Sharks!

Browsing in Barnes & Noble the other day, I came upon a book about sharks. It is written by one Salvador Jorgensen, who is a research scientist at Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of our favorite haunts when we lived in the Bay Area. Since my family members have had a recent surge of interest in marine life, I decided to buy it.

Sharks and I go back a long way. As a child, growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, I would vacation with my family at a small fishing village called Langebaan on the shores of Langebaan Lagoon, a long, narrow coastal lagoon about 80 miles north of Cape Town. Sand sharks, which are a type of shovelnose ray, would come into the shallows of the lagoon to warm themselves in the sun. Since they blended so well with the sand and liked to burrow slightly under it, it was hard to see them, which would occasionally result in someone stepping on one, causing said person to emit a bloodcurling shriek and to leap several feet into the air, only to come down on another one, after which the process would be repeated. This was always hugely entertaining to observers (the sand sharks were harmless.)

This is what they look like:



Langebaan Sand Shark (Rhinobatos annulatus)

Looking through the Jorgensen book, this looks very much like a squatiniform or angel shark, but apparently the order is not squatiniformes but rhinopristiformes, both of which fall under the class Elasmobrachii, which includes all cartilaginous fish, such as sharks, skates, and rays. Then I got really confused by reading a Wikipedia article that said the class was actually Chondrichthyes and that Elasmobranchii and Holocephali are subclasses. The confusion was cleared up by an article that describes Chondrichthyes as an older classification. Apparently the word elasmobranch comes from elasmos, which is Greek for "metal plate", and branchus, which is Latin for "gill." Sand sharks are also known as lesser sand sharks and lesser guitarfish and have the scientific name Rhinobatos annulatus. Thankfully, both rhinopristiformes and squatiniformes are listed among the 13 orders of sharks and rays, so perhaps the sand shark is a real shark. On the other hand, the classification of elasmobranchs is regularly revised, and some studies suggest that there is molecular evidence that skates and rays (batoids) are not derived sharks and should have their own group. I hope sand sharks are real sharks. I'd like to say I've jumped on a real shark.

When I was about seven years old, my family drove up to Durban to visit my grandparents, during which time we visited an aquarium on the Durban beach front (I think this is now the uShaka Sea World Aquarium.) One of the tanks was absolutely packed and overcrowded with fish. I suspect a new batch of fish had recently been brought in from the Indian Ocean and had been placed in that tank to be processed. About seven feet away from me was a stocky, cigar-shaped shark, perhaps five or six feet long. It had a pinkish-purplish hue, but perhaps that was because of the lighting. We made eye contact and gazed at one another for several spellbinding seconds before it charged me. It rammed its snout against the glass, and then withdrew a few feet in disgust, continuing to glower at me in a singularly aggrieved and hostile manner. I am sure it wasn't happy to be confined. From its size and "bump and bite" behavior, I wonder if it may have been a juvenile bull shark. These were sometimes called "Zambezi sharks" in South Africa and appear to be responsible for several attacks off the Natal (now Kwazulu) coast.

Bull sharks are amazingly adaptive and can live in fresh water, meaning they have made their way inland via the Amazon, the Ganges, the Mississippi, and the Zambezi. They even thrive in Lake Nicaragua. Apparently they originally got there by traversing the 112 mile San Juan River, which flows from the lake into the Caribbean. They were able to leap up rapids like salmon to get there. Half (three of six) of all recorded shark attacks in Nicaragua occured in Lake Nicaragua.

Other freshwater sharks include those of genus Glyphis, of which only six species are known. Apparently they are rare, little is known about them, they are critically endangered, and they are mostly found in the Indo-Pacific region. Animal Planet covered Glyphis sharks in it's series on River Monsters.

Craig and I scuba dived knowingly with (harmless) black-tipped reef sharks on our honeymoon in the  Maldives and unknowingly with a tiger shark (our dive instructor informed us of that once we were out of the water -- I'd been wondering why he seemed a bit nervous.) Later we unknowingly dived with two tiger sharks in the Seychelles (one of the workers on the boat was kind enough to tell us that as we surfaced from our dive; we proceeded to scale the boat fairly rapidly.) My children have dived with reef sharks in Hawaii. I suppose sharks are always around when people dive, but thankfully they are not usually interested in a human snack.

Jorgensen's book has some wonderful photographs. I hope to get some good videos of marine life to watch with the kids. A vacation in the Caribbean is a very appealing prospect and would allow the family to get in some more scuba diving and to explore the oceans. Laura and Emma still need to get their PADI certifications updated.

