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Water Nerd

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."
John Muir

We, as kayakers, experience a unique perspective on our watery environments. In our small boats, we notice details of the tides, currents, winds, and waves, that larger boats do not. Rising and falling with the waves offshore, we can clearly see the impacts of human interventions along our shorelines. We're quick to notice a shoreline hardened by walls or a rubble-strewn beach when we cannot find a place to land. The stillness of our movements allows us to observe wildlife more closely than would be possible from a motorized craft. The smallness of our boats lets us maneuver where others cannot.
As a hydrologist and coastal engineer by trade, I always pay special attention to the interaction between built and natural environments. More often than not, I return from a kayaking trip and research the coastal features that I've newly encountered. I do my best to relay what I've learned in my posts. Sometimes I write about coastal- or hydrology-related topics apart from kayaking. See below for a summary of writings that emphasize these nerdier (i.e. super interesting!) topics. 

As always, your feedback is much appreciated.

Start nerding! Click on a photo to read more...

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New! Marker Wadden: New islands in the Markermeer
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Tiengemeten: sand bar to farm to wildlife reserve
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Mudflat walking to Schiermonnikoog Island
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Giethoorn, Venice of the Netherlands
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Fishing off the coast of Normandy
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Maeslantkering: Testing a Storm Surge Barrier
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Swiss Lake with a history of floods and a corpse
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Meeting the Sand Engine (De Zandmotor)
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Sometimes I get to kayak for work...
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Bioluminescence on Tomales Bay!
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Kralingse Plas: a lake of WW2 rubble
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Evolution of the Biesbosch Wetlands
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Restoration of Polder Jantjesplaat
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Les Calanques: Fjords of the Mediterranean
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Artificial Oyster Reefs in the Oosterschelde
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Sea caves in Lake Superior
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King Tides in SF and Pacifica!
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Elkhorn Slough has an Erosion Problem
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Eutrophication in Honeoye Lake
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Sandbar migration near Stellendam
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Lauwersmeer: River to Bay to Lake
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Thames Storm Surge Barrier in London
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Roadtrippin' the Dutch Delta Works
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Kinderdijk: Windmills that Saved Lives
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Solar Eclipse by Kayak
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Mapping the Cayuga Inlet by kayak
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Hemlock Lake: A Reservoir Revived
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Flood at the Virgil Creek Dam

Miscellaneous photos from my work as a coastal engineer...

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