharks every few seconds, and these

surveys of the environment. The autonomous Saildrones were

high-resolution data enable a much better understanding of

deployed prior to the expedition and surveyed the White Shark

the dive patterns of individual sharks in these deep oceanic

Café ahead of the ship’s arrival.

waters, providing new insights into their behaviors. The tags also

The researchers originally tracked the sharks to the Café

provided the focal points for Falkor’s oceanographic surveys,

using pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs). These sophisticated

which probed Café waters below the surface of the ocean where

biologging instruments were attached externally to 20 white

satellites cannot observe.

sharks off the coast of central California in fall and winter, when

“We compared a wide array of biological ocean-observing

the white sharks were feeding in nearshore waters. The tags were

tools to investigate how to census ocean ecosystems rapidly,”

programmed to pop off the sharks while Falkor was in the Café

Block said. “We found a high diversity of deep sea fish and squids

area in May, in hopes that they would help guide the researchers’

(over 100 species), which in combination with observations made

shipboard investigations. Once the tags surfaced and transmitted

by the ROV and DNA sequencing, demonstrate a viable trophic

their position to Earth-orbiting satellites, the team recovered 10

pathway to support large pelagic organisms such as sharks and

tags released from the sharks. Six more tags transmitted their data

tunas.”

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 41

Slocum Glider used on the White Shark Café cruise.

The team also used traditional net tows to sample marine life from the

The oceanographic data collected during the cruise suggests that in the

“midwater” zone up to 1,500 ft. deep, while simultaneously targeting prey

Café region, small-scale eddies draw nutrients closer to the surface and enhance

species with the ship’s echosounder and sequencing DNA from water samples

biological productivity in this region. These swirling masses of water help

to test for the presence of sharks and prey species. In addition, they conducted

generate mixing and promote ocean productivity below the surface, which has

measurements of phytoplankton concentration, water chemistry and physics.

not previously been captured by satellite data in the region.

In a pioneering first, the team successfully sequenced the DNA of white sharks

The research will enable the scientists to better understand why white sharks

shipboard in the open ocean waters near where the tags had popped free from

invest the energy to travel out to the Café area, and the reason these massive

the sharks.

predators concentrate in an area where they may be vulnerable to high seas fisheries.

42 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Below: PhD candidate Elizabeth (Eily) Andruszkiewicz and Dr. Nathan Truelove process water samples in order to extract and detect DNA from different vertebrates that have used the White Shark Café’s waters.

UNESCO has proposed the area as a potential high-seas protected area. The fact that this is an ocean oasis and not a desert region “is visibly clear from our

You can also track the tagged sharks at http://whitesharkcafe.org.

Visit https://drive.google.com/open?id= for more photos.

oceanographic observations,” said Dr. Bruce Robison, a deep sea biologist from MBARI, who added, “Our survey, using a variety of oceanographic tools, provides a benchmark on how to census the open ocean.”

To learn more about the expedition, visit https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/ voyage-white-shark-cafe/.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 43

Artist at Sea SOI’s Artist-at-Sea program fulfills their mission to communicate ocean science with audiences around the world, offering a platform for artists and scientists to collaborate and tell the story of the ocean in unique ways. Bringing together experts from different disciplines has a transformative effect on both the scientists and artists. In the following pages, we’ve featured three artists whose creations were inspired by the sea and science during their time aboard R/V Falkor.

Lucy Bellwood

Bellwood working on pages from her comic Mappin' the Floor aboard R/V Falkor.

Lucy Bellwood is a professional adventure cartoonist based in Portland, OR. Her comics projects have covered a wide range of expeditions, including rafting trips through the Grand Canyon, cuttingedge oceanography in the Pacific and an expedition aboard the last wooden whaling ship in the world. She is the author and illustrator of Baggywrinkles: a Lubber’s Guide to Life at Sea, an educational memoir about her time working aboard tall ships, and 100 Demon Dialogues, a handbook for living with imposter syndrome. Find her online as @LuBellWoo, or at lucybellwood.com.

1) How would you describe your art?

I’m a professional adventure cartoonist, which essentially means I get to travel the world and bring back visual narratives for my readers to enjoy. I like telling stories that are approachable, educational and irrepressibly enthusiastic.

44 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com 44 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

2) What's your favorite medium?

When working in the field, I always prefer pen, ink and watercolor. They allow

6) How can art save our oceans?

The sea is an abstraction for so many people. Even

for the perfect blend of precision and variety needed to capture the wonder of the

those living on the coast may never have the opportunity

world.

to explore a blue water environment. Telling visual stories with an immediate, approachable hook can create a sense of empathy and stewardship both in those

3) How does your passion for the marine environment influence your art?

who love the sea and those who have only ever dreamed of visiting it.

7) What's your favorite color?

Spending time working as a tall ship sailor gave me a deep appreciation for the infinite variety of the ocean. The colors and patterns of the sea are never quite the same. I’m always trying to capture the specific feel of being in a new

I’m on an enormous peacock blue streak right now, which makes a lot of sense given how much time I spend staring at the water.

environment—whether on or off the water. I also just love maritime history. It makes sharing stories with enthusiasm very easy.

4) What were the best aspects of working on a research vessel?

Scrambling up the companionway every morning to watch the sunrise.

There’s always a moment of suspense before making it on deck as to what kind of scene you’re going to find. Being able to pester so many knowledgeable professionals about their craft at any hour of the day or night was also a huge bonus.

5) What were the greatest challenges of working on a research vessel?

Free-handing straight lines in a rough seaway. My visual style is very precise, so I perfected the art of timing my pen lines with the roll of the vessel.

Left: Pen and ink studies from Bellwood's sketchbook, getting a feel for the environment of the vessel. Above: Finished pages from Mappin' the Floor, colored by Joey Weiser.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 45

Kirsten Carlson Kirsten is a scientific illustrator, children’s book illustrator-author and graphic designer. Her enthusiasm for learning and science background in marine biology provide much of the inspiration for her work. She crafts stories, both written and visual, about nature using creativity, science, and her imagination to connect scientists, children, educators, and the public with the beauty and wonder of nature.

1) How would you describe your art?

I tend to call what I do more illustration than art. That’s because the work I

5) What were the greatest challenges of working on a research vessel?

create is inspired by viewing nature through the lens of science. I love learning and observing, and behind every piece I create is a story.

Creating art on a pitching and rolling ship was a big challenge. Early on, my watercolors took a sliding dive off the end of a table when we were in rough seas.

2) What's your favorite medium?

It took several days, but I figured out little tricks to work with the sea state instead of fight it. I also had plenty of seasick medication—I was on it 24/7 so I could

I absolutely love watercolor. I find it deeply gratifying to use water as a

stare at monitors, draw specimens through scopes and not worry about being

medium to illustrate the sea and the creatures in it.

miserable in a bunk.

3) How does your passion for the marine environment influence your art?

6) How can art save our oceans?

I want people to fathom that we are part of a global ecosystem and that

As a graduate student in marine biology, I went to Antarctica and dove under

each of us, acting individually, can make a difference as a ‘we.’ Art is a way of

the ice. While there, I had the epiphany that to convey the beauty and wonder

communicating that visually, so as an artist that is passionate about our oceans, I

I was inspired by in nature, I needed to combine science and art. And, I’ve been

hope to inspire others to fathom that we can make a difference.

doing it ever since.

7) What's your favorite color?

4) What were the best aspects of working on a research vessel?

