"TANGIER ISLAND, Va. — As in many places, conversations on this remote island in the Chesapeake Bay tend to steer toward the weather. But here it's not just small talk.
A long winter has chilled the water so it's still too cold to catch crabs even on the last day of March — exactly two weeks after crabbing season started. Most of the island's watermen — who oyster in winter and catch blue crabs in summer — haven't earned a penny in over a month.
When they do talk about the weather on Tangier, it doesn't sound like most places either. 'Crabs,' for instance, is drawn out to allow an extra syllable or two: 'cr-aeae-uh-bs.' "
Kate Kilpatrick produced story and audio for Aljazeera America May 11, 2014, with photographs by Ian C. Bates.
People of Tangier Fear Their Life, Land, and Heritage Could Wash Away
Source: Aljazeera America, 05/13/2014
