January 2006 E-newsletter

This Month’s Contents:

Blue Ocean News | Adopt-a-Beach Update | Upcoming Events | Right Whale Update | Quote of the Month

 
Blue Ocean News
 

Happy New Year!  We are happy to report that the New Hampshire Coastal Program (under the NH Department of Environmental Services) is continuing to support our outreach and education efforts with a new grant for 2006. This grant will help us fund educational programs for local schools; continue expansion of our Adopt-a-Beach program and new displays and educational materials for our touch tank and boat-based educational programs.

It was a month for service, as, in addition to conducting several beach cleanups, we were present at two well-attended volunteer fairs.  On Martin Luther King Day, the United Way of the Greater Seacoast and City Year New Hampshire sponsored a Volunteer Fair in Portsmouth, which was very well-attended. The fair was followed by our third annual Martin Luther King Day cleanup at Jenness Beach, which was attended by over 30 volunteers despite the freezing wind-chills!  We collected 135 pounds of debris at the beach, despite it being partially covered with snow.

Later in the month, we had a table at a Community Service Fair sponsored by the National Honor Society at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton. This fair allowed us to meet many local students that will hopefully be able to participate in our beach cleanups and other volunteer programs in the coming year.

We also had two new Adopt-a-Beach groups start this month, the Community Connectors from the Woodland Inn in Lowell, MA, who adopted a section of Hampton Beach, and the Student Conservation Association, who adopted the northern half of Foss Beach. See our update article below!

Finally, we’d like to welcome a new intern to the office: Emily Young, who recently graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Washington. Emily will be assisting with our research and education programs through mid-June.   We’re currently accepting applications for summer interns; for more information visit our intern page.  The application deadline is March 1.

Explore this site for more information on current happenings or come talk to us at a beach cleanup!  All the best to you in the New Year!

 
Adopt-a-Beach Program Update
 

Amazingly, we get lots of inquiries about our Adopt-a-Beach program at this time of year, and our roster of cleanup sites is growing by the week!  We are happy to report that we currently have 14 New Hampshire sites that are cleaned each month, year-round, which makes for a cleaner coast and provides valuable data on pollution trends in New Hampshire. We extend our thanks to the following groups for their time and dedication:

And of course, we thank the hundreds of volunteers that have joined us at cleanups at our “own” site, Jenness Beach, for the last 4 ½ years!

If you would like to get involved in our Adopt-a-Beach program, call (603) 431-0260 or visit www.blueoceansociety.org/beachadopt.htm.

 
Upcoming Events
 

Beach cleanups at Jenness Beach:

Saturday, February 11: 10:30 AM
Saturday, March 11: 10:30 AM

Cleanups take 1-2 hours, depending on the number of participants. We provide all supplies and refreshments, although we’re always happy to accept supply donations!  We also provide a short orientation at the beginning, so no experience is needed!.  To sign up, reply to this e-mail or click here. 

Other Events:

Mark your calendars! Third Annual Earth Day Cleanup at Peirce Island: Saturday, April 22 at 11 AM, Peirce Island in Portsmouth.  Details to come soon!

 
Right Whale Update
 

As mentioned in our previous newsletters, our President & Research Coordinator, Dianna Schulte, is currently working in Florida on a project studying North Atlantic right whales. The North Atlantic right whale can reach nearly 60 feet in length and can weigh up to 80 tons.  They typically migrate north (to the Gulf of Maine, the Bay of Fundy, and the Cape Cod area) for summer feeding and then head south to warmer waters off Florida and Georgia in the fall and winter for calving.  These whales are very slow-moving, one of the reasons they were the “right” whale to hunt in whaling days.  Right whales were so sought after by whalers that they were hunted to near extinction by the early 1900s. Their population began to rebound very slowly once hunting for right whales was banned in the 1930’s.

With still only about 300-350 North Atlantic right whales remaining today, scientists and researchers are working together to study this species, trying to learn everything they can about them—from their behavior, to feeding habits, to migration patterns—in an effort to come up with ways to prevent them from extinction. 

One of the leading causes of mortality along the east coast is ship strikes.  In fact, three whales were killed by ships during the calving season last year. This year’s calving season has been promising, with about a dozen calves reported by southern researchers, but two of those calves have already died – one was likely hit by a ship, and the cause of death for the other is unknown.

Blue Ocean Society is one of numerous organizations trying to keep tabs on the North Atlantic right whale. Since the beginning of December, Dianna has been working with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission as part of an aerial survey team for right whales. For more information about the work Dianna is doing with the FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, click here, and stay tuned for more research updates!

 
This Month’s Quote
 

"Caring about the condition of our oceans does not make you a psycho, tree-hugging, bleeding-heart liberal. It just makes you smart. The health of all life on this planet depends on the health of the oceans. It’s just good business. (Even a supply-sider has to admit that if you fish a population to extinction, there will be no supply, so there will be no demand. It’s bad economics from the right or the left.)"

- Christopher Moore, Fluke, or, I know why the winged whale sings

Thanks for your interest in marine conservation.  If you wish to support our work, please click here.