Distant Early Warning

One of the joys of picking up junk at the beach every week is stumbling on a good mystery. This summer, an intriguing one has been unfolding, week after week.

For months --  late winter and most of spring -- any lobster claw bands that trickled in looked like this:

From March 31. Blech.

Grotty, torn, a mess. Then, suddenly, June 2 rolls around. And so do these:

Fresh & springy 

Except for the one in the back right, all brand new. Beautiful. And from Canada. The next week, June 7, another one:

Another Canadian band 

I took the next week off, but on June 20 I found a big handful, the green & yellows almost certainly (two really certainly) Canadian:

Sensing a pattern...

And more have kept coming in.
June 23: 3 more, 2 Canadian/probably Canadian.
July 1: 4 more, 3 Canadian/probably.

July 7-9: 7 more, 6 Canadian/probably.
July 15, 5 more, all Canadian/probably:

July 15: Hello, my pretties

On and on, even now into September. In fact, since June 2, nearly every week has brought fresh, new, beige or green claw bands that are either stamped "Wild Canada" or are clearly the same make and likely Canadian.

Last year, from the first day of summer to the 1st week in September I found 17 claw bands. Maybe three were Canadian. This year during the same time I found 49. 42 to 44 of them are new, fresh, pristine, beige/green, and Canadian!

Some time in May, in the northern Gulf of Maine / Bay of Fundy, as lobstering in Canadian Zones 33-38 was winding down, an accident happened on a Canadian lobster boat. I don't know if it was a catastrophic accident, or just a box of claw bands getting knocked overboard. But what I'm finding here in Saco Bay is directly related to an event that happened 150-200 miles away. Its effects have rippled down the coast of Maine (and no doubt further south) ever since. Curious how much longer I'll be finding these.

We're all connected. For proof, just stroll the beach.