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This Month’s Contents:
Blue Ocean News |
Another Busy Right Whale Season |
Boater Brochure
Adopt-a-Beach Update
| Whale Watch Season is Here!
New Watershed Coordinator |
Upcoming Events
| Conservation Tip
Blue Ocean News
Greetings! We have had a busy spring, which resulted in taking way
too long to get our latest newsletter out to you…
This spring we continued our popular school programs, and spoke to
over 4,000 students and families at schools and other venues.
 In
April, we held a very successful Earth Day cleanup at Peirce Island,
which attracted 80 volunteers to our third annual Earth Day event
and resulted in the removal of 855 pounds of trash, including over
3,000 cigarette butts! We thank Starbucks and City Year of New
Hampshire for their support of this event!
We
have also been working with the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company in
Portsmouth getting our touch tank up and running and conducting
interactive field trips for students. We will continue running our
touch tank during the summer and invite you to stop by for our free
programs or take an Isles of Shoals cruise. We have lots of new
critters in the tank this week, including spider crabs, hermit
crabs, and sea anemones. Visit our
touch
tank page for more details!
We
started the 2006 whale watch season in mid-May. It has been a bit
of an odd season so far – the whales have mostly been out there, but
the weather has not been cooperating. We’re hoping July and August
bring some better weather after this rainy spring! We have had some
great sightings so far, though. Lunge-feeding fin whales were
plentiful in May and early June, and we’ve seen many humpbacks,
including our Adopt-a-whales, Pinball and Owl.
We’ve continued our beach cleanups, and currently have
sixteen sites that are cleaned monthly through our Adopt-a-Beach
program! On Friday, there was a ceremony at Hampton Beach in which
the EPA gave a check to NH Department of Environmental Services in
support of clean beaches, and we and our volunteers were recognized
for our cleanup work.
In
this issue, we have some other news: a right whale season summary
from Research Coordinator Dianna Schulte, whale watch information
and an update on our Hodgson Brook project. And finally, we welcome
our newest member, Teagan Kennedy, born on March 6! Teagan is the
daughter of our Director Jen Kennedy, and she has already been to
three beach cleanups!
Thanks for reading and we hope to see you this summer!
Another
Busy Right Whale Season
By Dianna Schulte, Research
Coordinator
After spending another busy
winter in Florida, I am happy to return to the seasons of New
England and be more involved in the daily happenings of Blue Ocean
Society.
From December 1st
until March 31st, the state of Florida’s Fish and
Wildlife Research Institute (part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission) conducts aerial surveys off the coast of
northern Florida in search of North Atlantic right whales- the most
endangered large whale in the world. Typically, adult female right
whales migrate to this area in the winter to give birth although we
observed a high number of juveniles as well. With their numbers
only around 350, we were pleased to see 19 new calves this season.
These aerial surveys are
conducted primarily to prevent ships from accidentally hitting right
whales. Each whale sighting is reported to ships within or entering
the designated critical habitat area. Ship strikes are one of the
leading causes of mortality among right whales and the loss of even
one whale per year pushes this population closer to extinction.
Sadly, at least two of the 19
calves did not survive. One was hit by a ship despite all of our
best efforts and the other was entangled in netting. The latter
death prompted immediate response by NOAA Fisheries and gill net
fishing was banned in the critical habitat area for the remainder of
the season. However, debate still continues pertaining to whether
the net that killed the calf was from a legal or illegal fishery.
Entanglements are another
problem that many whales, including right whales, face on a regular
basis. In early December, a juvenile right whale was seen trailing
some rope and a buoy. The disentanglement team from the
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies immediately responded and
attempted to remove the tangling line from the whale. The whale,
however, was less than cooperative and the team was unable to free
it completely. We hope the northern survey groups relocate this
whale during this summer and have better luck.
Our season ended very much the
same way it began- with an entangled whale. This time though it was
a young humpback whale rather than a right whale. This whale was
freed successfully and was an optimistic way to wrap up the season.
Overall, the winter right whale
surveys were a valuable tool to conserving this highly endangered
species. I hope we see a few right whales up here in the Gulf of
Maine this summer.