My favorite color (at present) is Prussian blue because it is the pigment used in Being embedded with the scientists as they were doing their work was phenomenal. Being present while research was happening offered me the

the creation of one of the earliest sci-art instruments to measure the color of the sky—the cyanometer. I used a replica of it daily on the ship.

opportunity to ask questions, make observations and be creative while interacting with the science as it happened. It helped my work evolve in ways I couldn’t imagine.

46 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

(Find more info on the cyanometer here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ a-scientist-invented-the-cyanometer-just-to-measure-the-blueness-of-the-sky).

Pages from Kirsten’s sketchbook created during the Sea to Space Particle Investigation (https://schmidtocean.org/cruiselog-post/picture-worth-thousand-words/). Top left: Sketch notes from a science seminar by Dr. Meg Estapa. Top right: Experimenting with color. Bottom: Monochromatic watercolor studies of plankton from a scientific instrument called an Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) that sampled 5 ml of seawater every 22 minutes; the samples were incorporated into Kirsten’s Artist at Sea Plankton Poster.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 47

Rebecca Rutstein Rebecca Rutstein, whose work spans painting, sculpture and public art, explores abstraction inspired by geology, biology and marine science. She has completed art residencies on land and aboard science research vessels across the globe. Rutstein is slated to make her first descent to the ocean floor in the deep-sea submersible Alvin in fall 2018, along with a solo exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art. Her work has been featured on NPR and in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and Vice Magazine. With over 25 solo exhibitions, Rutstein has exhibited widely in museums and institutions and has received numerous awards including a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Her work can be found in public collections including Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Rutstein holds a BFA from Cornell University and an MFA from University of Pennsylvania.

1) How would you describe your art?

and how much we still don’t know about the deep ocean. I have been working with high resolution sonar mapping data of the ocean floor collected during

My work expands upon my interest in science and the undercurrents that

expeditions and incorporating them into paintings that give the viewer a

continually shape and reshape our world. Inspired by geology, microbiology and

small glimpse of this hidden world. I am also interested in the phenomenon of

marine science, my paintings and installations become networks where scale is

bioluminescence in the ocean and am working on a sculptural installation that

shifted and obscured, articulating fractal patterns found in nature. Incorporating

will mimic bioluminescence using motion sensors and light.

data and maps, I construct layered spaces where juxtapositions coalesce: micro and macro, expressive and restrained, graphic and atmospheric, organic and

4) What were the best aspects of working on a research vessel?

geometric, linear and solid.

Collaborating with the scientists and crew, creating a studio in the wet lab,

2) What's your favorite medium?

embracing the rocking motion of the ship into my artistic process, finding my place within the established rhythms of ship life, making friends from around the

Painting is the most direct and expressive medium for me to explore ideas.

Over the last five years, I have also delved into sculpture, incorporating laser cut

globe, and feeling the freedom of the open sea and sky, all culminated into an unforgettable experience.

steel and LED lights into interactive installations.

3) How does your passion for the marine environment influence your art?

5) What were the greatest challenges of working on a research vessel?

Because I was joining the Falkor in a remote location, I could not ship art

Sharing the important research of marine scientists through the lens of art offers the public a greater understanding of what these scientists are exploring

48 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

supplies beforehand, so I needed to travel with and anticipate all necessary items.

Motion and weather have been the biggest challenges for me on a research

vessel. On my first expedition at sea, we were trailing a hurricane in the South Pacific Ocean! The extreme rocking motion of the ship made it very challenging to paint, but I ended up finding a way to incorporate that motion into the paintings.

6) How can art save our oceans?

A driving force in my work is the desire to communicate scientific exploration to the public.

In my current series, through creating visual experiences that shed light on the hidden terrains of the deep ocean, I want to engage the viewer and heighten their connection to these environments.

With greater appreciation comes empathy, and with empathy, environmental stewardship.

7) What's your favorite color?

Blue, of course!

Above: Plume I, acrylic on canvas, 18x18". 2016. Working with satellite data of the Mekong River plume in Southern Vietnam. Left: Engineer's Ridge acrylic on canvas, 18x18". 2016. Working with sonar mapping data from R/V Falkor. Below: Unexpected Seamounts, acrylic on canvas, 18x18". 2016.

Working with sonar mapping data from R/V Falkor.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 49

50 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

BRENT SHAVNORE a photo portfolio

Florida has always fascinated me with the fact it could be raining in one spot, then three feet to the left—not a drop.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 51

Above: The Piece that Broke the Internet. At about three years into creating these digital art peices, I assumed it was common knowledge that my name attached to an image automatically classified it as surrealism and digital art; however, this photo proved that assumption wrong. This image was a still frame from a time-lapse I was shooting as Sub Tropical Storm Alberto was allegedly approaching Pensacola Beach. The clouds were looking rather apocalyptic, but as usual, when imported to the photo software, it looked nothing like what it looked like in real life. In an artistic attempt to recreate the scene’s ominous power, I flipped the cloud upside down. From meteorologists, to the actual Weather Channel (yes they actually aired it), the image was shared and viewed over a million times. Fortunately, for the people in panic thinking Pensacola Beach was about to get wiped away by an upside-down cloud, Snopes.com came in to save the day with an article and the true backstory behind this piece that broke the internet.

52 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Right: Crab Island Super Cell. Crab Island in Destin, Florida, is no stranger to massive thunderstorms and huge super cells painting the sky in the distance.

Below: Keep Off. I always have been intrigued by these extraterrestrial-looking lifeguard stands. With the right lightning strike and colors you can really make them look rather ominous.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 53

Above: Cobia Fishing. This was an actual photo of Pensacola Beach. Well...kind of. The sky was taken off the back of a boat fishing for cobia, and the foreground was taken from the pier. The two were stitched together, then the birds were sprinkled in from a vector file.

54 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Left: Cinque Terre Night to Day. This photo is a product of working with Buffalo Board Games and their Night to Day Jigsaw puzzle series. This photo actually caused a lot of commotion and controversy in the Italian art community. They believe in “pure untouched art” and an “American” night-to-day shot of Cinque Terre, according to them, damaged the historic preservation of the village.

Right: Lighthouse Rainbow.

Lighthouses, the coastline and nighttime have always been fascinating to me. After an evening thunderstorm, the light from the lighthouse’s lamp hit the cloud just right and produced a beautiful but faint rainbow. It would have been virtually impossible to catch on the camera, so I painted one in. Lunar rainbows are a real thing—look it up—but what I created is the “Lighthouse Rainbow.”

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 55

56 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Left: Sunset Showers. Pensacola Beach sunsets are not complete without an awesome thunderstorm. The rain effect is easily made by lowering the opacity of the pier to give the illusion that the guys going for the kings and amberjacks at the end of the pier are getting soaked, while the guys watching the people on the beach are dry. Right: Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle has been photographed millions of times, and every photo looks identical—to me that is boring. I had to spice it up a little. This is the only photo of the castle sitting on an iceburg as a ship slowly passes by.

Left: Stonehenge on an Island.

Funny story with this one: I tagged the location of this photo in Switzerland due to the fact the mountains in the background are Swiss. Believe it or not, people commented on the photo on Instagram and said, “Oh, I didn’t know Stonehenge was in Switzerland.”

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 57

Cape Elizabeth Rainbow. The rainbow was actually setting just to the east of this beautiful Maine lighthouse. I simply took a photo of the rainbow, then took a photo of the lighthouse and blended the two together.

58 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Above: Giraffe on Ice. I had this itch to do something awesome and different, so I thought of a random animal and the last place you would see it. Unfortunately, after posting this photo, I had animal activists telling me that that was cruel to the giraffe because his feet were cold. I reassured them no giraffes were harmed in the creation of this digital piece.