College Shopping

One of the important pursuits of the year for our family has been college shopping for Emma. She wanted: a) a small liberal arts college; b) where she could play Div. III tennis; c) great academics; and d) a smart, open-minded, accepting student body. We narrowed down fairly quickly to Haverford, Oberlin, and Grinnell, and threw in a visit to Swarthmore, which she instantly disliked, while we were in Pennsylvania.

Emma and I drove out to Grinnell in early September to take a look around and do an overnight visit. We went through the usual process of being introduced to Grinnell, which goes something like this:

1) Grinnell is not on your radar. If you even knows of its existence, you don't want to go to a school "in the middle of nowhere" (i.e., in a small town in Iowa.)

2) Something happens to pique your interest. It might be a call from a coach. Then you do a little research and learn it's an excellent and highly-respected liberal arts college with top-notch facilities, talented faculty and students, and a huge endowment. It might be worth a visit, but then there's that location ...

3) You decide to visit. As you head down I-80, you're pleasantly surprised by the prettiness of the rolling hills and rivers, but then you see the turnoff to Grinnell and experience a sinking feeling. There are tractors strewn along the side of the road, and the town looks a little bleak and run-down.

4) You head north on West Street and suddenly find yourself in a green and leafy oasis of mature trees and bright green lawns, charming Victorian homes, lush parks with large ponds, and arresting college buildings.

5) You start meeting students and faculty. Everbody seems unassuming, friendly, supportive, curious, and articulate. They take you to see the sports facilities and the labs, and you're awe-struck. They talk to you about the on-campus entertainment and clubs, and the research opportunities. Students chat excitedly about what they're learning. You become drawn into the almost-magical sense of kindness and encouragement.

By this stage, you're in love.

We visited Oberlin, Haverford, and Swarthmore in mid-October. Emma and I flew into Cleveland and drove to Oberlin College, where Emma spent the night. It's a vivacious, energetic place with its music conservatory, art museum, and fabulous sports facilities. The tennis facilities were outstanding -- 12 outdoor courts, 4 indoor courts. The women's tennis coach teaches a 1-credit course in chess. Students can, for $5, check out a work of art from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, perhaps a Picasso or a Toulouse-Lautrec, for one semester. In the 70 years this program has been active, no artwork has been lost or damaged. The conservatory puts on hundreds of performances annually, all students can take music lessons very inexpensively, and the school frequently hosts the Cleveland Orchestra. Music is integrated into all aspects of college life. The little town of Oberlin is delightful and historically inspirational. Oberlin has traditionally made a stand for the marginalized and was a key stop on the Underground Railroad. Oberlin is an enriching and stimulating environment. Sadly, there has been some recent friction, both on campus and between town and gown, and some alumni are not currently recommending their alma mater to prospective students. The school has also experienced some financial challenges. If Oberlin can get through this, it will once again be one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. Perhaps it already is.

From Oberlin we drove, mostly in the dark, to the outskirts of Philadelphia. Once we saw the area in daylight, we were taken aback by the beauty of its dense, lush vegetation. We visited Swarthmore first, and our visit did not start well. We were late, partly because traffic was wretched. We couldn't find the entrance. When we did, we couldn't find the building we were supposed to go to. When we did, we couldn't find parking. I dropped Emma off and went in search of somewhere to park. I wanted to ask someone, but nobody made eye contact. In desperation, I took a narrow path that turned out to be a garden path. Several people were working nearby on the beautiful well-groomed grounds. One of them came up to me looking aghast. I laughingly explained that I was lost and asked for directions. She was polite but reserved and directed me back to the road. She did not smile back. In the four or five hours we spent on campus, we saw precisely one person smile. Perhaps that was because we arrived during midterms, but even the admin people didn't smile. They were polite, reserved, and serious. Emma thought the students looked miserable. I thought they looked stressed and exhausted. There was much to like, though. The campus was spectacularly beautiful and has its own train station, from which one can travel to downtown Philadelphia in 20 minutes. The buildings and facilities were gorgeous, academics are first-rate, and class sizes are small. We ate lunch in Sharples. Listening to snippets of conversation from adjacent tables, we picked up that students had deadlines and exams and that they were anxious. Nobody seemed to be having fun. Emma canceled her appointment with the tennis coach, struck Swarthmore off her list, and we headed over to Haverford.

