Commonwealth Conversations: The Great Outdoors

Bird's Eye View of the Great Marsh

Madeleine Barr
Multimedia intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)
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This is the first post in a series about the Great Marsh. Be sure to check back to learn more about how you can enjoy and protect this wonderful and critical resource on Massachusetts’ North Shore!

Within the network of marsh, estuaries, mud flats and tidal rivers that make up the Great Marsh, the endangered least tern feels safe enough to make its nest along the shore. The least tern is just one of 350 bird species that uses some part of the Great Marsh’s diverse habitats for either breeding or migration purposes. The Great Marsh is the largest salt marsh in New England covering over 20,000 acres and extending from Gloucester to Salisbury. The area is bursting with diverse flora and fauna and for this reason it's recognized as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). In addition to birds, you may also see deer, coyotes, muskrats, beavers, raccoons, snapping turtles, toads and seals. ACEC designations, administered by the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs' Department of Conservation and Recreation, are given to natural places for the uniqueness and significance of their natural and cultural resources. More proof of the wonders of the Great Marsh lie in that the area is designated an Important Bird Area and is home to the federal Parker River Wildlife Refuge, Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Sanctuary and many other areas protected by local land trusts and non-profits.  

If all this talk has caught your eye and you’re ready to get out and experience the Great Marsh, there are numerous public beaches and parks you can visit. Two of my favorites are DCR's Sandy Point State Reservation on the Southern tip of Plum Island and Salisbury Beach State Reservation. If you are looking for other sites to explore within the Great Marsh, click here for all the best walking trails, paddling launch sites, and beaches. 

Endangered right whales are in town, watch them from shore in P-Town

Erin Burke

Protected Species Specialist, Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF)

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Right whales are crowding the beaches of Provincetown early this year! Due to the warm winter, the appearance of these giants and their food source, zooplankton, are around six weeks ahead of schedule this year. Right now, approximately 30 right whales have formed a stable aggregation close to shore around Provincetown, from Race Point to Long Point. The animals are surface and sub-surface feeding near the beach on patches of copepods. Given the odd weather, we’re not sure if the food resource will stabilize and we’ll have a typical right whale spring here in Massachusetts. So come to Provincetown and catch the show while you can!

Vessels are reminded that state and federal law require you remain 500 yards from right whales.

NMFS permit 14603

From the Field: Bass Surveys—An Electrifying Experience

Marion Larson

Outreach Coordinator, MassWildlife

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Recently, I spent a fascinating day with MassWildlife fisheries biologists and technicians on Lake Congamond in Southwick. Our task was to collect information on bass in one of the most popular bodies of water for bass fishing in the state. For years, biologists from MassWildlife have been assessing the “bass demographics” of Lake Congamond.

So how does a fish biologist actually catch a sample of fish? A number of fish catching methods are available including the use of rods and reels or fish nets. It may sound bizarre, but the most efficient method is to use a specially equipped boat to shock the fish in the water with electricity. The current is delivered through cables dangling from the bow of the boat (see photo) and from two droppers of cables mounted on booms extending in front of the boat.

The amount of electricity used momentarily stuns all fish within a few feet of the boat, allowing time for biologists to net the immobilized fish and place them in a container on the boat known as a live well. Here is MassWildlife’s Leanda Fontaine netting for fish, with the boom and dropper dangling just in front of her net. The fish recover and right themselves within a minute, sometimes sooner and dart about in the live well. Another biologist scoops up fish in the live well, measures each fish’s length and gives that data to another person filling in a data sheet. Girth measurements of all fish over 150 millimeters are also recorded. The fish is then released back into the lake, unharmed by the experience. It’s a noisy operation due to the generator buzzing away for the electric current. We wear ear plugs, rubber soled shoes and try hard to remember to keep our fingers out of the water!

