Gulf Voices
The journey continues

By Sue Hutchins

I often stated last summer that the Gulf of Maine Expedition (GOMEX) would end September 28, 2002 on Cape Sable Island. I was wrong. A wonderful celebration did happen that day, but in retrospect, it signaled a beginning as much as an ending. We have spent the past year trying to process the huge amounts of information we gained from our journey around the Gulf. We met over 2,000 people, took thousands of pictures and created countless hours of video. We gained insight into the character of this beautiful coast and some of the issues of concern for its future. They include development, aquaculture, fishing, coastal debris, tourism and mining activities. The Gulf gave us an incredible experience. Now it’s time to give something back.

Sue Hutchins and Dan Earle Photo: Lee Bumsted

During the past year, the five of us have participated in 25 presentations to more than 1,200 people. We hope this continues.

Dan, my husband, and I have also created The Gulf of Maine Expedition Association. We see it evolving into an environmental education and activism network, working in conjunction with many of the groups we encountered. It will also complement The Gulf of Maine Expedition Institute, started by Natalie Springuel and Rich MacDonald in Maine. Their plan is to use sea kayaks as vehicles to experience the marine environment, connect like-minded groups and provide training for future expedition leaders and tour operators in the Gulf of Maine. The Institute will also serve to interpret scientific research for the public.

As for those thousand of images we recorded as we traveled up the coast, Dan scanned all the photos into the computer, organized them and burned them onto CDs. He then posted a new Web site that contains a complete photographic record of the trip (http:// homepage .mac.com/ dan_earle/ gulf_maine/ TOC.html.).

Meanwhile, I read software manuals from cover to cover, joined a local writers’ group, learned how to duplicate and edit video and indexed all of our video clips. I’m now ready to make documentaries from this footage. We also decided to combine our digital world with the business world and officially registered Chebogue Point Productions as a company.
Back in Bar Harbor, Nat and Rich focused on the final report. Intense discussions took place all winter on content and form. Getting the four of us, plus our other team member, Tom Teller, to agree on one report was no small task! But agreements were reached and the report is ready.

On a romantic note, Nat and Rich have started their journey as a newly married couple. Rich proposed during the expedition’s visit to the Tusket Islands, and they were married in May.

When Dan and I returned home after the expedition, our new vision of the Gulf came with us. Our connection with the Southwest Paddlers Association blossomed into a project to create a water trail around the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia. Pat Hudson, who joined us on the expedition for two weeks, is the project coordinator. As current president of the Tusket River Environmental Protection Association, our local environmental group, Dan began working with students from the Youth Conservation Corps on a “Green Mapping” project.

Dan’s involvement with the international youth organization, the Gulf of Maine Institute, has always been a good fit for us. Launched five years ago in Massachusetts, the organization brings together young people from all jurisdictions around the Gulf. Students work on a local environmental project during the school year, then attend a leadership training session in July where they present their projects to each other and discuss environmental issues. Over the summer, I was invited to create a promotional video for them. Last fall, during the Gulf of Maine Council award ceremonies in Boston, we got re-acquainted with Don Rice, Jim Todd and Martin Willison, three award-winning Nova Scotian environmentalists. It is impossible to be around these gentlemen without catching their passion for the natural world and their willingness to fight for it at a political level. My newly acquired political activism makes me eager to join these fighters. Nova Scotia is a political quagmire and progress on environmental issues is frustratingly slow. In a report card released by the Sierra Club of Canada last June, Nova Scotia received a failing grade for its appalling record on marine issues, for issuing permits for a massive basalt quarry on Digby Neck and for failing to protect wilderness areas.

Our challenge now is to decide which pathways to follow. The expedition connected us with so many different people and so many different issues that we have to make difficult choices. Since there are only a few of us, perhaps a good place to begin is to encourage you to join the fight to protect this wonderful body of water that we all call home. The Gulf needs all of us. Choose a local issue that interests you and get involved.

My last entry onto the GOMEX Web site last summer read, “This journey still has a lot of miles left in it!” I was certainly right about that.

We welcome the opportunity to share our experience with you. Drop us a line at chebogue@auracom.com.

Read the journals from The Gulf of Maine Expedition in the Gulf of Maine Times winter 2002 issue, www.gulfofmaine.org/times, click on “Archives.”