September 16, 2021 By Chris Walsh: Two years after East Hampton Town banned the intentional release of balloons, the town board will hold a public hearing on amending the town code to ban the sale or distribution of gas or helium-filled balloons as of Jan. 1. The hearing will happen during the board’s meeting on Oct. 7. Balloons may be a popular accessory at celebrations like birthdays, weddings, and graduations, but their effect on wildlife can be lethal. As they are often mistaken for squid, jellyfish, or other prey, their ingestion is a major threat to marine mammals, sea turtles, and
Lake Montauk could prove an important settlement or nursery area for smaller striped bass, according Andy J. Danylchuk, a professor of fish conservation at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.David Blinken Is Lake Montauk a “holdover” habitat for striped bass, an otherwise migratory species? The question was explored at a meeting of the East Hampton Town Trustees in July, and on Monday the trustees agreed to consider a donation toward the estimated $225,000 cost of a two-year study. While Lake Montauk is not under trustee jurisdiction, said Jim Grimes, “our interest in fisheries very much is.” Tim O’Rourke, a Montauk
Acoustic Telemetry Sensor Positions off Wainscott An array of acoustic sensors has been placed in the ocean off Wainscott as part of the South Fork Wind Fisheries Study being conducted by Stony Brook University. The five year study will evaluate possible nearshore effects on migratory and other fish behavior resulting from South Fork Wind Farm’s export cable bringing power from their offshore generators to a landing at Beach Lane. The array covers the cable route in New York State waters, out to 7 miles. The sub surface sensors are anchored to the bottom and therefore pose a possible obstruction to anything being pulled by
31st Annual Largest Clam Contest Digging: September 25th through October 2ndJudging: Sunday, October 3rd at the Trustees’ Office on the corner of Bluff Road and Atlantic Avenue in Amagansett beginning at 12:00 noon Live Music by The Lynn Blue Band Face Painting Artistry by Jenn Woodason of Liquid Imagination Special Events: Clam Chowder Contest & Clam Pie Showcase NEW! Special Category for Commercial Fishermen Only – PRIZE FOR LARGEST CLAM! Public invited for Free Clam Chowder & Clam Bar Rules Only holders of a valid recreational East Hampton Town Shellfish License may enter. Parents may enter clams for children between
The East Hampton Town Trustees have temporarily closed Georgica Pond to swimming, crabbing and fishing due to a hazardous levels of cyanobacteria bloom that exceed the NYSDEC threshold value. Please keep children and pets away from the pond and rinse off after exposure to pond water.
Rip currents move perpendicular to shore and can be very strong, beach swimmers need to be careful.A person caught in a rip can be swept away from shore very quickly. The best way to escape a rip current is by swimming parallel to the shore instead of towards it, since most rip currents are less than 80 feet wide. A swimmer can also let the current carry him or her out to sea until the force weakens, because rip currents stay close to shore and usually dissipate just beyond the line of breaking waves. Occasionally, however, a rip current can
Federal aid is available to baymen who lost revenue after two dismal scalloping seasons. The U.S. Department of Commerce has declared the Peconic Bay scallop a fishery disaster, making baymen who rely on the harvest of the scallops for income and the efforts to restore the scallop stocks eligible for federal disaster aid. In a statement from Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo last week, the collapse of the bay scallop population on the East End in 2019 and 2020 was one of four fisheries around the country that saw catastrophic collapses that impacted fishermen’s incomes and qualified as disasters worthy
Photo courtesy of the East Hampton Department of Natural Resources. Piping plovers are currently nesting and raising young on East Hampton beaches. Please be mindful of these areas and respect blocked off locations. The fencing is up temporarily to provide chicks with protection after they hatch and before they are able to fly. Thank you for your cooperation in our local conservation effort.
Reminder New beach parking permits are required this year for East Hampton Town residents. Stickers are free for residents, but you must have a 2021 sticker to park legally at our beaches. Renewal is now required every five years. Permits are issued by the Town Clerk. Info and link to application form: https://bit.ly/3hd0jXj
In the sixth webinar in the Community Science LI series, participants learned all about terrapins, the threats they face, and what they as community scientists can do to help environmental organizations better protect this iconic Long Island coastal species. Seatuck.org
“The bioblitz will take place from June 26th to July 3rd. Anyone can participate! All you need is the free mobile iNaturalist app. Once you download iNaturalist, visit the LI Coastal Bioblitz project page and join the project. Only project members can submit sightings to the LI Coastal Bioblitz. Top bioblitz observers will also reserve a prize!” More Information on the bioblitz
“We will be hosting a training webinar on June 23rd, 2021 at 7:00 PM to introduce participants to the iNaturalist app and the bioblitz format. Attendance is not mandatory to participate in the bioblitz but it is recommended. Registration for this webinar is required. You can register here. Please reach out to ehall@seatuck.org with any questions.” More about the Bioblitz
Statement from Orsted Regarding Mooring System in Use
“As part of the fish monitoring study outlined in the SFW Fisheries Study Work Plan, the Stony Brook University team is conducting a regular visit to the sensor array off Wainscott today to collect data from sensors, replace batteries, and deploy new retrievable moorings alongside the previous moorings. As the Stony Brook team is deploying new moorings alongside the existing moorings there’s no change to the mariners briefing, our standard method for updating mariners on the presence of equipment in navigational waters. Members of the fisheries outreach team, in collaboration with the research team, have worked with the fishing community to select an alternative mooring, one that is smaller, lightweight and retrievable, and is more compatible with commercial fishing in response to the feedback we’ve received from the community on original deployment of cement moorings.”
Images of the mooring system and a diagram are shown below.
