Answerman . . .

Well, the big heat wave here has broken.  Just so my DC friends don’t have all the (dubious) bragging rights, it reached a record breaking 101 degrees here a week or so ago.  That was pretty bad, but besides many Mainers suffering from heat exhaustion (not much in terms of air conditioning here), they must also explain to visitors and transplants like us that it really isn’t like that here.  Well, truth is that it really isn’t like that here.  After a few days of heat, it is back down to the comfortable 70 to 80 range.

I had a couple questions from DSmith on the last blog and it gives me the opportunity to share the answers with you all and, of course, post another blog before the end of July.

But first, let me tell you that in passing Day’s Crabmeat and Lobster just a day or so ago, the price of lobster on the big sign had dropped from $5.29 to $4.69.  Will it go lower?  Maybe John and I will be tempted to get one and, who knows, make lobster salad, Lobster Newburg (never made this before!) or just about lobster anything at that price.

Also, for Washington friends who have never had a lobster roll before, you can get a decent one at Legal Seafood, oddly in Chinatown or what is left of it.  As stated it’s decent, but it does use a lot of mayonnaise-based dressing and lots of green things in among the lobster meat.  They also have a decent Maine crabmeat roll. 

Oh! . . . and that leads to one of the questions?  What about Maine crabmeat, I mean, what is it exactly?  As I have heard it is the meat from one or two or both species of crab found in the Maine waters, Rock Crabs (Cancer Irroratus) or Jonah Crabs (Cancer Borealis), which are different from the Maryland Blue Crab or the Florida Stone Crab. These crabs are relatively small, but their meat is fine, sweet, and delicious.  From what I understand it used to be a by-catch of lobster fishing, that is, often the lobsterman would find a crab in their lobster trap and toss it back in.  Now, of course, that doesn’t happen.  We have found that it’s good to eat.

Another question is about sea ducks.  What was I referring to exactly when I noted sea ducks off shore at the Lobster Shack at Two Lights?  Boy, you have just asked an avid birder about birds and now risk dead by boredom.  A sea duck is any of a number of diving duck species (eiders, scaups, scoters, buffleheads, mergansers, and so on) found typically near the ocean shore or a bit further out, especially in winter.  They dive into the water, disappear for a while, and then reappear on the water surface, hopeful after finding a tasty tidbit below.  The other ducks are dabbling ducks, which you see in shallow ponds (like Mallards) sometimes with their fannies up in the air and their heads underwater while they nibble green things on the bottom.  In summer here in Maine, when you see sea ducks floating around, they are very likely to be Common Eiders, the same eiders that have provided us with eiderdown for years to make comforters, mattresses, pillows, and such.  The nice thing about this source is that we don’t steal the down from them, the eiders give it away.  Although they are here all year round, many nest up north in the Arctic so their nests need to be warm.  To make the nest comfy they pluck the down from their chests and line their nests with it.  At the end to the short nesting season and the kids are out and somewhat on their own, the eiders simply abandon the nests, never to be used again.  Except, man (or woman) that clever guy (or gal) goes around collecting the down from the nest to be used for his or her nest, hopefully after proper sanitization, one would hope.  Nowadays, of course, with domestic goose down, “polyfil,” Under Armor® and such, plus the obvious discomfort in tromping around the tundra in chilly weather, you don’t see much eiderdown being used, at least not in the US.  By the way, a web search does pull up a few companies selling eider down comforters at about $3000 each.  Hmmm!  I think I’ve found a new summer job . . . encouraging eider chicks to get out of the nest early, so Uncle Harry can collect their bedspread while the weather is still decent.  With all the pictures I’ve take of the Maine coast you’d think I’d have a photo of a Common Eider, but I don’t and need to rely on this web illustration.  The black and white one is the male and the mottled one the female. 

Well, there you have it.  Hope you noticed the restraint I used in talking about the ducks.