Fall is the annual seeding of a harbor in East Hampton- and there was no better a day than on October 18th when the weather felt like a sunny summer day and the breeze was light. On this day, 25,000 oyster seedlings were distributed into Northwest Harbor that the East Hampton Shellfish Hatchery had grown to replenish the harbor with. Members of the East Hampton Middle School’s Surfrider Club and their teachers, John Ryan, Jr. and David Cataletto paddled along side the shellfish hatchery’s skiff on paddle boards, courtesy of Paddle Diva’s owner Gina Bradley with buckets of new oyster
The Gobler Lab at Stony Brook Southampton has begun using a remote controlled Surface Autonomous Vehicle (SAV) to perform real time and wide ranging monitoring of water quality parameters in East Hampton Trustee waters. Preliminary cruises of the vessel were performed in Georgica Pond on 9/29 and 10/1 (before and after opening the pond to the ocean), Three Mile Harbor on 10/8, Accabonac Harbor on 10/12 and Napeague Harbor on 10/21. Use of the SAV provides extreme fine-level spatial resolution in pond or harbor-wide readings of salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a and pH. Inserting the probe unit into the SAVSurface Autonomous Vehicle (SAV)Towing
The water quality of Long Island’s estuaries are impaired according to Dr. Christopher Gobler and his colleagues after examining the results of extensive testing of waters. The results are bleak and the causes are familiar—excessive delivery of nitrogen from onsite wastewater is the main cause. With warming temperatures during the summer months, harmful algae blooms (HABs) contaminate water bodies. Dr. Gobler asserts that a combination of factors contribute to the poor water quality. Climate change and excessive nitrogen that seeps into the ground and ultimately waterways, are of great concern. Predictions of more frequent and heavy rainfall is another factor
The Winning Largest Clam! Photo by Kimberly Esperian of Bennett Shellfish in Montauk On Sunday October 3rd, the Trustees held our 31st annual Largest Clam and Chowder Contest– under a brilliant blue sky and sun, it was the perfect day for the community to come together to sample “Mrs. Roman’s Bonac Clam Chowder” by Chef Paul Roman and Bostwick’s New England style clam chowder. From Stuart’s Fish and Market in Amagansett, Bennett Shellfish owners, Clint and his father “Shybo”, who shucked clams on the half shell, we had a wonderful turn-out! A first time big hit with everyone was the
The Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of East Hampton stand in full support of a condemnation of the 4,000 ft. stretch of beach known as “Seaview”” that was recently awarded ownership to adjacent homeowner’s associations in February of 2021 by a ruling of the New York State Supreme Court. The more recent decision of September 14th by the New York State Court of Appeals, denied a hearing of both the Town and the Trustees motions to appeal. Despite the ruling, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc has vowed to aggressively pursue the right for all residents of East
The East Hampton Town Trustees joined Surfrider Foundation, Eastern Long Island — Courtney Garneau chairperson; Friends of Georgica Pond — Sara Davison and Annie Hall; Trustees Susan McGraw-Keber, Tim Garneau, and Deputy Clerk Bill Taylor; along with students, youngsters, and many volunteers for a wonderful Saturday morning beach clean up effort. Photo by Durell Godfrey.
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
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.
