NECWA News Blog

The marine wildlife stranding season is not over yet! This afternoon, NECWA received a call about a stranded torpedo ray just north of Bay View Beach, Dennis, MA. Laura and Jim, both members of a community walking group, Dennis Beach Walkers, rushed down to the beach and found that the ray was still alive. NECWA volunteers, Krill and Finn were on the way down from off Cape. Once on-site, Krill did her annual polar plunge and walked the fish back out to deep water. Due to the extensive tidal flats in that area, the fish washed back in, so Krill did another round of polar plunges to finally get the fish into deeper water. This fish had been stranded out of the water for over 45 minutes and was very weak when the team arrived on-site. But when they picked up the tail stock to get it on the sled, it wiggled and tried to pull its tail back which are all good signs. Fingers crossed that this animal makes it. Please the NECWA stranding hotline (508-566-0009) if you come upon a stranded torped...

Carly Burns was a volunteer during the 2023 NECWA Summer Diamondback terrapin field season and the fall Marine Wildlife stranding season. Carly especially loved working with ocean sunfish (Mola mola), which helped her to realize her love for fieldwork and marine biology. This inspired her to become a New England Fisheries Observer with AIS and NOAA. She worked on commercial fishing boats all over New England, collecting data about bycatch and marine mammals. The experience she gained working in Wellfleet Harbor helped prepare her for the rough weather out at sea. Her education at the University of Maryland was focused on ecosystem restoration with limited focus in marine biology. Her experience with NECWA filled the gaps in her transcript allowing her to participate in this unique fieldwork opportunity. Carly says “I truly owe all of my initial fieldwork education to Krill and NECWA. This experience taught me the importance of accurate and specific data collection in the field. Being a...

The stranding season doesn't seem to be over just yet. Over the past 2 days, NECWA has responded to 3 dead torpedo rays. All adult females and all carcasses washed ashore near Corporation Beach, Dennis, MA. Two carcasses washed up east of the main parking lot at Corporation (after Dr. Lords) and one washed ashore west of the Corporation parking lot as you head towards BayView. All 3 carcasses appeared to be healthy and two had digested food in their stomachs. Again we are not sure why these beautiful fish are stranding in the late fall and early winter, but we think it might have something to do with habitat shifts. Perhaps torpedo rays come into shallow water this time of the year, making them more susceptible to strandings on tidal flats when the tide goes out. Once high and dry, they are now impacted by cold air temperatures, even lower wind chill temps, and a lack of oxygen to their gills. Once NECWA has concluded our internal and external exams (necropsy), we mark the carca...

Yesterday NECWA walked Corporation Beach in Dennis looking for stranded marine widllife. Visibility was reduced due to fog but winds were light and air temperatures hovered around 35 deg. Not bad walking conditions for a January morning stroll! And great views at one of our favorite geese, Brant!