Jack of All Trades
Jack of All Trades is a saying that dates back to the 16th Century. It defines someone that is skilled in many different areas and most certainly applicable to the crew of the WDCS NA office. The work of the past month is a testament to the multi-level talents exhibited by all in our office (with the possible exception of my time management skills, which has delayed this blog from going out until now!).
Whether it is pulling together information to protect dolphins in the Florida Keys, submitting a report on drive hunts to a journal for scientific publication, or writing to thank our supporters, we are writers, editors, journalists and story tellers. And whether it was meeting with Cleo, a
young lady from California who organized a lemonade stand with her friends to raise funds for us, or co-sponsoring an Environmental Education seminar with NOAA, we are teachers and educators. The funds that support our work are interwoven into events, grant applications and phone conversations that flow through the office on a daily basis. And while none of us has formal IT training, we are all a bit more skilled at fixing computers and data base development than any of us would care to be.
But the one thing I can say we are not, is quitters. Since I last touched base, another 200+ pilot whales were killed in a grind in the Faroe Islands bringing this year’s total to almost 500 needlessly slaughtered whales. The body of a critically endangered right whale was found floating off Nova Scotia, entangled in fishing gear. And we documented yet another fresh vessel wound on a six month old humpback calf off our coast. Some days can be overwhelming but the only request I have ever had from anyone in this office is to find them more time in a day to work on an issue.
Tomorrow we will be meeting to discuss the next issue of our newsletter celebrating the 25th year of WDCS in operation. There will be no shortage of topics to discuss, just a shortage of time as I’m told that our meeting needs to be short as folks have to attend a meeting on whaling, a Whale SENSE evaluation on a whale watch boat, drop off a computer for repair (that we couldn’t fix ourselves) and get a mailing out the door. I’m sure the office phone will be ringing then too! Just another regular day…………..
