Under the Sea, Part Two

Further diving adventures and photographs in our local waters by Dave (Hogger) Millhouser of Lanesville. 



Caslyn and Sculpin

"Some of the marine life around here is extraordinarily odd. We have more than in the tropics. The reason the water is so clear in the tropics - there's nothing in it. It's sterile. All the marine life hovers around the reefs, where the ecosystem is. Our water's green in the summer because it's full of algae, plants at the bottom of the marine food chain."

 
  There's not as much color around here as further south, but what's here is strange and fun.

 

"Under water the seasons are observable and distinct, once you got used to seeing them. In the spring we have nudibranchs. In the winter, very few fish but the water's very clear. The algae dies off. If you can go a week or so without a storm you can have 50 or 60 or 70 feet of visibility around here. You wouldn't get that in the summer, because of the green algae. Even if you have great conditions, 30 feet is phenomenal in the summer."



Toad crab, or Decorator crab

"I've gone into Old Garden Beach in the winter, sat down on the bottom next to one of the big rocks, didn't see anything, waited four or five minutes, things start moving - Toad crabs, brightly colored nudibranchs - a slug, a mollusk without a shell, some quite colorful. Tastes bad. For many of them it's a defensive mechanism. They want to be colorful so fish stay away."



Red-gilled nudibranch

"There’s a thing called a Red-gilled nudibranch. A big one is two inches. They eat Pink-hearted hydroids, which are special animals on the side of the wall at Folly Cove that are related to jellyfish. They have stinging cells. The Red gilled nudibranch eats the hydroids and does that without discharging the nematocysts, their stinging cells. The nematocysts then move to the end of the gut - people think they are the gills, the frilly things along the back, the tips of them are white - those are undischarged stinging cells from hydroids eaten that become a defense mechanism."



Pink-hearted hydroids

"Here's another great story. A barnacle is a shrimp, an arthropod that swims around till it finds a place it likes. It lays down on its back, glues itself in, builds up that case around it. It has little shell-like things that open, stick out what was its tail, try to sweep organic particles inside the shell to eat. It's mind-boggling. You can learn this. You can see something, then go find out what it is."



Barnacles feeding

"In the spring you find one-inch flounder, lobsters that are one-half inch, the size of your fingernail. You find miniature versions of all kinds of fish that have just hatched, or hatched a while ago, and now you're just seeing them."



Squid eggs with mollusks crawling on them

"On the right side of Folly Cove are tumbled rocks. In the spring, go looking for nudibranchs especially on large rocks in the center. That's when you'll see mucus-y egg veils, from mollusks in particular. Large ones from Moon snails, teeny ones from nudibranchs. It's only for a couple of weeks, then the eggs hatch, the veil disintegrates, and they leave." 


 
"Everything is different at night. They won't allow divers to take lobsters at night because they're out just walking around. At night time it's spectacular because a lot of the animals are nocturnal. You will see animals that hide during the day. Squid. The beauty of squid is, people are usually looking down, or sideways. Squid are up in the water column. If you want to see squid at night shine the light up there periodically."



Blue shark, Folly Cove

"If a fish is moving, and afraid of you, you're not going to get a picture of it. But if it's curious about you....With the visibility underwater, you have to be within a few feet. The real beauty is, in real life, you're not going to take their picture unless they're willing to tolerate you."

"I've literally laid on the bottom and seen things and said, Thank God I got to see this. Lots of people never get to see whatever that was. Like the day of the whale. I was at the Haight. I literally was as close as you and I are to this whale. A juvenile humpback, probably 16 or 18 ft long. Striped bass."



Lumpfish

"It's up to the animal. Little ones, they'll think they're camouflaged and let you get real close but once you bother them they're gone. Strobe will freeze motion of fish. You're not going to see a cormorant chasing fish."



Eyed finger sponge

"I've had a lot of fun over the years sitting still, turning the light off, wait for a while, and then turn it back on. Sometimes you will see things."



Ocean pout, or Conger eel

"My take on it, with animals, is anytime a wild animal chooses to interact with you, that's a great privilege that not many people have. Any animal. I will never force that. Normally you can't, anyway."

Under the Sea, Part One

This collection of scuba diving adventures in our local waters is recounted by Dave (Hogger) Millhouser of Lanesville. Dave provided the photographs. Seeing is believing, mostly.

