Kelp cutting
Julie and I leaned against the white fence on Boat Basin Road, cameras in our pockets, facing across the street. The sun incubated our faces, our shoulders, our arms. Across from us, a crowd of hundreds slowly disappeared through the double-wide green doors into the CMLC. We had been planning to make our way inside, but the doorway was just too crowded. It was packed, saturated, full.
"What do you think is the maximum occupancy of the building?" Captain Mike asked, sticking his head between ours.
"Not sure, but we have to be close to it by now," I guessed.
Captain Mike pulled out his camera, adjusted the focus, and snapped a few shots of the building. A cool breeze relieved our shoulders of the sun's heat for a moment. Down the street, a silver SUV crept along, braking for crossing pedestrians every few seconds. For every person who made their way through the doors into the museum, another one came down the street and got in line. None of us could believe the turn-out.
Today was the grand opening of the Charleston Marine Life Center, a public museum and aquarium right across the street from my institute, the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. The day started with talks from various politicians, donors, and key figures in the CMLC's development, then culminated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the opening of the museum's doors. Well, it wasn't really a ribbon-cutting; it was a kelp-cutting. I'm told they used a strand of Egregia, commonly known as feather boa kelp, but I couldn't actually see it myself. The crowd was too dense, and I decided to hang back rather than fight my way forward.
The CMLC opening is a victory for OIMB, for its director, the man behind the CMLC, Craig Young, for the students who will learn from the museum, and the scientists who can reach the public through it. There's actually a display on the upper floor of the museum outlining some of the research going on at OIMB, and I'm proud to say I contributed to it. I made a poster outlining some of my dissertation research on isolated hard substrata on the deep sea floor. I'm glad for the opportunity to share my research with the public in a new way.
I'll have to wait and see what the final visitor count is for the day, but I suspect it will be in the upper hundreds. I can say one thing for sure: the CMLC is a success!
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| A crowd of hundreds gathered in front of the CMLC on opening day. |
"Not sure, but we have to be close to it by now," I guessed.
Captain Mike pulled out his camera, adjusted the focus, and snapped a few shots of the building. A cool breeze relieved our shoulders of the sun's heat for a moment. Down the street, a silver SUV crept along, braking for crossing pedestrians every few seconds. For every person who made their way through the doors into the museum, another one came down the street and got in line. None of us could believe the turn-out.
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| Craig Young addresses a crowd at OIMB just before the kelp-cutting. |
The CMLC opening is a victory for OIMB, for its director, the man behind the CMLC, Craig Young, for the students who will learn from the museum, and the scientists who can reach the public through it. There's actually a display on the upper floor of the museum outlining some of the research going on at OIMB, and I'm proud to say I contributed to it. I made a poster outlining some of my dissertation research on isolated hard substrata on the deep sea floor. I'm glad for the opportunity to share my research with the public in a new way.
I'll have to wait and see what the final visitor count is for the day, but I suspect it will be in the upper hundreds. I can say one thing for sure: the CMLC is a success!
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