At Haverford ... everyone seemed happy! In spite of midterms! In fact, most of the Haverford students were taking their midterms home to complete over fall break. They're under the honor system, meaning they can schedule their own exams and take them when and where they prefer. Emma was taken on the campus nature trail, attended a meeting for animal rights activists, had her tarot read, watched a movie, and stayed up until 3am partying. Happy Haverford is a delightful place, if a little hedonistic. Emma loved the school, but there was one major caveat -- while Haverford has outstanding microbiology courses, it doesn't offer much in the way of macrobiology. One can take classes at other schools within the Quaker Consortium (Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, and Penn,) but there are some issues with logistics and commuting.

Emma was left teetering between Oberlin and Grinnell. A second visit to Grinnell cemented her choice. It would be Grinnell. But the day before she had to submit her application, she changed her mind. It would be Oberlin, for sure. The following day, after much angst, she was back to Grinnell and went ahead and applied. Thankfully she has been accepted, which takes the pressure off her and allows her to enjoy the rest of her senior year. She is very happy with her choice.

Ranking systems give one only a very general idea of the quality of a college, and they usually represent where a college was ten years ago, rather than where it is today. Some schools, like Colby, are in such rapid ascension that any data about the school that is more than three or four years old is almost meaningless. Of the four schools we visited, Grinnell seems to be on an optimistically upward trajectory, Oberlin is struggling a little, and Haverford and Swarthmore seem to be in maintenance mode.

If Grinnell were a country, I think it would be Switzerland -- beautiful, somewhat isolated, self-contained, bountiful, affluent, and flourishing. Swarthmore would be Germany -- serious, conscientious, a little joyless, and successful due to its severe diligence. Haverford would be Austria -- Germany on a looser rein, a proud old tradition softened by generous quantities of schnapps and gluehwein. Oberlin would be France -- tremendous cultural wealth, artistic, a spirit of great tolerance and freedom, but occasionally disrupted by its own fervency. 

The Joy of being Ambulatory!

So I've had plantar fasciitis for several years. My first two bouts were managed with steroid injections, which took effect immediately and left me pain-free for over a year in each case. This last bout has been more obdurate. Three steroid injections made not a whit of difference to the excruciating pain in my heels. I tried a variety of treatments with limited success, and eventually went to see my doctor, who referred me to an orthopedic surgeon, who referred me for physiotherapy, which ... worked! I still have some pain in my feet, but I'm much more mobile. I'm signed up for another six weeks of physiotherapy and hope to beat this completely. Of course, I religiously usually sometimes do the daily exercises prescribed by my physiotherapist -- three reps of five different exercises plus icing.

So, not being able to walk around much for a year meant I got fat and flabby. This Christmas Eve, my beloved gave me a Fitbit Charge 2 and probably added ten years to my life. The Fitbit started out telling me how few steps a day I was taking and how high my heart rate was.

I was shamed into trying to be more active. Yesterday, I weighed myself for the first time in a year and found that, while I hadn't gained weight, I hadn't lost any either. I'm sure I'm flabbier, even if not heavier. The ominous number was 160. I need to lose 20 lb, I'd like to lose 30, and I'd love to lose 40. My heart rate, when I started out wearing the Fitibit, was consistently over 80.

So I took myself to the gym yesterday, used the elliptical for 20 minutes, and then worked out with some weights for a short while. Today I went back and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and some more weights. I plan to add 10 minutes a day to my elliptical workout until I get up to at least 60 minutes. I plan to watch lectures from The Great Courses on my Macbook while I'm doing this. In addition, since getting the Fitbit, I have been trying to get in at least 10,000 steps a day. The Fitbit counts one's steps and celebrates with virtual fireworks if one exceeds that number, so I try to walk as much as I can. The dogs appreciate the extra walks they're getting. Yesterday, for the first time, I met my goal😀 My heart rate is already down somewhat. It is now usually in the 70's and occasionally dips into the 60's.

I'm not following any particular diet, but I'm watching what I eat. If I lose motivation, I will look at pictures on my friend's blog, which show her with serious muscle definition and almost no fat after a grueling workout regimen that includes having run 3,000 miles this year and working out for three hours a day for the past couple of years. She looks like a professional athlete. Her clothing size was, like mine, 8-10. It's now 00! You're my inspiration, Ess!

I don't plan to weigh myself regularly. I feel that if I increase the intensity and duration of my workouts, the weight will take care of itself. However, to keep myself honest, I'll do the occasional weigh-in and post the result here. It needs to go ↓ and ↓ and ↓some more!