Below: Juno Beach Bolt. A lot of people think in order to catch lightning, you have to be quick to the shutter. In reality, you just need a neutral density filter, and set your camera to a 30-second exposure. If lighting strikes in that 30 seconds and you have the shutter open, you will capture a bolt just like this.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 59

The Edith E. This boat is actually on the side of the road off of highway 37 in California. I felt bad for the boat and wanted to give it better resting spot—one a little more scenic and dramatic.

60 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Above: Take Cover. After seeing a waterspout for the first time in Pensacola Bay, I was very intrigued and had to recreate the scene. I went back to that pier the next day with my camera and took a photo of the scene, cropped in a new sky, then painted the ‘spout in with my digital brush. Surprisingly, that is remarkably similar to what I saw the previous day.

Left: Titanic Restoration. This was an actual photo of the Titanic departing Southampton on April 10th, 1912. I digitally restored the image the best I could, and it honestly was one of the more satisfying projects I’ve done.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 61

BY NICK HONACHEFSKY

I am a hurricane survivor. On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy literally wiped my life off the map in Normandy Beach, New Jersey. I lost everything I had ever owned: my house, all the family photographs, all the fishing gear, all the, well, just all of it.

There was nothing left. Even 51/2 years later, I still am without my home. Yet even a week after Sandy, I was out fishing, fumbling around at the inlet with my brotherin-arms Sean Reilly, with borrowed rods and adorned with ragtagged Salvation Army clothes. It might have been shock, but fishing truly kept me anchored to sanity. When Hurricane Irma roared through as a Cat 4 over the Florida Keys with utter mass destruction last September, I felt for them.

I wondered how they would rebound, and how the community would rally together and rebuild, and especially, what would happen to the fishing that tied the community and tourism together? I wanted to see the Keys post-Irma for myself. I got my answers. Here’s how I saw it:

Stock Island 62 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Islamorada

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 63

DAY 1&2 - APRIL 8/9 when we hopped on with Captain Dave Brucker of Key West Charters at Stock Riding down with photographer Sean Reilly, the straight-line Route 1 through

Island, sending live pinfish out of Key West in Flemish Cut. Tarpon were rolling,

the Keys was a little rough near where Irma really pounded in Bahia Honda,

giving us shots of adrenaline as they cruised the floats where the live pinfish

Cudjoe Key and Big Pine Key—there were a bunch of empty lots and desiccated

fluttered about. It was but a second until Sean jumped a 100-lb. tarpon clean off.

mangroves, but overall, it was surprisingly cleaned up and rebuilt. I was happy to

After two more hookups and bust-offs, we poled the Key West flats banging on

see the community not only moving forward, but succeeding. Sean and I put our

huge, 4-ft. great barracuda, then set up on the bomb wreck, casting leadheads

bags down at Ocean’s Edge Resort & Marina in Stock Island and took an Uber to

tipped with shrimp to pick off mangrove and yellowtail snapper. Then we tucked

hit the night life in Key West, imbibing on libations at Sloppy Joe’s, Captain Tony’s

back into Key West Harbor where it was a knock-down battle with one jack

and Boars Head Grill & Tavern, just to make sure the vibe was still alive and kicking.

crevalle and yellow jack after another. Pork sandwiches at Hurricane Harbor iced

It was. Tenfold. Mallory Square’s sunset and revelry timed right in like clockwork.

the day off straight. Key West was alive! I was pleasantly surprised—like nothing

My first question of the fishing rebound was answered the next morning

ever changed.

Top left: Palm trees sway and beckon visitors in a timeless view at Cheeca Lodge. Bottom left: Iconic Alligator Light weathered Irma just fine, and still holds its legendary barracuda schools. Above: Permit eagerly inhale blue claw crab baits along the Islamorada flats as Honachefsky hoists a fine specimen with Captain Richard Stancyzk. Photos courtesy of Nick Honachefsky.

64 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

DAY 3 - APRIL 10 resilience of Keys locals.

After breakfast at Dolphin Deli, Sean and I headed back north on our way to

Getting down to business, Richard took us out on his flats skiff to set up just

Islamorada, picking up shrimp bait at a tackle shop at Cudjoe Key, the epicenter of

outside the tackle shop in a channel to the south, six rods out baited with two

Irma’s wrath. The tackle shops seemed to be running on all cylinders and talk with

whole shrimp on a size 3/0 worm hook for cruising bonefish. “I think the flats here

locals sounded like they hadn’t missed a Florida Keys beat. Entering Islamorada,

are fresh and clean now since Irma,” noted Stancyzk. “The layer of silt that’s been

we made the stop at Channel #2 to kill an hour fishing before we were set to check

around here for decades is now gone and its being recolonized by new seafloor

in at Cheeca Lodge. Dropping shrimp on leadheads from the concrete wall, Sean

growth. It’s like the sea floor is what it was 50 years ago, fresh and new.”

and I were doing a bang-up job on mangrove snappers when I spied a school

After an hour of incoming tide, we didn’t have any hits, so Stanczyk sped back

of Spanish macks gliding through with the tide. Immediately, I made a cast and

into the flats and set up again with shrimp. This time, the first rod off the gunnel

ripped the jig back to trick one lone Spanish to come whack it and burn the drag

went off and Sean reeled in his first-ever Keys bonefish, a 4-pounder. “These fish

up pretty good. Sean simultaneously hooked into another huge yellow jack, doing

are eating more aggressively now than they ever had been,” said Stanzcyk. It was

the double dance tango on the bridge, casting and lighting up more yellow jacks,

roughly five minutes before the next rod got bent and I battled a bigger, 6-lb.

jack crevalles and some pretty darn big barracuda. For an hour pit stop on the side

bone to boatside. The sun started setting, and going on Richard’s hunch that

of the Keys highway, the fishing was simply insane.

a permit might be around, we sent out a rod with a live blue claw crab. “We’ve

Sean and I barely made our appointment and checked into Cheeca Lodge,

seen more blue claws around here than ever before since Irma,” said Stanczyk.

six days after its official reopening. The place was being reborn—new palm trees

“I have no idea why the crabs proliferated here, but it’s hard to keep a bait in the

being planted and landscaping crews working furiously to restore the beauty I

water as the crabs pick off the shrimp.” I posited that the confluence of blue claw

once knew. It was all clean, crisp and ready for business as usual. We didn’t wait

crabs may just be the impetus to give a jolt to the permit fishing in the area and

long to fish again. After a quick meal of Cuban sandwiches at Cheeca, Sean and I

we talked about the possibilities when the crab rod went down. I pulled it back,

sped over to meet up with Keys legend Richard Stancyzk, owner of Bud n’ Mary’s

twitched it and dropped it back, and BAM! As my drag sang, everyone on board

Marina. During Irma’s fury, I had watched Richard ride the storm out from his

was giving their thoughts on the beast at the end of the line—a bonnethead

4th floor condo as he streamed the feed live on Facebook until it finally cut out. I

shark, big bonefish and what not—and after a solid 20 minutes, we saw it! PERMIT!

wondered how Bud n’ Mary’s fared after the storm. They used to have a feral cat

Gracefully, I battled him boatside where just as Richard tailed him, the hook just

there named Jimmy, named after legendary Keys Captain Jimmy Albright, that

fell out of his mouth. Stanczyk called it an easy 10 pounds. In all my years fishing

always greeted patrons, but he passed along a few years back. We were greeted

the Keys, I never caught a permit. This one I will remember fondly.

by the new cat on the block, tentatively named Sabiki, playing with a 4-in. link of heavy chain near Max Gaspeny, the shop manager. And the shop? It looked just as I remembered 20 years ago—fishing pictures everywhere and tall tales of salty characters and captains hustling and bustling about. A true testament to the

Left: The new cat on the block, Sabiki (tentatively named) greets fishermen at Bud n’ Mary’s in Islamorada. Above: Blue claw crabs proliferate in Keys waters after Irma.

