In Memoriam

Another quick post to follow yesterday's (something more substantial is coming in the next few days). The minke that was visiting Brooklyn beached itself and died. The reason is unclear as yet, and I don't want to use this sad turn of events to launch into a sermon on how humanity is destroying the waters and wildlife of the world. Humankind probably had nothing to do with this. Sometimes baby whales just get separated from their mothers, don't know where to go or how to hunt, and don't make it. Nature can be as cruel as she can be magnificent.

But I want to say a quick thank you to the little guy, and wish him peaceful rest. We forget that this heavily urbanized and industrialized harbor around our city was once one of the most ecologically vibrant and productive estuaries on the Atlantic coast. Now, it is mostly a colossus of glass, steel and concrete that, oh yeah, happens to be surrounded by water. Yet, life still thrives in and around those waters. To be sure, the pulse of nature here is not like it once was, but stripers and herring still run, and shorebirds still populate the remaining marshes and beaches. And once in awhile, something like the little minke provides, even if only for a few hours, a particularly poignant and exciting reminder of the ecosystem amidst which we live.