For more information on our
whale watch trips,
click
here. For information on whale rescues, including a detailed
description of the December entanglement, visit the Provincetown
Center for Coastal Studies at
www.coastalstudies.org.
Boater Brochure Now
Online
 Our
brochure, “Pollution Prevention Tips for Boaters & Beachgoers” has
been updated for 2006 and is now available for download online!
This brochure has tips for preventing marine pollution when visiting
the coast and also a handy Portsmouth tide chart that will get you
through the summer! Visit
www.blueoceansociety.org/boaters/ or
e-mail us to receive a print copy.
Adopt-a-Beach Update
We’d like to thank
LifeShare,
Inc. for adopting a new cleanup site, South Mill Pond in
Portsmouth! They conducted their first cleanup earlier this month
and it was definitely an eye-opening experience. Unlike our coastal
sites, in which we find lots of fishing gear and picnicking items,
South Mill Pond is an urban site and also a storm water drainage
area. Consequently, we found many more household items and things
that were “flushed”! Thanks to the dedication of the group, we were
able to clean the causeway along Junkins Avenue along with the whole
perimeter of the pond. Thanks to the City of Portsmouth for their
support of this project.
While we have sixteen sites currently monitored on a
monthly basis, we still have work to do! We are looking to partner
with businesses, clubs and schools that are interested in cleaning
other sites each month. We are currently recruiting for two sites:
the southern end of North Beach in Hampton and a section of Hampton
Beach. We would really love to get both these sections adopted this
summer. Visit
our Adopt-a-Beach page for details or email us with questions
and for a copy of our Beach Adopter’s Handbook!
Whale Watch Season is Here!
Whale
watch season has started! We work with four different whale watch
companies, which run trips daily during the summer. Why go with us?
You’ll hear the commentary of our experienced naturalists, and also
get to interact with our friendly interns and see the helpful
educational displays we have on board. Want to be prepared for your
trip? Here are some helpful links:
New Watershed Coordinator on Board
Sadly, we found out in May that
after a successful first year,
 our
Hodgson Brook Watershed Coordinator, Sherry Godlewski, was leaving
the position and going to a new job at the NH Department of
Environmental Services. But we are excited to report the addition
of a new coordinator, Candace Dolan, who will be starting this
week. Candace has many years of experience in project management
and running a volunteer program, along with great energy and
enthusiasm. We look forward to working with her in taking the
project through its second year and hopefully beyond. Welcome,
Candace, and good luck, Sherry!
We are also excited to report
that we conducted a cleanup of a portion of the Brook on Pease
Tradeport during the Spring Day of Caring on May 23, with the help
of volunteers from Sprague Energy and Liberty Mutual. This is
the first cleanup ever conducted on the Brook and it will provide
great baseline data on debris in the area. We were surprised to find
lots of debris, some of which was likely due to recent flooding.
For more information on the
Hodgson Brook Restoration Project,
click here.
Upcoming Events
Beach cleanups at Jenness Beach:
Thursday, June 29: 6:30 PM
Thursday, July 27: 7:00 PM
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.
Mark your calendars! The International Coastal Cleanup will be held
on September 16 this year. We are looking for individuals, families
and groups to participate in this cleanup, which will occur at over
20 sites in NH! We are also looking for classes to participate in
our student cleanup on September 15.
Click here for more information.
Conservation Tip
Summer’s here! Time to fire up
the grill! A popular item at the dinner table this time of year is
seafood. Some seafood is more “environmentally-friendly” than
others. Before you buy, check the
Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood. This guide along with a “Sea to
Table” campaign is run by the Blue Ocean Institute, another
conservation organization.
Among the local species on the
“good” list are Atlantic Mackerel and Striped Bass, while species of
concern include bluefin tuna, cod, and halibut. The guide includes
an explanation on the listing of each species. You can lessen your
impact on the oceans by buying more fish that is “green” on the fish
key and less fish that is listed as “yellow” or “red”. Happy
eating!
Thanks for your interest in marine conservation. If you wish to
support our work, please click here. |