Also, they make superb permit baits.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 65

DAY 4 - APRIL 11 down to take a breather. Moments later, his rod launched off the dock into the Sean and I were up for breakfast at 5 a.m. amidst the hustle and bustle at Bud n’ Mary’s, then out on the boat with Captain Charlie Scoble, Mate Max Gaspeny

water, bobbed around and headed out to sea.

I looked incredulously at Sean who, without hesitation, said, “I’m goin’ in!” He

and Stanczyk, where we promptly sabiki-rigged pilchards, then set up on the

jumped in to grab the floating rod and landed in five feet of water off the pier’s

Eagle wreck with kite baits in hopes of a sailfish. Meantime, Sean and I dropped

end. Soaked like a wet bird dog in chest-deep water, he began to reel but the line

down with heavy duty ugly sticks and bottom fishing rods with a live pilchard.

was snapped, nothing was there—no doubt a monster shark cut through the

Sean reeled up the first 8-lb. mutton snapper and a huge, 4-lb. yellowtail. In two

braid. Sean couldn’t believe his situation as he was near drowning in the water.

more drops, I repeated the same feat. Sailfish were ghosts this day, so we picked

Sean semi-swam in a dog paddle to a moored boat on the pier to pull himself up

up and went to troll around iconic Alligator Light, picking up a huge, 12-lb.

and get back on the dock. As the pier was literally days old, the escape ladder had

barracuda (which Richard predicted would be there), then set up on a rock ledge

yet to be installed on the dock.

for more bottom fish. Sean proceeded to reel in a sweet black grouper, and by this time I was getting jealous of Sean jumping the rods before I could put my camera down. The next two freeline pilchard rods were mine. As the reels screamed out, I reeled in two, 10-lb. king mackerels, then gave up the last rod for Sean to beat a solid false albacore. Sunset was creeping in, and Sean and I both wanted to enjoy our bountiful catches.

We got back to Cheeca Lodge then hopped the gratuitous shuttle to Lorelei Bar to celebrate the day with Gaspeny and Lisa Thornhill, manager of Cheeca Lodge. I asked Lisa how the community has rebounded and she posited, “We are a strong community. We have plenty of ups and downs, but the driving force to keep moving is why we rebuilt stronger than ever.”

After a rumrunner or two and not satisfied just yet with fishing, Lisa, Sean and I headed back at midnight to Cheeca and set up on the newly rebuilt pier to toss mullet chunks off the dock. After reeling in a 60-lb. southern stingray that put the pier tourists in a frenzy, Sean had a moment of exhaustion and put his chunk rod Above: Max Gaspeny and Sean Reilly show off a beauty black grouper caught on a live pilchard. Left: Jack crevalles punish light tackle just outside the hustle and bustle of Key West’s Mallory Square. Below: Marine life such as loggerhead turtles flourish in electric blue waters of the Keys. Photos courtesy of Nick Honachefsky.

66 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

DAY 5 - APRIL 12 Sean and I hung out at the lodge and met Lisa at noon to shoot the breeze of the past two day’s fishing. Lisa laughed at the remembrance of Sean jumping off the dock to get the floating rod to catch his fish. “Glad you told me about the ladder,” said Lisa. “It’s all about getting back to normal and knowing what our patrons want and need here in the Keys.” True to her word, the safety ladder was installed the next day!

As Sean and I left Cheeca Lodge to head back to the Miami airport, we took a split second in Islamorada to stop by the art studio of Pasta Pantaleo, and as a stroke of luck would have it, Pasta was there, painting a newly commissioned, 6-ft. majestic mural of a tarpon laying in a Keys channel. I thought of the peace, serenity and beauty of his paint strokes, which put me at ease. Pasta said with a content smile and charm, “We’ve been through many hurricanes down here. I’m still painting and you’re still fishing. Nothing changes.” Bouncing back, I thought to myself. Yes, bouncing back. Sandy, Irma, whatever hurricane comes our way, you can’t keep a good life down.

Above: Local marine artist Pasta Pantaleo puts the finishing strokes on a tarpon painting. Left: Kickin’ back, Honachefsky takes in the

Cheeca Lodge - www.cheeca.com

Visit Florida Keys - www.visitfloridakeys.com

Bud n’ Mary’s - www.budnmarys.com

Ocean’s Edge - www.oceansedgekeywest.com

Key West Guides - www.keywestproguides.com

Pasta Pantaleo - www.artbypasta.com

ONLINE

VISIT US

clean, cool vibes of Key West.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 67

Hook & Cook

Catch it, Cook it, Consume it: Louisiana Style

BY FRED GARTH

Journalists chow down on piles of mudbugs at Bourgeois Fishing Charters.

68 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

t s e F d o o F e h T I was supposed to be fishing in South Louisiana. Monster redfish and tasty

Ginger, who keeps Toe and the rest of the crew on their toes, speaks the truth.

Our crew was fortunate enough to get the grand tour of Bourbon House, which began in the kitchen with Dickie and the head chef, sampling delicious fried oysters and redfish dip. We had brought along some of the reds and specks we’d caught that day, so we presented them to the chef for a down-home Louisiana Hook and Cook extravaganza.

“For years, restaurants in Louisiana weren’t allowed to cook what sport fisher-

speckled trout—that was the damn plan. Yet, I found myself in New Orleans, on

men caught,” Dickie told us. “A couple of years ago, the state finally passed new

Bourbon Street no less. That usually spells brain trauma, but this time I was inside

laws that changed that. We love it because it just adds to the visitor’s experience

the Bourbon House restaurant being served like royalty. Not that I’m complaining.

and you know for sure what kind of fish you’re eating and where it came from—

In fact, I was downright giddy. White tablecloths, dapper servers, fine wines, oys-

you caught it!”

ters, baked trout, redfish dip and, the crème on the brûlée, so to speak, the head chef popped out every few minutes just to make sure our pallets were smiling.

Being asked to a delectable evening of dining by Dickie Brennan is like an invitation from Bill Gates to chat about software. You do it. Among restaurateurs worldwide, the Brennan name is of royal blood. In Louisiana, it’s Godlike. So, we

We gawked in awe as the chef prepared some whole trout and redfish “on the half-shell,” which entails filleting the red but leaving the skin and scales attached to one side. It’s then baked skin down until the meat slides off the skin with the gentlest touch of your fork.

Without going into every delicious detail, I’ll just say that we left NOLA stuffed

willingly split the fishing lodge for a night of consuming exquisite calories and

fatter than a pregnant nutria. We enjoyed DB wines, Dickie Brennan’s private label,

indulging recklessly in the spirits.

and finished the night with a crème brûlée that was inspirational. We worried that

The culinary twist to our fishing itinerary has been orchestrated by a couple

our fishing companions back at the lodge would be jealous, but apparently they

of clever Cajuns: Ginger Jenné (pronounced “Gin-A”) and her partner in crime,

feasted on gumbo, shrimp and plenty of fresh, local seafood—another bon temps

Theophile Bourgeois, a name so obviously Cajun that pronouncing it requires a

in Cajun World.

