NECWA News Blog

During the 2020 stranding season on Cape Cod, NECWA documented the first stranded adult shirttail mola. This is a more tropical species compared to the common mola, the species that typically strands on the shores of Cape Cod each fall and early winter.  On April 16, 2021, Cory Farrelly, a NECWA volunteer, who recently graduated from UMASS Dartmouth in Marine Biology, presented a poster on this stranding in collaboration with NECWA's President Krill Carson and other researchers also studying these unusual species.  Click on the poster below to enlarge. Working with our interns and volunteers on scientific posters and presentations is what NECWA is about. This provides the experience and opportunities that these young professionals need as they grow in the field of marine science.  Please donate to NECWA to help us continue this important mission. NECWA works with over 60 high school and college interns each year as we train the scientists, journalist, educators, etc. of t...

NECWA intern Nick Schromburg and staff member Krill Carson, were called by the New England Aquarium Marine Rescue Team to check out a possible seal carcass that had been reported by a family in Manomet. It was a beautiful Sunday morning as Nick and Krill headed down to the beach in search of this animal. The tide was low and many harbor seals were hauled out on the rocks just off the shoreline. These seals looked big and fat a sign that they are feeding well in our waters offshore. It wasn't long before Nick and Krill found a small seal carcass located just above the high tide line. By the size of the carcass and the color of the fur, it was clear that this was a very young seal that had been born this spring. Because the head was missing (probably due to scavengers like coyotes) a positive ID was not possible. But given the time of year and the features of the carcass (such as the white coat of long fur) our best guess is that this was probably a gray seal pup that had recently ...

Around 3:00 pm, a call came into NECWA about a live ocean sunfish ( Mola mola ) that was in danger of stranding on Sandwich Beach, a public beach just over the Sagamore bridge on Cape Cod. The MA Environmental Police were alerted to this possible stranding and called Krill for assistance. When Krill arrived on the scene, the sunfish was still alive, but was not fairing well since it was very close to the beach and was getting pounded by the crashing waves. This animal had been in the surf for over 2 hours and was in great danger of stranding on the beach.  Krill was introduced to Terry, the gentleman who first notified MA Environmental Police of this potential stranding. As Krill donned her was dry suit and got in the water with the animal, Terry headed down to a local scuba shop to see if their staff could provide assistance. The plan would be to push the ocean sunfish out into deeper water and past the surf line. This was not going to be an easy feat given the size of the waves and t...