Writer, naturalist interested in oceans, coastlines, urban ecology, natural history, chowder. Writing in slate, hell gate, other places, including my extremely cool newsletter Landlubber (waterways.substack.com) 📍New York City Also on twitter @russ_owlhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3mrcuy4fchk2wJohn Roebling was a crank who destroyed New York City’s most crucial waterfront areas and this is my diss track about his “great” bridge. The Russell/John Roebling beef is ON https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/against-the-brooklyn-bridge?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios23 Jul 2026 12:52 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrcuy4fchk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3mj33zud77c2ehttps://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/you-saw-the-bryant-park-woodcocks?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios09 Apr 2026 15:16 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj33zud77c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3mdvcv3nnms24My latest thing! https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/icebound-and-down?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay02 Feb 2026 16:56 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdvcv3nnms24https://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3mcro7gz7bs2nYesterday I tried to take a photo of the majestic George Washington bridge shrouded in fog and ice, but this eyesore of a lighthouse kept ruining the shot. Trying to figure out how to remove it19 Jan 2026 12:43 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcro7gz7bs2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3maoowkubic2iNYC people: it is 4:27 PM on December 23rd. You are *out of time* to come up with a thoughtful, original Christmas gift for a loved one. Luckily, Classic Harbor Line is running Seal and Seabird tours all winter. They can be booked at the click of a button! Dates/deets/links here: [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Dec 2025 21:28 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3maoowkubic2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3ma4pum2dvs2jLatest from me! https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/back-to-the-future-of-nycs-waterfront?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay16 Dec 2025 17:57 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3ma4pum2dvs2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3m7pzhuxpvk23Over the next year, I’m doing a series about how urban animals adapt to human-built spaces for the Architecture League’s cool magazine @urbanomnibus.bsky.social. First one is about the ways marine life makes use of NYC’s piers and pile fields + the art is beautiful https://urbanomnibus.net/2025/12/the-reefs-beneath-the-piers/11 Dec 2025 16:44 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7pzhuxpvk23https://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3m6hktfmnwk23Hello, New Yorkers! I am once again leading a ton of boat tours from Manhattan down to the wintry edges of the Atlantic Ocean to see seals and seabirds! The boat is beautiful, warm, and spacious! The food is delicious! This is basically a perfect holiday gift! https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/seal-tours-are-back?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios25 Nov 2025 14:35 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6hktfmnwk23https://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3m2rnu7mvps2nWow, big news: I have been awarded the Nobel Prize in the miscellaneous maritime newsletter category09 Oct 2025 17:15 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2rnu7mvps2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lusoycbbns2uThrilled to report that I’m writing a book about the ecology and human history of herring, menhaden, anchovies, sardines, and other small fish that swim in huge schools. DM’s open for all things forage fish. Tell me your sprat and sand-lance stories!25 Jul 2025 18:37 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lusoycbbns2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lsc6f533522bMy newsletter turned 1 last week, and I celebrated the first ever Hudson River Fish Migration Celebration https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/fish-migration-celebration?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios23 Jun 2025 18:07 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsc6f533522bhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lqqbund37s2iCheck out these big goofy babies03 Jun 2025 21:56 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqqbund37s2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lp2mkdrmwk2pCarl Hiaasen writes oddball detective novels about Florida and our strange relationship to the natural world. They’re easy, and fun, and everyone should read nine or ten of them this summer https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/the-screwball-detective-writer-who?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios13 May 2025 13:44 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lp2mkdrmwk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3loys2kpeds2eFun new landlubber tomorrow morning! My love letter to the king of vacationland noir12 May 2025 20:17 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3loys2kpeds2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lnlelkmxwk2bWrote about an obscure marine invertebrate that can dramatically reshape the sediment along the Atlantic coast of the United States https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/meet-the-hudsons-amazing-sand-builder?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios24 Apr 2025 18:46 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnlelkmxwk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lmzibujcn22qSoilmaxxing, in my drill era17 Apr 2025 16:04 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmzibujcn22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lmf2cjw7jk2eIt’s april 9th 2025 and it seems likely that the New York Mets will never lose a baseball game again09 Apr 2025 13:01 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmf2cjw7jk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3llfgxiix422mUnfortunately, the New York Mets have been defeated by the cheating Houston Astros in the first game of the 2025 baseball season27 Mar 2025 23:22 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3llfgxiix422mhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lkykt3trik2xNew Landlubber is called Violence of the Clams. It’s about the terrifying world that bivalves and other shellfish live in and features this absurd picture I made of Werner at the beach https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/violence-of-the-clams?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios22 Mar 2025 20:27 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lkykt3trik2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lkw6wayt2s2rThe Mets are going to win the World Series this year I think21 Mar 2025 21:48 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lkw6wayt2s2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lktsi5mgxs2gHe invented “dinner 2” years ago, where he finishes his food and then bangs his bowl around like Oliver Twist, but recently he has conceived “lunch for cats” (the same thing, but at like 1PM)20 Mar 2025 23:00 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lktsi5mgxs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lkm2on4ftc2wI’ve been thinking about pitching a story about the “mini mysteries” posed by range maps for a while. I have about a dozen screenshots on my phone of maps I have questions about. Here’s a random orchid in the Northeast (peat bogs?) and the “Fox Sparrow Bermuda Triangle” in the Dakotas (???) [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Mar 2025 21:06 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lkm2on4ftc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lklldvst4k2hThe Hudson River is Londonpilled and “ThamesMaxxing. It is in its Bleak House Era17 Mar 2025 16:31 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lklldvst4k2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lkbrolg7kc2rAre there actually “flat earth people” or is it a “birds aren’t real” type epic bacon meme? I just briefly tried to find this out and I can’t quite tell13 Mar 2025 18:58 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lkbrolg7kc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3ljzv332go22nA little bit of this and that in this week’s Landlubber. If you knew Eric Angel Ramos, I included my memories of him in here. We weren’t super close or anything, but he was kind to the high school kids I worked with and shared his octopus with them, and that meant the world to them 💙 https://open.substack.com/pub/waterways/p/harbor-mysteries-a-nature-writing?r=1d5dp9&utm_medium=ios10 Mar 2025 15:38 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljzv332go22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3lje2idqt7s24This is from 2016 when Cuomo’s closest associates got recorded on a wiretap discussing bribes, which they called “boxes of ziti” as a joke (the joke was their own behavior was similar to the organized crime depicted on The Sopranos)01 Mar 2025 23:16 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3lje2idqt7s24https://bsky.app/profile/russ-owl.bsky.social/post/3ljds55vjg22qI am spite-voting in the mayoral primary in New York City: my vote will go to the candidate who says the meanest thing about Andrew Cuomo. Zohran currently winning, but it’s just day 1 of this sweepstakes. Anyone could pull ahead by calling Cuomo a crook, or a worm01 Mar 2025 20:46 +0000at://did:plc:fafgbjdljzdcraxvjp4f2lad/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljds55vjg22q