Working Waterfont

On sunday we went to the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival.  I have been there several times to stand in the SMAST tent but today I went for fun.  It was a little drizzly but that didn’t keep the crowds away.  They have a lot of fishing related exhibits but the highlight is definitely getting to go on the boats.  They OCEARCH was in town and we climbed aboard to get a tour.  They are a private foundation focused on apex predator research and were recently involved in a week long project catching white sharks off Chatham. They hook them and draw them onto a platform where they are subdued long enough to have several thousand dollars worth of electronics strapped to them and blood taken to assess stress and then they are sent on their way.  Impressive.  We also went on the dragger “Apollo” which is one of the four boats featured on the History Channel’s Nor’Easter Men which is a great show about the New England groundfishery.  I wish we had time to go on the scalloper but we were nearing nap time and Cristin and I really needed a break.  The Waterfront Festival is definitely worth the time if you are in the New Bedford area.  Ultimately nobody napped so we had an early dinner to catch what remained of the sunlight and have an end of the season ice cream on the wharf.