Frenchie tongue twist. “Toe-feel, Boarsh-Wa” is the proper phonetic utterance, but some just call him Captain Toe to keep things simple.

Ginger and Toe run Bourgeois Fishing Charters, a bayou paradise in the fishing village of Barataria, a place with more boats than cars, more fishermen than anything else and a high school called Fisher High. The local grocery is a Piggly Wiggly. The anchor store in town is a Dollar General. The town is cozy and quiet, yet only 30 minutes from the frenzy of downtown New Orleans. A few years back, Capt. Toe bought an old school house and converted it into a fishing lodge with some bunk rooms and a few private suites. It’s rustic chic. Stuffed furry critters and lunker fish hang everywhere. Fishin’ and huntin’ photos spice up to the rusty, corrugated decor. Seating in the dining room is at picnic tables. Coffee flows freely and a fully-stocked open bar is set up on the screen porch 24/7. It’s laid back, low key and relaxing in every sense, except for this fishing, which is 100% ethanol-free, high octane.

From the lodge, the boat dock is just about a Drew-Brees-Hail-Mary-pass away, where a half dozen center console boats hang in lifts ready for action. Two float planes wait in the hanger ready to buzz eager beavers to the Chandeleur Islands for epic trout and red hookfests. All of this should have been enough for the geeky group of journalists Ginger and Toe has assembled. But no. They decided to toss in a massive mouthful of New Orleans.

“We literally have people coming here from all over the world,” Ginger said. “To travel all that way and not get a taste of New Orleans just doesn’t seem right. We know Dickie because he fishes with us, so it became a natural partnership.”

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 69

t s e F h s i F e Th A 20-knot blow will jack up even the most perfectly planned fishing trip.

Nonetheless, I suited up in my Frogg Toggs bibs and jacket (the same gear I wear to snow ski) and boarded Capt. Dave Terese’s 20-ft. Pathfinder center console. You can legitimately call Capt. Dave a Cajun or a Coon Ass, which is slang for Cajun and can be a compliment or an insult depending on how and to whom you’re saying it. In this case, it’s an endearing term. Capt. Dave is proud of his roots that trace back to Sicily. His genealogy may or may not have anything to do with his fishing prowess, but his disposition is easy, friendly and happy—the perfect combo when spending six hours on a boat trying to catch fish in near gale force winds.

He tucked us into the lee of a small embankment and we ended up landing almost 20 specs and a few reds—not a bad day for a Monday. A few of the boats got skunked so we considered ourselves lucky, or, to be modest...we’re just better fishermen than they are. It wasn’t one of those 100-fish bayou days that you hear about, but at least we knew we’d be able to supply the chef with something to cook.

The next day, the breeze died down and conditions were near perfect. Being a topwater fanatic, I was ready. Once again, we got out before sunrise and I caught a 3-lb. trout on my second cast on the topwater. Trout were rolling all over the surface, so the signs were there for me to slay ‘em on top. But for some reason, the fish gods wouldn’t have it. I went back to plastic and lead, dragged it slowly across

Above: Captain Dave Terese with a good day’s catch. Below: Jack-up rigs line the bay-

the bottom and hooked up time after time. I lost count, but we put at least 30 in

ous ready to service oil rigs in the gulf.

the cooler.

If you’re thinking that keeping 30 fish is excessive, you have to consider that the limit is 25 fish per person in Cajun Country. We had four fishing in the boat so we could have brought home 100 fish. This is part of the mystique of Louisiana, the Sportsman’s Paradise. When people aren’t fishing, they’re hunting. When they’re not fishing or hunting, they’re buying fishing and hunting gear. When they’re not fishing, hunting or buying gear, they’re talking about fishing, hunting and buying gear. It’s more than just a lifestyle. Down there, it’s life.

If you haven’t experienced South Louisiana, it’s impossible to completely understand how vast and prolific the wildlife is until you’ve seen, caught or shot it yourself. For those who visit regularly, like I do, there are so many reasons to keep visiting. The fishing, the food, the lovely accent, the amazing people—it draws me back again and again. Now, Ginger and Theophile have piled on one more spicy layer to the LA feast—a night of culinary joy in NOLA.

70 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

t s e F r a e G The

A new product called Vision could revolutionize that way you monitor your boat.

The company calls it a digital dash—an all-in-one, 7-in. tablet computer that allows you to control all of your devices on a touch screen. No more switches?

Really? That’s the promise.

Vision has full web access on the Android platform and can be connected to any accessory including trim tabs, bilge pumps, live wells, lights and sound systems. It’s impressive not only because it can streamline your boat, but the

One of the main courses in the Ginger Jenné and Theophile Bourgeois

Vision itself is a perfect example of where form meets function. The high bright

smorgasbord is a half-day of presentations from some of the fishing industry’s

screen is readable from any angle in full sun even with polarized sunglasses. It also

most innovative companies. Each company shared their newest innovations while

features a “Water Shade” that locks the screen against water spray, which might

we mainlined fresh coffee and soaked up the juicy news.

activate or change screen settings.

If that’s not enough, there’s a built-in camera for hands-free photos you can

Work Sharp

post online. You can even check email, stream a football game and watch videos.

The one thing it won’t do is open a can of beer. You still have to do a few things for yourself.

Keeping a razor-sharp blade is top priority when you fillet a fish, especially

www.power-pole.com

cutting through the tough skin and scales of a redfish or red snapper. If you’ve never seen the Work Sharp Guided

Skeeter Boats

Sharpening System, you’re missing out. This knife and tool sharpener looks like the love child

Trying to decide which boat to buy is not easy. There are at least 100

of a belt sander and a grinding

companies making boats these days, compared with “only” about 55 car makers.

stone.

To cut through the noise, talking to fishing guides and your fishing buddies can

The mini-sanding belts are about a half-inch wide and spin on the Work Sharp kind of like a belt sander. They allow

help you find a reputable boat maker.

One that’s been around for quite a few years is Skeeter. In fact, it began in 1948 and is the oldest bass boat company in the U.S. Now owned by Yamaha,

you to sharpen knives, scissors, tools and anything else in your workshed. It has everything from heavy grit belts for the dullest edge to polishing belts to put the finishing touches on the blade.

This is one tool that even Bubbas need to read the manual. It’s not extremely complicated, but it needs to be used properly for optimum performance. www.worksharptools.com

Power Pole Back in 1998, a guy named John Oliverio came up with the idea of Power

Skeeter has an all-composite hull so there’s no wood to rot. That may be why they

Pole. It makes sense that

have a lifetime warranty on their hulls. One unique factor that Skeeter developed

his background was in

is their Engine Torque Transfer System. This takes the load off of the transom and

mechanical engineering and

spreads it out over the rest of the hull. By using a specialized metal bracket that

computer science. Now, the

is built into the transom and then connected to the stringers, Skeeter boats have

wildly successful company is

eliminated transom flex, which helps to get the boat on plane quicker. For fishing

spreading its wings to

fanatics, that’s a big plus.

encompass the entirety of

www.skeeterboats.com

your boat, not just the stern.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 71

Flambeau If you’re like me, you have way too much fishing gear. Or is there such a thing as too much?

