Sea of Cortez

Where I Wish I Was

This is quite a bit off topic, but it’s important nonetheless. (And this is a weblog, which means that I’m allowed to publish whatever whim strikes my fancy, right?)

During the second week of March, March 11th to be exact, a New York Times journalist and a couple of scientists will be retracing the steps of John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts by journeying to the Sea of Cortez to collect specimens. The new trip will roughly approximate the timeframe detailed by Steinbeck in the book he co-wrote Ricketts about the trip and in which Steinbeck kept a journal of the journey, while Ricketts maintained a detailed log of all the sea creatures they captured during the trip. (Ricketts also wrote a book called Between Pacific Tides, which is still used as a marine biological text to this day.) The original book, titled The Sea of Cortez is a bit difficult to get your hands on these days—there were only 3000 copies printed, a rather munged up copy of which you can get your paws on for a measly $300, or a recent, faked-out copy for about $150—but Steinbeck’s journal portion, titled The Log from the Sea of Cortez, is still readily available. Proving my outstanding geeky-ness, I’ve decided to follow in both the old and new footsteps—even though I’ve already read the book a couple of times—by reading the book again and tracking the new journey at the Sea of Cortez website.

May I suggest that you do the same?

-J