It was a cool day (50F) on the beach. There were morning clouds with the sun starting to break through. A high tide had just occurred and the waters of Puget Sound were slowly, very slowly, moving into an ebb.
Heading north toward the distant Narrows Bridge, my goal was what I’ve called the ships’ prows – at one time, three trees whose trunks curved down toward their bases that were horizontal. I’ve had frequent luck finding resident Coho salmon in Spring in this area in past years.
Unfortunately,over the years, winter storms have washed away two of the trees, the third is barely standing.
When I got to the last remaining prow, I looked farther down the beach, and it was apparent there were even more clusters this season of blown down trees. And the clusters themselves were more dense and would not allow easy passage – particularly when wearing waders and wading boots, and carrying a relatively fragile fly rod. It was evident the hillside had suffered a good deal of erosion after this past winter’s storms.
It was also a reminder that change is a constant in nature, and the result of that change is always more disorder and randomness.
The name of that change is entropy.
For anyone who studied thermodynamics (and consider yourself lucky if you did), entropy is mathematically defined as a change that equals the change in thermodynamic heat at a constant temperature. An easier way to think about it is the amount of a system’s heat that is not available for useful work. It is nature’s tax for using energy. Nothing is 100 percent efficient – there’s always loss.
Entropy is always increasing – one reason the universe (as we know it) will eventually come to an end in what’s called heat death. The universe will have reached its maximum disorder after using all its available energy and no further increase in entropy will be possible. And without an increase in entropy nothing can happen.
On a more human level, we can see entropy in human history.
Societies evolve, becoming more random and disordered as they do so. Rigid class structures break down over time. Differing political philosophies result in increasing disorder. Old ideas that provided order are replaced by new ideas – often at a cost. And ultimately there is a point of maximum disorder and a society ceases to exist – unfortunately, often with cataclysmic results.
On a daily basis, we can see entropy at work. Ice melting. Boiling water. Traffic congestion. Urban growth and crime. Changing social and sexual mores. The energy and vigor of youth that evolves into a slower acceptance of reduced capability with age. Murphy’s Law. Those are all examples of entropy
It’s a stacked deck and you can’t beat the house.
And what of the fishing near the last remaining ship’s prow?
Nothing was biting.
I did see the surface dimpling. First I though it was an Sea Run Cutthroat (SRC) trout feeding. And then, it was apparent the surface dimples were more widespread. They were chum salmon fry moving toward the open ocean – where they will spend the next three to four years before returning to their natal stream to spawn the next generation.
Generally, the chum fry migration is a buffet for the SRC. That none were feeding meant they had likely gorged much earlier in the day and were now in deeper water digesting their food.
It was a random event. Migrating chum fry but no SRC feeding on them. Entropy.