Hmm. Well, either way, Flambeau has come to rescue those of us whose garage looks more like

know. ZeRust releases a corrosion inhibiting vapor that settles on exposed metal

a tackle shop than what it should be used for: a place to put all the junk we don’t

surfaces to form a microscopic protective layer. It’s true! You can learn many more

use. While Flambeau doesn’t make gear to actually catch fish, they make every

details on the Flambeau website, but you should know that ZeRust works best

conceivable storage container for your gear. And, while tackle boxes may not be

on new lures so it’s best to remove your lures from the packaging before you use

sexy, this company has figured out how to sizzle them up. It’s called ZeRust and,

them, then put them in the tackle box overnight. That gives those free-wheeling

as the name implies, it keeps your lures and hooks shiny and without rust. Magic,

molecules a chance to coat the metal. Sounds like science fiction but it’s science

you ask? Well, kind of. ZeRust has a rust inhibitor made with a secret chemical

fact. In a final act of brilliance, Flambeau has integrated the ZeRust formula into

formula. It’s invisible, odorless, non-toxic, non-reactive, non-flammable and non-

their plastic dividers so you can have rust protection built into the tackle box.

allergenic. So, how do we know it’s there? Well, when your hooks don’t rust, you’ll

Amazing! www.flambeauoutdoors.com

DIVA Women Outdoors Worldwide Well over 90% of fishermen are men. But if more than 40 million people fish and 10% are women, well, that’s about four million female anglers who are being underserved by the fishing community. Maybe that’s why DIVA WOW struck a nerve. Founded in 1999 by Judy Rhodes, the DIVA WOW mission is to help, teach and support women worldwide in a friendly, non-threatening, supportive environment by introducing them to fishing and shooting sports and a variety of outdoor activities.

DIVA WOW runs clinics, sponsors trips and is focused on mentoring women and youth. With successful clinics throughout the U.S., they have introduced over 4,000 women and youth to the shooting and fishing worlds. www.divawow.com

72 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

OtterBox What started as a company that made a dry box, expanded into phone cases, then acquired LifeProof waterproof phone housings, has now grown into new territories—coolers and stainless steel tumblers.

The cooler space is crowded, for sure, but OtterBox has dived in head-first with both a soft and a hard cooler. Made in the good ol' USA, OtterBox teamed with a Detroit-based manufacturer and used some high-tech automotive techniques to grind out some super, uh, cool coolers.

The Venture 45 is a full 45-quart cooler and, according to OB, it keeps ice up to 14 days. To say that it’s more than a cooler is an understatement. The Venture is designed with a mounting system that accepts a variety of accessories like a bottle opener, a dry storage tray and cup holders. There’s also a cutting board attachment.

Their soft coolers, the Trooper 20 and 30 (quarts) seems to me to be more appropriate for boating, especially kayaking. It’s totally waterproof and a bit of a cross between a dry bag and a cooler. The latches are super simple and can be opened and closed with one hand (one of their designers has a prosthetic hand, so the latch design is purposeful).

Like the Venture, the soft cooler has accessory attachments for bottle openers and other fun stuff. It sets nicely upright on its hard bottom yet is soft enough to stuff into place if necessary. It keeps ice for three-plus days. I’ve thrown mine around in my boat for a few weeks and it still looks new. I guess I need to get more fish blood on it. www.otterbox.com

Frogg Toggs The guys at frogg toggs like to remind me that their froggs won’t leak (as in “take a leak”) on you. That’s their corny, inside joke. But it’s also true because that rain gear won’t leak even if you put a fire hose on it. And the wind stays out, too. Originally made for duck hunting, I use mine for rain protection on the boat and I even snow ski with my froggies.

Founded in 1996 in Guntersville, Alabama, frogg toggs started out offering low-priced rain protection. They still do. But now, serious outdoor addicts have crossed over. With more than 50 products in the rainwear line alone, frogg toggs provides for any budget. Their latest additions include a spiffy new sun glove, lightweight technical shorts and tees and a new Pilot Pro rainsuit.

If you haven’t discovered the frogg that won’t leak on you, better “hop” online and check ‘em out. Sorry, that was my corny joke. www.froggtoggs.com www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 73

MEET THE CHEF

HOMETOWN HERO

BY GHM STAFF

Circa 1995: It’s Sunday morning and the streets of New Orleans are quiet, but there’s a roar in the kitchen at Commander’s Palace. Line cooks and chefs are singing in perfect harmony with their instruments of choice—pots and pans. Dick Brennan, as is his tradition, tastes each soup simmering for that day’s service. This Sunday, his seven-year-old grandson Geordie follows closely, eyes wide, as his grandfather introduces him to his rituals preparing for a New Orleans’ tradition—Jazz Brunch.

More than 20 years later, Geordie Brower, a fourth-generation member of the first family of fine Creole cuisine, recalls this memory with a twinkle in his eye.

Chef Geordie Brower continues the Brennan family tradition

The wealth of restaurant knowledge Geordie amassed from childhood through

of Creole culinary success

adulthood rivals those nearly twice his age. And, even though he’s not quite 30, he’s deeply aware of the family’s legacy of entertaining presidents, famous musicians, actors, countless visitors and generations of New Orleanians.

The education from growing up in this legendary family doesn’t stop at the

“Growing up in South Louisiana, I’ve always been spoiled by the sheer volume of choices I have when it comes to fresh, local ingredients,” Geordie said. “My early

four walls of the restaurant. Geordie’s journey first took him to Denver to study at

methods involved traditional French styles and lots of butter. Then I married Sally,

Johnson and Wales, where he trained under James Beard and award-winning Chef

a health conscious pescatarian. She has had a huge influence on how I cook today.

Jennifer Jasinski. After graduating with his culinary degree, he headed east to New

I would say that I’ve gone from heavy and flavorful to light and bright.

York City to diversify his training, first with David Waltuck at élan and later as a butcher at the popular meat haven Cannibal.

He returned to New Orleans to focus on front-of-house operations and

“I love spending time out on the bayou, so I really wanted to share a recipe that I make frequently using leftovers from a shrimp boil. This shrimp salad makes a perfect lunch for a day out on a boat fishing. The second recipe for salt baked

worked as a manager in multiple of his family’s 15 restaurants. This strong

redfish is a fun technique to use on your fresh catch. It’s the winning combination

amalgamation of training earned him Zagat’s 30 Under 30 for New Orleans’ Culinary

of easy and sophisticated.”

Industry. Today, you’re most likely to find Geordie dreaming up new dish ideas in any one of the kitchens in the Dickie Brennan & Co. family: Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Palace Café, Bourbon House or Tableau.

74 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Summery Shrimp Salad

Salt Baked Red Fish Salt Bake

Serves 4 1.5 lbs

Boiled Gulf shrimp

Dressing

4

Egg whites

6 cups

Kosher salt

3 tsp

Whole black peppercorn

3

Rosemary sprigs, roughly chopped

½ cup

Greek yogurt

Zest of 2 lemons and 1 orange (reserve

1

Lemon, juice and zest

lemon and orange to stuff fish)

1

Fresh garlic clove, minced

1 tsp

Honey

2 tbsp

Capers

Whip eggs to a hard peak. Fold in all other ingredients and set aside.

Salt, to taste Fresh ground black pepper, to taste One small pinch of paprika

Fish 1, 3-lb (approx.) freshly caught redfish—scales on (fins, gills, guts and tail removed)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and

1 Lemon, sliced

whisk. Gently fold in shrimp. Enjoy with your favorite

1 Orange, sliced

crackers, over lettuce or in a griddled bun.