Fair weather scuba divers basking at Folly Cove

"Fortunately or unfortunately, diving in New England is a lot like drinking beer. It's an acquired taste. The first time is always cold and miserable. Then you start seeing things."

Winter diver Dave Millhouser staring at Folly Cove

"I literally moved to New England for the diving. Originally to Salem. Then I got into photography. When you find something interesting, take the picture. You haven't a clue what it is. So you go look it up in one of the books on marine life." 


White knighted dorid

"For instance, I took this picture of a creature called a nudibranch. It was an odd one, a White knighted dorid. We called it the Easter Bunny nudibranch."

Anemones on the Folly Point wall

"The left side of Folly Cove is anywhere from 15 feet deep in close, to 60 feet out past the Point. That wall used to be covered with all kinds of beautiful anemones. Now it's less so but you can still find pockets of them."

Frilled anemone

"The Frilled anemone used to be all over the wall. It went away for awhile. Lately it's been coming back. I have no idea why."

Torpedo ray, camouflaged in sand

"My wife and I found this four or five foot Torpedo ray  in Folly Cove. Sue prodded it with one of my probes to get it up and swimming while I took pictures."

Torpedo ray, swimming toward us

"The Torpedo ray has electrical organs across its snout that it uses for stunning prey. We learned this the hard way. I have a vivid memory of backpedaling and taking hazy photos."

Goosefish

"The Goosefish is another one that lies camouflaged on a muddy bottom.  You'll swim over it two or three times and not see it. It has an angler on top of its head that will come up to attract little fish. Then the whole top of its mouth opens and swallows it. It has little teeny teeth that go backward.

"Norman Dupres was hunting lobster in murky water at Folly Cove. He spotted one swimming backwards. Norm reached his hand into what he thought was a hole the lobster had gone into. It was the mouth of a big Goosefish, which then clamped down on Norman's arm and started to swim away. A forty pound fish, swimming away with Norman and the lobster. Apparently at some point they reached an agreement where Norman said, 'You can keep the lobster if you give me my arm. He let go of the lobster and the Goosefish let him go.' It tore up his wet suit--pricked his skin but he was fine." 


My wife Sue and a Sea raven
Sue is on the right.

Eye of the Sea raven

"If you are a diver and just want to see stuff, the tropical coral reefs are a good idea. Around here you've got marine life hovering not just in the rocks and all of that for shelter, but you also have stuff up the water column. You can be under water and look up. We've seen blue sharks and dogfish right off Halibut Point. A 22-foot basking shark in Folly Cove. We saw its two fins, didn't know what it was, pulled up next to it."

Diving at the wreck of the  USS Haight

"I've been on the Haight, the wreck of the Liberty Ship off Rockport - in 1948 it ran aground - and I've seen a humpback whale."

Gray seal and diver

"About five years ago I was out on the Salvages. I was sitting in a crevice and this huge seal comes out from under me and puts his arms around me. I ended up scratching his belly. This went on for four or five minutes. Then it left and I thought, well this is all over. It wasn't." 



"I went up to get a breath. It came back and we did it again for another five or ten minutes. A young woman diver had been watching the whole thing. She made a painting of it. The seal was probably seven or eight feet long. The photograph above may be the same Gray seal, my best photo. I put my head in his mouth. Well, not exactly. He sort of 'tasted' me. It was nice, if scary."

Signs of Spring - Plants

Cherry tree

Spring presents itself like a tapestry. Sunlight commends each stitch.

Shad tree

The stitches, receiving the light, become moments in the eye of time.

Aspen tree

In weaving themselves up toward the light they extend the fabric of life skyward.

Poison ivy

Every aspect of regeneration is synonymous with beauty.






Wood anemone, budding

Fresh renewal comes out of last year's litter on the forest floor, racing through its reproductive cycle before the coming tree canopy curtains off solar energy.






Wood anemone flowering

Flowering plants elaborate their invitation and reward to pollinators.

Oak tree

Pink-cheeked infant leaves hurry to harden up for the making of new wood and acorns. All manner of foragers seize the moment. Insect larvae chew the tender leaves. Warblers search out larvae in the tree crown.

Signs of Spring - Birds

From a fair-weather point of view we haven't had much to celebrate in recent weeks. On the couple of occasions when the sun has shone I headed straight to Halibut Point State Park. Songbirds reassured me that the natural world was carrying on despite the chilly gloomy days. From overhead came a light rapid trilling, soon tracked to the topmost branch of a white fir tree where a speck of animated life surveyed the horizons of a meadow.