I had my turn at the bow of the boat with another biologist. Wielding an 8-foot fiberglass pole (you don’t want to handle metal poles in electrically-charged water!) I successfully netted some good-size bass (over 450 mm) as well as a number of fingerlings. (Pictured above is MassWildlife’s Jim Lagacy with a large bass.) Due to my rookie skills some fish got away; other fish only caught the edge of the electrical field and went from belly-up to upright within a second or two and zipped out of reach. Among the fish caught or seen included alewives, killifish, sunfish, perch, bullheads, and even an eel was pulled in for a closer look. The lead fisheries biologist, Richard Hartley, was happy with our take—the bass were a good size and distribution and the schools of alewives we saw were evidence of a good food base for the bigger fish. Other bonuses for the day included sightings of a great blue heron, osprey and eald eagle!

Congamond Lakes pond map

Looking for other places to land a big bass or other fish? This web page will guide you to the waterbodies where multiple trophy fish have consistently been caught.

Best Bets for Fishing

Preparing for Irene’s arrival

Tim Purinton

Director, Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration

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Hurricane Irene is bearing down on Massachusetts and may pack 12 inches of rain, a coastal storm surge and plenty of ferocious winds. Depending how these threats develop in the next 48 hours you might be pulling in your boat, putting up the storm windows and battening down the proverbial hatches.

On our list is deploying pressure transducers.

This week, Franz Ingelfinger and Jeremy Bell, ecologists from the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, will be scattered along the coast at recently completed and soon to be constructed salt marsh restoration sites. They’ll be double checking monitoring equipment and installing new electronic water level gauges (pressure transducers) to see how restoration sites respond to extreme tidal conditions. Data from these types of events reveal how accurate design predictions are in the real world and how recently installed culverts and tide gates, intended to increase natural flow, perform under stress.  Large storm events, such as Hurricane Irene, also reveal the threat posed by failing or undersized infrastructure, which can impound water and exacerbate coastal flooding.

A healthy salt marsh is one of your best defenses against a major coastal storm, whether it’s hurricanes from the south or Nor’easters from the Gulf of Maine. Marshes cushion the blow of fierce waves and rip tides – protecting roads, rails and homes. Designing restoration projects that accommodate monster tides and epic events is always an important consideration, especially given that many of our marshes are bounded by essential infrastructure.

Once the last of the storm retreats inland or up the coast of Maine, Jeremy and Franz will crunch the data and see whether culverts, tide gates and proposed restoration actions are doing their job and whether engineers are correct in their assumptions.   

Boating and Swimming Safety Tips

Colonel Aaron Gross

Director, Massachusetts Environmental Police

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With the summer season in full swing, I want to take the time to refresh your memory on boating and water safety. While you’re out enjoying our coastal and inland waters, I want to encourage you to engage in activities such as boating and swimming in a safe and responsible way. 

Here are some boating safety reminders:

• Always check local weather conditions before you leave on a boating trip.  While you’re out on the water, if you notice the clouds getting darker or a sudden drop in temperature, start heading back to land.
• Operate the boat at safe speeds at all time, especially in crowded areas.  Remain alert and avoid large vessels and watercraft that have restricted ability to stop or turn. 
• Make sure more than one person on board is familiar with all aspects of your boat’s handling, operations, and other boating safety tips.
• Always be sure to have a float plan—letting someone know where you’re going and how long you plan to be gone for.
• Make sure there are enough lifejackets onboard for each person accompanying you out on the water.  
• Take a boating safety course to learn more about how to stay safe on the water!

Swim safety reminders:

• Swim in areas with lifeguard supervision.
• Always swim with a buddy.
• Have young children or inexperienced swimmers wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around water.
• Be knowledgeable of the water environment you are in and its potential hazards, such as deep and shallow areas, currents, depth charges, obstructions and where the entry and exit points are located.
• Use a feet-first entry when entering the water.

5th annual Great Park Pursuit

Edward M. Lambert Jr.

Commissioner, Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR)

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This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Great Park Pursuit. As part of DCR’s No Child Left Inside initiative, The Great Park Pursuit 2011 encourages families to join together and travel across Massachusetts to visit state parks, forests, and reservations to discover how fun and exciting the outdoors can be.

The program starts on July 1and runs until September 10, ending with an afternoon celebration of outdoor fun and festivities, with chances to win prizes such as t-shirts and outdoor recreation packages.