1 Sweet onion, sliced 4 Whole cloves of garlic 1 Rosemary sprig

Preheat oven to 350°. Pat the fish dry and stuff the belly of the redfish with the sliced lemons, orange, onion, garlic and rosemary. Create a bed of the salt mixture on the sheet pan and lay fish on top of mixture. Finish coating the fish with salt mixture evenly from head to tail. Bake for 45 minutes. The salt will become hard and brittle. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Crack the salt and peel the skin back. With a fork, pull the meat away from the bones and enjoy.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 75

A Kayak Addict’s 12-Step Recovery Program

BY FRED GARTH

Hi, my name is Fred and I’m a kayakaholic. My addiction began when I was young and naive with a small, sit-on-top, yellow yak. It all seemed innocent enough back then. I was just a recreational user. I was in control. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. Not even my family or close friends suspected the depth of my addiction. When they finally started asking questions, I hid it from them. I’d sneak out at night to fish the dock lights when everyone was asleep. I was in serious denial.

Then, I flew off the edge—plunged bow-first over a waterfall (not literally). The culprit was my introduction to a much more powerful substance—the pedal kayak. Not only did I feel a new kind of spiritual freedom, but it had a comfortable seat that prevented back pain and enveloped my fat tush like a giant marshmallow. Plus, I could stand erect like other advanced primates. For the sake of my reader’s own well-being, I will reveal the culprit that sucked me in. It’s the Hobie Pro Angler 14. And after my first try, I was hopelessly hooked. I had to have it.

The author peddling home after a fishing trip.

76 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

While this attraction most definitely massages my pleasure receptors, feeding

fish, how you’re going to transport your yak to those locations and if you have

this monkey has made me healthier. My legs are stronger, the cardio is beneficial

the strength of an NFL linebacker or that of an overweight house cat. Do you

and I can cover a lot of fishing territory. However, like all addictions, there are

have a truck or a friend who will let you borrow his F-150? These things must be

consequences. There are enablers and those who suffer because I no longer spend

considered in great depth.

quality time with them. Therefore, I have crafted a 12-Step Program in which to

Finally, when you have answered these questions sufficiently, when you

intravenously power your body and soul with kayakmania. Warning: you will

have talked to many other happy kayak owners and when you have snuck a few

probably become a full-on CrackYaker like me.

thousand dollars from your least favorite child’s college fund, you are now ready to begin your journey. But, I warn you, if you go cheap, be prepared to purchase kayak number two very soon after number one. And kayak three soon thereafter.

Step One: FINDING THE RIGHT YAK

I’m not as filthy rich as those SeaKeeper yacht mongers but I do have standards

(Hint: You can never have too many)

and, at this point in my life, I don’t associate with people unless they have at least three boats. In my club, kayaks definitely count.

There’s an opulently exclusive club called the International SeaKeepers. They hold their meetings in Monte Carlo, Miami and other glitzy towns. Among their membership requirements is this zinger: you must own a yacht more than 100-ft. long. Because I’m a journalist, I was invited to one of their swanky, Grey Goose-by-the-gallon galas in Ft. Lauderdale on the 165-ft. yacht Big Fish, named for the novel/movie because the author and the yacht owner are friends.

Of course, they are.

While I don’t own and never will own a 100-ft.plus pleasure craft, I asked them if I lined up my kayaks end-to-end if that would qualify. They mockingly sniffed their 1963 Châteauneuf-du-Pape and led me to the Bud Lite bar for media geeks.

Anyway, at the time, I “only” had four kayaks with a total length of 48 ft. so I would have been quickly cast aside by the SeaKeeper aloof. Nonetheless, the point I’m trying to make is, find the right kayak for your needs. Over the course of 25 years, I have acquired kayaks of varying lengths depending on the conditions and how far I’m traveling or if I wanted to

The bad mamajama Hobie ProAngler 14 camo version with leaning post and micro Power Pole anchoring system.

throw one in the back of my truck.

Eventually, my four-kayak dependency led me to one, multi-use, bad

Step Two: MOTHERSHIPPING YOUR KAYAK

mamajama, the Hobie PA 14. Sure, it’s heavy (145 lbs.), but I can launch it from the little beach where I live, so it fits me like tighty whities. However, if I’m going

One reason I opted for a big, fat, heavy yak is because my kayak lives 10 ft.

to mothership (that’s a verb) my kayak 10 miles to a kick ass fishing hole but all I

from the water where I can shove her off without pulling a hamstring. If I lived

have is a small boat to haul it, I’ll take my 40-lb., 10-ft. yak that I can toss around as

inland, I probably would have gotten a Hobie Outback or other lighter unit. The

if I’m the Hulk. Then again, when I’m mothershipping in my buddy’s 40-ft. trawler,

Outback is still stable enough to stand up in but only weighs 99 lbs. (as opposed

we take our Hobie PA 14s. We have a system for on-loading them, but that’s for a

to 145 lbs. on the PA 14). Lifting a lighter craft on top of my car or in a truck makes

future article so stay tuned.

a lot more sense.

So, to conclude Step One, first you must determine where you’re going to

However, even for us waterfronters, there’s another conundrum: how to

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 77

Mother Shipping kayaks on a 45-footer and a 17-ft. Boston Whaler in the background. access fishing grounds that may be 10 or more miles away. In other words, too far to reasonably pedal there and back unless you are superhuman. For those occasions, my yak buddies and I employ the Mothership Technique (MT).

The easiest MT is to simply tie the yak to a stern line on your power boat and drag it to your destination. But, that method is just too slow for an impatient fisherman like me. And, I’ve tried pulling a kayak at waterskier speeds. That, my friends, is the first step down disaster’s staircase.

It takes more mental gymnastics to figure out how to put a 14-ft.-long, 145-lb. yak on your boat so you can cruise at high speeds. Believe it or not, I transport my yak on a 17-ft. Boston Whaler (see photos). I used “redneck engineering” to mount the yak perpendicular to the hull. I call this the Hammerhead Position for obvious reasons. People stare. They laugh. Rich dudes ridicule me. I don’t care.

Because, it works just fine, thank you very much.

On larger boats, like my bud’s 45-footer with very high gunnels, more head scratching is involved. But, it’s amazing what a little

and cumbersome. Plus, dragging an anchor on board with mud and weeds is a

time and three beers will conjure up. We ended up building PVC cradles that keep

sure way to soil my Ralph Lauren fishing shorts (that’s a joke—any respectable

the yaks in place while we winch them over the stern. It’s a simple but ingenious

fisherman wears AFTCO fishing shorts). Then you have a clunky hunk of iron

method, if I say so myself. Plus, the yak stays in the cradle until it’s ready to launch

banging around in the yak and an anchor line that seems to have a magnetic

again, so it’s not scraping or being scarred by the deck.

attraction to treble hooks. Again, I complained. Others did, too.

Another buddy, Jimbo Meador, who is famous in his own right (you’ll have to

That’s when the fine folks at PowerPole solved the anchoring conundrum.

Google him to find out, but here’s a hint: Forrest Gump), invented mothershipping

Correction: they didn’t solve it, they took it to a whole new hyper-techno level.

kayaks, as far as I know. He’s been outfitting flats boats for yaks for 10 years.

It’s called the Micro Anchor and it’s a dream come true for kayakers and small

There are nearly endless ways to mount a yak on a boat, but before you jump into it, the best advice is to invite your best fishing buddy over, examine the yak

watercrafters. The Micro is cooler than a Laguna Beach surfer dude, but there are three particular life-altering aspects of the system:

and the boat, and eventually you’ll come up with an idea. It might be an bad idea, but at least it will be an idea.