Chipping sparrow

A lofty and conspicuous perch suits the male Chipping sparrow in establishing his breeding domain. You might imagine yourself in his position, chest puffed out, voicing sexual allurement or territorial warning. Boisterous motives characterize even the pint-sized world of procreation.

Golden-crowned kinglet

The zippiest feathered creature now moving through the landscape on its way north gets its name from the crowning blaze atop the head of the "little king." Its tiny size and rapid metabolism require the Golden-crowned kinglet to forage constantly to meet its energy needs. It hardly ever pauses in daytime hours.

Palm warbler

The first warbler sightings officially confirm the advent of temperate times. The warming weather initiates a chain of events that makes insect food available for the influx of migratory species. Palm warblers are at the vanguard of this dazzling group.

Yellow-rumped warbler

The release of tender buds from their wintering cases sustains insect larvae, which in turn provide forage for the birds. Other nutritious morsels can be found plentifully flying, crawling, and wriggling about.

Brown thrasher

The premier chorister of early spring takes to the highest branches. I think of it as the 'oak tree bird,' partial to the tallest alpha-ranking perches. Ordinarily a shy skulker of thickets, the male brown thrasher makes its courtship and boundary claims with extroverted prominence. It probably has the largest song repertoire of any North American bird, at least 1,100 different documented vocalizations. Many of these imitate other avians. Unlike fellow mimics the catbird and mockingbird, the thrasher strings together long series of doubled phrases with no definite beginning or end.

The thrasher is also distinctive for the quality of its voice. Each pitch has a pure clarity that carries great distances. From across the quarry I hear something that sounds like a robin on steroids. I circle around the quarry to the far end of a diameter line, toward the spot where the melody seemed to have originated. As I get close the sound gets louder but seems to scatter as though a ventriloquist is throwing his voice deceptively. I'm no longer sure where it's coming from. I've entered a saturated sonic environment.

 

I scan the treetops. The bird flies to another promontory where I can see it clearly. The air is drained of sound. I stand in a remarkable silence. Then the thrasher bursts into a string of chrrps, clucks, and whistles. The concert master resumes his catalogue of notes and inventions.

Finnish-American Plays

Like Cape Ann residents of a century ago, you will have a chance to see your neighbors taking the stage on themes of heart and mind. The five short scripts present domestic dramas, village tangles, and the compass of life that still entertain us today.

 

The Betrothal
Eileen Fitzgerald, Terry Sands, Karl Pulkkinen, Tom Moriarty

"Oh, woman's nature, that is the wonder of all wonders."

 



Threads of matrimony and prosperity needle the tailor:

"Now I'm an old bachelor again whose life resembles a sleepy cockroach that's in the crack of a wall in the fading evening sunshine."

 



The Burglary
Anne Hyde and Chuck Francis

"You took my coffin measurements for nothing!"

 



"I've gathered up some snakes and  wrapped up some black worms....The sufferer is free of her aches and pains."

The House of Roinila
Scott and Kierstin Hazzard

"I am angry, forever and ever--A grown man kissing a grown girl. Is that any way to act!"

Karin
Heidi Pulkkinen

"I remember when we would gather cranberries and roast them by the fire."

Men on a Mission
Randy Dupps, Karl Pulkkinen, Martin Ray

"Then all is well. Why plant in a stranger's garden when there is garden space much closer?"

Director Sarah Clark and Producer Valerie Nelson

 

The program is the result of a timely collaboration between Sarah Clark and Valerie Nelson. Sarah has launched the Rockport Community Theatre, with a core troupe carrying on the work of Nan Webber's Theatre in the Pines, augmented by members of the Annisquam Village Players. Valerie has infused the Lanesville Community Center with a series of May Day cultural programs on village roots. Last year's program centered on the musical vitality of the Finnish immigrants. Support came then and now from the national Finlandia Foundation.
 

Research has shown that the Finn Halls of Lanesville and Rockport sponsored some of the historical dramas, comedies, opera, and folk plays that were popular in the Massachusetts immigrant community from 1900 to 1940. Theater performances, a means of raising revenue for the Halls, were a major source of entertainment, heritage preservation, education of children, and political awareness as well. 

Suggested donation at the door is $20. Funds contributed will be used for the benefit of the Lanesville Community Center and the Scholarship Fund of Vasa Lodge 98 in Rockport.