The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

This year San Jose was the host city for the Pacific Masters Long Course Championships swim meet.

I've never competed at long course before, but with such a big event coming right to my backyard, how could I resist? It's been a good 7 years since I last showed up at any kind of Masters swim meet (representing the Chicago Smelts in Illinois in 2008, and throwing down my best 31 seconds of freestyle for a team relay, Go Smelts!)

Technically, I'm not a rookie, since I do have some 30 or 40 short course swim meets under my belt, but most of those are in the distant past, and in high school I was a very different type of athlete. I often made a point of letting my coaches know that I was only good for about a 50 yard effort ... Maybe 100 if you're lucky.

This was my high school swim team sign-up sheet. If you do the math, you can see my estimates for the distance events (200 & 500 yard swim) were pretty unambitious ...

I remember one high school meet where both teams were short, and with only 4 girls signed up for the 500 yard Freestyle, all I had to do was complete it, and I was guaranteed to score points for my team. Didn't have to be fast or pretty, but it might help my team secure a win!

I flat out refused.

Too much effort.

How's that for teamwork?

Well times have changed, and these days I'm a bit more enterprising, so I decided to Go Big or Go Home, and I signed up for the longest event they have: the 1500 meter freestyle! I'm an endurance athlete now.

What could possibly go wrong?


Posted by Kimberly 08/01/2015

After packing some camping gear on his bicycle and hitching a ride to British Columbia, Nik spent part of this summer riding his bicycle from Canada to California.

Nik still lives in Santa Cruz, where he spends time playing beach volleyball and going to school at Cabrillo College.
Posted by Dan 08/15/2007

After earning my degree in ecology and applying my knowledge to projects in various fields of research, it has become very clear to me that a) I love what I do, and b) I want to do what I love. Ecology, however, has many different branches. There is a myriad of directions to go in. While most of my education and experience has been within terrestrial ecology, I began to feel that I wanted to see what marine science was like. Part of my reason for seeking out this opportunity with a marine ecology student was to investigate the question, "Is this where I want to be?"

Well. So far... I'm thinking this isn't a bad place to be!

Peeking into tide pools and seeking hidden treasures

I have now returned from what was my first week "on the job," out at the coast of Ecuador. I am assisting a masters student of USFQ (Universidad de San Francisco Quito) in his marine ecology field research of intertidal invertebrate communities. So essentially, I spend one week of every month out at the coast, splashing around tide pools and looking at cool creatures hidden underneath rocks and shells. And when we've done all our work and the tide has come in? Well, we might as well jump into the warm blue waters and play in the waves, right? Correct.

Brittle star we found under a big rock. They get their name from their propensity to break very easily.

This past week was actually a very light work-load relative to what it typically will be, so it served as a nice introduction to the ecosystems I'll be working in for the next few months. It was a great opportunity to see the Ecuadorian coast, as well. This experiment has sites at multiple locations up and down the coastline, so I got to visit an array of beaches and towns, and try a variety of region-specific culinary treats. And all the fresh seafood I could eat!

The sun shines bright, the water is warm, the creatures are a-plenty, and the food is delicious. And if necessity calls, it's not hard to find a hammock to dangle in while the sun slips down into the big blue puddle. Not bad, I say. Not bad at all.

Photo slideshow: https://s470.photobucket.com/albums/rr68/GoodellsRule/Ecuadorian%20coast%20-%20First%20week%20in%20the%20field/?albumview=slideshow

Posted by Whitney 01/28/2011, revised 01/28/2011