Step Three: ANCHORING YOUR KAYAK The first time I tried a Hobie kayak, the anchoring system consisted of a 5-ft.-long stick and a rope. Not exactly the revolutionary innovation that Hobie products are known for. I complained. It was hard to poke the stick into the ground, even muddy sand, and stiff winds pushing on the kayak easily pulled the

1. It can be operated via a remote fob on a lanyard you wear around your neck.

2. The battery pops in and out, like a cordless drill, so no wiring or external battery is required.

3. The 8-ft.-long spike holds you in position, even in strong winds, and stabilizes the yak for easier standing.

stake from the ground.

Soon after that failure, I tried a fold-up anchor, which worked quite well.

It attached to a pulley and rope system that encircled the yak so it could be positioned for the perfect cast. Of course, like any anchor, it was messy, loud

78 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

Yep, the Micro is the bomb, and best of all, it increases your odds of catching fish. And, after all, isn’t that the basic meaning of life?

To conclude, there are lots of stakes and small anchors you can use to keep your yak in position. Hell, you can tie a cinder block on a rope and toss it overboard. Believe me, I’ve been there, done that. But, if you want to be efficient, stealthy and effective, there’s no better solution than the Micro. And yes, you can quote me on that.

Steps Four – Twelve: While I’d love to hit you with the final steps in my Kayak Addict’s Guide, we have other articles in the magazine and, well, we ran out of pages. You will have to wait for the next issue to learn about the following steps:

Steps 4–7

The Micro Anchor offers up big stopping power with a silent and secure hold.

4. Fly fishing from your yak 5. Pros and cons of an electric motor for your kayak 6. Lighting the yak 7. Setting up camera on your yak You can also see videos of each step at the following address:

The Micro Fishing Method When I find a fishy-looking stretch of water that I’m itching to explore, whether it’s a nice grass flats, sandbar or series of shallow coral heads or oyster beds, I simply position the yak upwind and let the breeze blow me over the kill zone. I do a lot of site fishing, so I stand up for a better vantage point. It’s definitely not recommended in the owner’s manual, but I stand on the armrests of the seat because it gives me an extra 18-in. of height, thus better viewing.

Anyway, as I enter the area I want to fish, I casually reach for the fob, push the down button and Presto!, the spike drives into the bottom and holds me in place. I scan the area looking for redfish, speckled trout, pompano or whatever is sneaking around. Even if I don’t see anything, I’ll make a few blind casts because, uh, I’m fishing and that’s what we do. If no fish chomps on my lure, I raise the spike, let the wind push me 50 ft. or so, then deploy the spike and fish again. I repeat this method until I cover the area (and, hopefully catch a few fish). It’s so simple yet so effective. And I don’t need to drop and pull up an anchor. I don’t have to stumble around the kayak. I just stand there, keep my eyes peeled and fish.

www.theonlinefisherman.com/kayakaddict.

The author with a beautifully spotted redfish caught near Pensacola, FL.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 79

LAST CAST

CATCH AND EAT During the many years and lengthy debates about

start attacking this issue with the same level of technology

red snapper, enough hot air has been expended to cause

we use to outfit our boats. The electronics we use to find fish

global warming alerts. Yet, finally, in a monumental shift, the

these days are stupid good. We have 3D imaging, scanners

federal government recently gave the five Gulf states more

that encircle the boat in 360-degrees, bottom finders that

control over the snapper fishery (see page 14 for details). By

identify fish species and the list goes on. At some point,

the time you receive this magazine, those states will be in

fishery managers will start employing underwater cameras,

the heat of the summer season. I can personally attest that

drones, artificial intelligence, facial recognition software,

the bite is on!

sonar, scanners, satellite tages, radio transmitters - whatever

While far from perfect, management of snapper has

- to get real numbers of fish populations. Will it be a difficult

been successful in rebuilding stocks so that we can actually

transition? Sure. But so is making a driverless Uber. So is

catch—and consume—some of the most delicious fish on

Snapchat, if you’re older than 30. It will happen because our

the planet. And, let’s just be honest here, snapper fishing

state and federal agencies are committed to sustainability.

is less about sport and more about the eating part. Sure,

Even though it’s often a thankless job.

FRED GARTH

cranking up a big ol’ fat red snapper is fun the first few times

For the past 25 years, Fred D.

you do it. But, after the honeymoon wears off, you just want

apps for us to report our catch. On the down side, using

Garth’s articles have appeared in

to throw a few in the cooler, get back home, and pound

these apps is voluntary and until we’re threatened with fines

numerous books, magazines and

back a handful of Advil to ease the searing pain in your arms

or public embarrassment, voluntary reporting will always

newspapers around the world.

and back.

be incomplete. The good news is that the high-tech future

Read his blog at: GuyHarveyMagazine.com.

Don’t get me wrong, the whole offshore fishing

is creeping into management. Along the Pacific Coast, an

experience is something I live for. The awesome boat ride,

autonomous sailing drone is already being used to help

the wind in my hair, the open sea, the salt air, the cold

quantify the pollock populations (see page 34). This helps to

beverages, the friendships and, ultimately, the satisfaction

remove the burden of reporting from individual fishermen

of outsmarting a fellow creature of earth using only our wits,

who already have plenty to do, like, you know, fish.

our cunning and $15,000 of marine electronics. To celebrate our dominance over the fish, we eat it. And it is good.

In my view, moving to state management is definitely

Right now, there are underwater cameras that can take photos and video of fish. And, more devices are coming to market all of the time (see page 17). Why not place cameras

a step in the right direction. It’s also an experiment that

on as many reefs as possible to gather fish data? Then we

may or may not be successful. Time will tell. A much bigger

can use artificial intelligence to identify specific fish and

question is when the states or feds will get stock assessment

estimate the population of every species—not just red

figured out. In case you don’t know, stock assessment is

snapper—on the reef. This method will also let us know if

the term scientists and managers use to ask the burning

lionfish populations are exploding or if we’ve overfished

question: “How do we determine how many fish are really

snapper or trigger fish on a reef, all in near real time.

swimming around out there anyway?” Unfortunately, some

If this all sounds far fetched, it’s really not. For example,

assessment methods—such as dock surveys or phone

there are apps right now that allow you to take a photo of a

surveys—leave significant room for error.

flower and it will tell you the name, where it’s native, when

That’s why I believe the time is near when agencies will

80 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

We’re already heading in the right direction. There are

it can be planted and so on and so forth. And, one of those

Left: The author’s daughter, Adia Garth, and the captain’s daughter, Eme Ellis, show off their catch.

Below: Captain David Ellis with a 20-plus-pound hoss daddy snapper.

Photos by Fred Garth.

apps can identify 300,000 different plants! The same principles can be used on fish.

With accurate, real time data, fishery management will become almost omnipotent.

We would be able to cull schools or open or close certain reefs, if need be. Also, having fishing seasons becomes moot. We could spread the season out across the entire year, so the pressure on the fish is not concentrated to a few weeks or months.

Maybe I’m just a dreamer. But I believe we can apply the nothing-is-impossible American ideal to keeping our marine ecosystem in balance. As fishing grows in popularity and the desire for seafood increases, so does the importance of ensuring healthy fish populations. And, making sure that I can throw some snapper on the grill, keep my wife and kids happy, and know that we’ve achieved harmony and sustainability. Then we can work on my newest invention: the Osprey Drone that catches a fresh fish offshore and delivers it to my outdoor kitchen. It could happen.

www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com | 81

82 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

V I S I T

84 | www.GuyHarveyMagazine.com

G U Y H A R V E Y S P O R T S W E A R . C O M