During the ten-week program, families and teams will design their own “Personalized Park Pursuit.” To help teams determine where to go, and which state parks to visit, teams visit the DCR Calendar of Events homepage and select at least six Great Park Pursuit designated programs. These programs will be determined by an icon placed next to the description of the event or activity. At each event they attend, teams receive stickers for their Great Park Pursuit team game card, which organizes activities into categories (see below).

Activities include mountain biking through Cutler Park, which completes a “Nature Sport” category, or taking a wildlife safari through the Blue Hills Reservation, which completes a “Walk on the Wild Side” category. Other categories are “Wild about Water” and “Arts in the Parks.”

We encourage teams to chronicle their adventures on their own personalized homepage that they will receive after registering with the program. On this homepage, teams or families can upload photo albums from specific activities completed, write a blog entry on what they saw, experienced or felt on one of their adventures, and keep track of which categories of activities they have completed.

The Great Park Pursuit 2011 Registration

Sign up today. It’s the first step in getting outside to hike to magnificent views, learn to fish or canoe, discover the secrets of the coast, and view the wonders of the night sky!

    

 

Massachusetts Environmental Police offer new boating safety classes

Colonel Aaron Gross

Director, Massachusetts Environmental Police

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Now that it’s officially summer, it’s time to get out on the water! The Massachusetts Environmental Police want to help ensure safe summertime activities by offering free boating safety classes. Boat Massachusetts 2011 will focus on teaching participants about boating equipment, as well as how to operate a boat in a safe and responsible way. The course is available to anyone over 12 years of age and will allow participants to operate a boat legally without adult supervision, and in any state that requires completion of a boating safety course.

The courses total 10 to 12 hours of instruction and locations include Hingham, Williamstown, Falmouth, Dennis, and Marion. There are a total of four classes and all must be attended in order to earn the Basic Boating Safety Certificate. For more information, or to sign up for a course visit http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dle/courselist.htm

Boating safe

Kate Samp

Multimedia intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)

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With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, now is the perfect time to brush up on boating safety. In April, I visited with the Massachusetts Environmental Police to film a boating safety and regulations video. The video explains all the required and recommended equipment that boat operators must keep on their boats while operating on Massachusetts inland waterways or coastline. Officer Tara Carlow demonstrated life jacket safety tips with me on their dock near the U.S.S Constitution in Charlestown.

For more information on boating on the waters of the Commonwealth, why don’t you check out a boat safety class run by the Environmental Police in your area?

In need of quick reference?  Check out the “Boat Massachusetts” handbook provided by the Environmental Police’s online FAQ section about boat safety.

Get in to the Great Outdoors with Outdoorswomen!

Ellie Horwitz

Chief of Information & Education, MassWildlife

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On the first weekend in June, I invite any interested women to join me in Becket with other women who want to learn some great outdoor skills such as archery, bird watching, canoeing, Dutch-oven cooking, fly-fishing, kayaking, firearms shooting and much more. There are over 26 skill sessions from which you can choose four. We’ve illustrated some of the sessions from previous workshops, including a fly tying session that Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin attended one year.
 
It’s a laid-back, skills-learning experience where for three days you can try out new activities. You might even find a new hobby! The instructors are experts in their craft and in teaching beginners. There is no pressure, so you can just relax and enjoy the learning process.
 
I’ll be teaching outdoor cookery, Great Outdoors blogger Marion Larson will be leading a bird walk. Got a camera? You may want to try your hand at nature photography. There are lots of things to try - we’re sure you’ll find something you’d like and you’ll find an amazing group of people who love doing things outdoors! Register now before this popular session fills up. I look forward to seeing you in Becket!

Registration information (PDF)
 
Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) page

Weekly outdoor events

Kate Samp

Multimedia intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)

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This Saturday, May 28, explore Belle Isle Marsh by canoe with the Department of Conservation and Recreation! Dress in quick-drying clothing and bring binoculars if you have them.

MassWildlife’s Angler Education Program is hosting another fishing festival this Sunday, this time in North Easton located in the Borderland State Park near Leach Pond.  And no, “Leach” doesn’t refer to prevalence of leeches in the pond—although the annelids do make excellent fresh water bait.

Check out more Massachusetts Outdoor Events on The Great Outdoors interactive Google Calendar.